Review of Social Studies Level 1 achievement standards

Field Social Sciences

Review of Social Studies Level 1 achievement standards

Achievement standards

Domain	ID	Subject reference
Social Studies	90215-90219	1.1-1.5

The Ministry of Education and NZQA National Qualifications Services have completed a review of the achievement standards listed above.

New Registration date December 2010

Date new versions published December 2010

Planned review date December 2014

Summary of review and consultation process

In 2008 the Ministry of Education (MoE) and NZQA began to review achievement and unit standards in light of the revised New Zealand Curriculum (NZC). This Alignment of Standards (AoS) review also addressed duplication of outcomes, credit parity, fairness, consistency, and coherence. The AoS review was guided by the revised NZC itself and the Standards Review Guidelines. A copy of the NZC is available at http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-documents/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum.

Teacher subject associations were involved in the review and, draft achievement standards were the focus of wide consultation, especially with secondary schools and teachers. Extensive resources, including student exemplars, were also developed to support these standards, and are available on the MoE and/or the NZQA websites.

National consultation was undertaken in 2009, with the results analysed by Research New Zealand. The responses were generally positive.

The review of unit and achievement standards at Level 1 was completed in time for implementation in schools in 2011. Standards at Levels 2 and 3 will be implemented in 2012 and 2013 respectively.

Main changes resulting from the review

· All NZC Level 6 (NZQF Level 1) outcomes derived from the NZC are now assessed using achievement standards.

· Existing achievement standards were reviewed and new achievement standards were developed to align with the NZC. See table below.

· Grading criteria for achievement standards were reviewed in accordance with the Standards Review Guidelines.

For a detailed description of the review of, and the changes to, the Social Studies standards see Appendix at the end of this report.

Impact on Accreditation and Moderation Action Plan (AMAP)

All new achievement standards have been registered on AMAP 0233.

Impact of changes on NCEA Exclusions List

For transition purposes, the following exclusions will apply for new achievement standards. This transition will apply until December 2011 only.

New achievement standard	Existing achievement standard
91039	90215
91040	90217
91041	90218
91042	90216
91043	90219

Review Categories and changes to classification, title, level, and credits

The following summary shows the changes made to the standards as a result of the review. All changes are in bold. Where a new or a new version of an externally assessed achievement standard is registered, the following designation appears after the title [Externally Assessed].

Key to review category
A	Dates changed, but no other changes are made - the new version of the standard carries the same ID and a new version number
B	Changes made, but the overall outcome remains the same - the new version of the standard carries the same ID and a new version number
C	Major changes that necessitate the registration of a replacement standard with a new ID
D	Standard will expire and not be replaced

Externally assessed achievement standards categorised as category C expire at the end of

December 2010

Internally assessed achievement standards categorised as category C expire at the end of

December 2011

Social Sciences > Social Science Studies > Social Studies

ID	Title	Level	Credit	Review Category
90215 91039	Describe change in society Describe how cultures change [Externally assessed]	1 1	5 4	C
90216 91042	Describe people's participation in society Report on personal involvement in a social justice and human rights action	1 1	5 4	C
90217 91040	Conduct a social studies inquiry to communicate conceptual understandings about society Conduct a social inquiry	1 1	6 4	C
90218 91041	Examine differing values positions Describe consequences of cultural change(s) [Externally assessed]	1 1	4 4	C
90219 91043	Decide on social action(s) in relation to a social issue Describe a social justice and human rights action	1 1	4 4	C

Title

Level

Credit

Review Category

90215

91039

Describe change in society

Describe how cultures change [Externally assessed]

90216

91042

Describe people's participation in society

Report on personal involvement in a social justice and human rights action

90217

91040

Conduct a social studies inquiry to communicate conceptual understandings about society

Conduct a social inquiry

90218

91041

Examine differing values positions

Describe consequences of cultural change(s) [Externally assessed]

90219

91043

Decide on social action(s) in relation to a social issue

Describe a social justice and human rights action

Appendix

Development of Level 1 Social Studies Achievement Standards

Process of Aligning the Standards with the NZC

The standards have been derived from the Level 6 Social Studies achievement objectives in the NZC.

