NZQA handout far cry from glowing NCEA reports

new-zealand-national-party

Mon Mar 19 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

NZQA handout far cry from glowing NCEA reports

Monday, 19 March 2007, 3:53 pm
Press Release: New Zealand National Party

Katherine Rich MP
National Party Education Spokeswoman

19 March 2007

NZQA handout a far cry from Maharey’s glowing NCEA reports

Information being handed out by NZQA is making some Auckland Principals feel like they are in the business of credit farming, not giving kids an education, says National’s Education spokeswoman, Katherine Rich.

“An NZQA handout titled ‘Tell the Story Behind Your Statistics’ tells Principals to ‘trumpet successes’ in NCEA and ‘to identify weaknesses and make improvements’ - a call to action far removed from the Minister’s belief that nothing is wrong with NCEA in its present form.

“Notes to Principals suggest ‘more flexible use Unit Standards’ instead of more difficult Achievement Standards to increase results and say ‘careful targeting of key internal standards,’ rather than externally assessed parts, is another way of upping results.

“I appreciate that NZQA hopes such information will assist schools, but the impression being given is that these are ways of manipulating results for positive effect.

“For important literacy credits the handout asks ‘could achievement have been higher with more tailored entries and more use of unit standards?’ - effectively suggesting cherry picking easier parts of a course.

“Many people use literacy credits as an indication of a student’s ability to read and write at a functional level. If they aren't a good reflection of how literate or numerate a student is, then a false impression of achievement is created.

“The Minister continues to congratulate himself about improvements in NCEA results.

“The question is; are students learning more and getting a better education, or are they just getting more NCEA credits?”

ENDS

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