Schools get 'excellence' from ERO for NCEA implementation

An Education Review Office (ERO) report that shows schools have successfully implemented NCEA and are happy with the new qualification confirms NZQA's impressions of how successfully schools are implementing the new qualifications system.

NZQA chief executive Karen Van Rooyen said it is excellent to have such a thoroughly researched report from an independent body.

"This is really the first report of this sort. ERO's findings are based on in-depth on-site evaluations in 25 schools and surveys from 125 schools. This is hard evidence interpreted by specialists in educational evaluation.

"The ERO report confirms that schools are doing well with NCEA. Students understand the system and are getting a lot out of it already. This all confirms our observations," said Karen Van Rooyen.

"I am very pleased, but not surprised, that the ERO report focuses on the teaching and learning that underpin qualifications. That's what NCEA is really all about.

"We know from the 2003 results that schools are already developing programmes to suit their own students. They are using the flexibility of the NCEA environment to select suitable unit standards and achievement standards to challenge all students.

"The report notes that most schools have good systems in place for quality assurance and have put a great deal of time and hard work into ensuring their students are well informed about the new qualification," Karen Van Rooyen said.

"The report endorses NZQA's audit of school-based assessments. NZQA's school relationship managers visit schools and provide feedback on each school's assessment and moderation systems. Our national moderators provide detailed feedback on each school's assessments in each subject. All of this supports teachers at the same time as it ensures national consistency in assessment. It contributes to professional development for teachers, in addition to the Ministry of Education's work in this area," said Karen Van Rooyen.

"The report also points to areas where further work is needed. We will be studying ERO's findings very carefully to be sure that the Qualifications Authority is playing its part in enhancing NCEA implementation and contributing to the improved learning opportunities NCEA provides."

Karen Van Rooyen said the implementation of NCEA level 3 and New Zealand Scholarship (level 4) this year will provide the final challenge for secondary school students.

"Those who wish to further their academic work after secondary school will find that achieving higher level results will equip them to achieve whatever their aims are in a tertiary environment," she said.

The key findings from the report were as follows:

- The majority of schools surveyed have successfully implemented NCEA levels 1 and 2.

- Schools feel confident about the implementation of NCEA level 3. Most schools intend to follow the process used to implement levels 1 and 2, after any necessary review and refinement.

- Most implementation activities have focused on sourcing and interpreting assessment resources, and communicating new assessment tools to students.

- The majority of schools have adequate quality assurance processes in place aimed at enhancing the reliability of assessment decisions.

- Schools claimed that time allocated for professional development was of most assistance in the implementation of NCEA.

- Schools reported that a lack of externally developed assessment resources in some subject areas was the factor that most hindered their implementation of NCEA.

- Staff and students appeared to be well informed about the new qualification. Further initiatives may be required to enhance parent and whanau knowledge about the NCEA qualification.

- The majority of students interviewed were positive about the progress and operation of NCEA.

Based on the findings of this evaluation, the following areas have been recommended as a focus for continued development by schools:

- Development of learning programmes with a mix of standards and levels to meet the diverse range of student needs.

- Provision of good advice to students to ensure that standards selected by students are based on considerations of quality and relevance to an overall balanced learning programme.

- Improvement of teachers' professional knowledge of moderation processes.

- The continued use of external links to enhance the reliability of assessment decisions.

- Strengthening of processes and policies for resubmission/ reassessment opportunities.

- Integration of analysis of NCEA data into planning and reporting processes to inform learning programmes that meet the diverse range of student needs.

You can view the full report at www.ero.govt.nz