The social inquiry process, reflected in the achievement objectives, has been incorporated within the matrix. This has been done via the division of the process into three parts:

· inquiry

· social action

· values.

The social inquiry process has also been used to develop understandings within all of the achievement standards.

The use of perspectives has been incorporated within all achievement standards. Perspectives are integral to all social studies assessment. The achievement standards contain a progression of use of perspectives which develops deep understanding of the focus of the achievement standard.

A Summary of the Changes to the Standards

The 'step-ups' in level of difficulty between Levels 1, 2 and 3 have been constructed through the use of achievement objectives and within the levels via the use of perspectives, the provision of reasons and impacts. These 'step-ups' are differentiated in the achievement criteria with the use of descriptors: 'in depth' ('in-depth') (for Merit) and 'comprehensively' (for Excellence).

The decision to divide the social action achievement standards into two separate achievement standards has been made to provide maximum flexibility for teachers within the parameters set by the school and their community. Some schools may prefer to focus on an academic consideration of social action whereas others may be prepared to also include the provision of the opportunity for students to take an active involvement in a social action.

Issues Arising From the Consultation on Matrix and Level 1 Standards

Feedback from consultation included:

· issues with learning focus/scaffolding

· disagreement with proposed credits

· alignment with curriculum.

Responses to the Issues Raised through Consultation

Consideration of feedback from consultation has resulted in the following changes to the draft standards.

· There are a number of changes in the matrix and the standard titles. These changes have been made to reflect the new curriculum, to provide a balance between internal and external assessment opportunities, and to show clearer progression from one level to the next.

· The original draft standard Describe the promotion of social justice and human rights (and corresponding ones at Levels 2 and 3) have been removed from the matrix because of duplication within the matrix. These standards are now more robust and the special essence of the above standard is covered in AS91042, Report on personal involvement in a social justice and human rights action.

Explanatory notes have been amended to:

· clarify the purpose and intention of the standard as described in the criteria

· define and clarify terms used in the criteria

· clarify the differentiation between Achieved, Merit and Excellence.

AS91039 (1.1) Describe how cultures change

· Title changed from Demonstrate understanding of cultural change to Describe how cultures change.

· Credit value changed from 6 to 4 to better reflect the amount of work and ensure credit parity with other standards at Level 1.

· Step-up from Achieved to Merit requires evidence of the processes that led to the change and consideration of contrasting points of view about the change. The step-up to Excellence requires an account of why the processes that led to the change were important for society.

AS91040 (1.2) Conduct a social inquiry

· Title changed from Conduct a social studies inquiry into the consequences of cultural change to Conduct a social inquiry.

· Credit value changed from 5 to 4 to better reflect the work involved and ensure credit parity with other standards at Level 1.

· Changes to explanatory notes for Achieved, Merit, Excellence to clarify the required standard.

· Social inquiry process broken up into three parts which need to be included in research questions - information, values and social action.

· Step-up from Achieved to Merit is in the quality and detail of the gathered information, including information about points of view and social actions. The step-up to Excellence is about a range of points of view.

AS91041 (1.3) Describe consequences of cultural change(s)

· Changed from internal to external assessment.

· Title changed from Describe the consequences of cultural change(s) for society to Describe consequences of cultural change(s).

· Credit value changed from 3 to 4 to better reflect the amount of work and ensure credit parity with other standards at Level 1.

· Additional explanatory notes included to clarify terminology.

AS1.6 changed to AS91043 (1.5) Describe a social justice and human rights action

· Credit value changed from 3 to 4 to better reflect the work involved and ensure credit parity with other standards at Level 1.

· To make the step-up more robust, the excellence statement includes evaluation of whether the action met the intended outcome.