Lauren Burr

1. The Review of Achievement Standards and the NCEA Change Package Lauren Burr

2. NCEA Review Understanding the Changes to NCEA & The Review of Achievement StandardsLauren Burr – Senior AdviserMinistry of Educationlauren.burr@education.govt.nz NZAMT16 2019

3. What’s happened so far • NCEA requires a regulatory review every five years. • Last year, we asked all New Zealanders three things: • What they liked about NCEA • What wasn’t working • What would they do to make NCEA better? • With New Zealand’s help, we discovered definite areas where NCEA could be strengthened. Over 16,000 people engaged with us. • Using what we’ve heard, along with data and evidence, the Ministerial and Professional Advisory Groups and the Ministry of Education have come up witha set of changes for NCEA.

4. What we heard

5. Making shifts to strengthen NCEA

7. Make NCEA more accessible Aligned with principles: Equity & Inclusion, Wellbeing • NCEA fees will be removed from this year (including scholarship) • Where possible, Special Assessment Conditions (SAC) will be made available and easily accessible to anyone. Students with disabilities and learning support needs will be provided with equal opportunities to achieve. • The application process for more specialised SAC is simplified • Achievement standards will be accessible and inclusive by design so that everyone has an equal opportunity to achieve, and the need to apply for a SAC is reduced.

8. Mana ōritemō te mātauranga Māori Aligned with principles: Equity & Inclusion, Coherence, Pathways • We want to ensure there is equal status, support and resourcing for mātauranga Māori in NCEA, and that greater opportunities for students to follow mātauranga Māori pathways are available. • Teao Māori and mātauranga Māori are built into the outcome statements as part of the new ‘graduate profile’ for NCEA and in the design of achievement standards • We will develop new Achievement Standards and assessment resources derived from TeMarautanga o Aotearoa • We will work closely with Māori – in both Māori medium and English medium education and in the wider community, including iwi, hapū and whānau – to design what this looks like in practice.

9. Currently, 40% of Level 2 NCEA graduates are not sufficiently literate or numerate*. * Alignment of literacy and numeracy measures – TEC report 2014.

10. Strengthen literacy and numeracy requirements Aligned with principles: Coherence, Credibility • NCEA literacy and numeracy requirements will be replaced with a package of new external standards (10 credits for literacy, 10 for numeracy), set to a standardised benchmark which must be met to gain any level of NCEA. • The 20 credit literacy and numeracy requirement does not contribute towards the 60 credits needed for each level of NCEA (it’s a co-requisite) • It has been proposed that students will be able to meet the standard whenever they are ready, which may be as early as year 7, however we want to hear from you if this is the right level. • Existing tools will be used to help teachers make good, valid judgement on literacy and numeracy, to assess students whenever they are ready. These standards will be assessed externally.

11. School chooses Fragmented learning How learning can become fragmented English Student chooses

12. Have fewer, larger standards Aligned with principles: Coherence, Credibility, Wellbeing • The standards in each subject are rebuilt so there are fewer of them, but each covers a broader range of knowledge and skills: • Each standard worth between 4 to 6 credits with around 20 credits per subject. • The number of credits available from internally and externally assessed standards (not necessarily exams) rebalanced to a 50:50 split, with some exceptions. • When creating courses, schools and Tertiary Education Organisations will still have freedom of choice and will not be required to use specific standards • The Review of Achievement Standards (RAS) will deliver most of this.

13. Internal Assessment Internal Assessment Mathematics and Statistics Psychology Can schools still offer integrated courses? External Assessment External Assessment Integrated course e.g. Sociological Research

14. Unit Standard Tourism Mathematics and Statistics Achievement Standard Unit Standard Achievement Standard Integrated course e.g. Adventure Park Design

15. Simplify NCEA’s structure Aligned with principles: Coherence, Wellbeing • We will remove the ability to ‘carry-over’ 20 credits from a lower level NCEA, and make each level of NCEA a 60 credit qualification. • We will also introduce clear guidance on the number of credits that a student should enter each year: 120 credits at level 1 and 2, and 100 credits at level 3. • Resubmissions will be limited to taking students from ‘Not Achieved’ to ‘Achieved’.

16. Show clearer pathways to further education and employment Aligned with principles: Coherence, Pathways • Develop Vocational Entrance (VE) Award • Strengthen industry-derived standards • Develop a clear ‘graduate profile’ for each level of NCEA • Re-design Record of Achievement (RoA) to make it clear what the student has achieved, including adding course endorsements for ‘Achieved’ grades • Enhance Vocational Pathways to improve effectiveness as a navigation and planning tool

17. Keep NCEA Level 1 as an optional level Aligned with principles: Coherence, Wellbeing • We want to keep NCEA Level 1 for schools who wish to continue to use this qualification. • Others are free to adopt alternative approaches to Year 11, in a way that best meets the needs of their students • We will rebuild Level 1 as a broad foundational qualification with re-shaped standards which enable wide exploration across a broad range of Learning Areas | WāhangaAko.

18. Timeline for design and implementation 2025 Nov Dec 2020 Oct June July Aug May The Ministry is due to provide Cabinet with the final change package including detailed implementation plan Minister announces change package Implementation of NCEA changes across levels 1-3 Focus one – Ensure people fully understand the change package and are preparing for change Focus two – Undertake detailed design with targeted groups (ongoing into 2020 and beyond) Focus three – gather the necessary insights from key groups to support the implementation Review of Achievement Standards – Systematic revision of all achievement standards and resources

19. Review of Achievement Standards • We need to review all achievement standards derived from the National Curriculum – both the New Zealand Curriculum and TeMarautanga o Aotearoa. • Most standards have not been systematically reviewed for five years or more. • We will be reviewing and replacing: • - All subject matrices • - All achievement standards • - All assessment resources, TLGs and exemplars • We will be expanding supports to include three assessment tasks and additional exemplars for each reviewed standard. • This is an opportunity to action the outcomes of the NCEA Review that relate to achievement standards and resources.

20. Review of Achievement Standards 2025 2023 2024 2020 2022 2021 2019 Planning Process trial Pilot subjects start Fully implemented Expiry Transition (old and new standards available) Trialling & revision Identify big ideas Develop new matrix Draft L1 standards and assessment tasks Level 1 Expiry Trialling & revision Fully implemented Transition (old and new standards available) Draft L2 standards and assessment tasks Level 2 Expiry Fully implemented Transition (old and new standards available) Trialling & revision Draft L3 achievement standards and assessment tasks Level 3

21. Who is informing the parameters of the Review of Achievement Standards (RAS)? • An Achievement Standards Technical Evaluation Committee (ASTEC) provides expert and academic advice and support as the Ministry develops the operating model, underlying principles and framework for the RAS. • A large RAS Reference Group made up of subject association representatives and curriculum experts from across the New Zealand Curriculum and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa provides advice and support to the Ministry. • Subject Expert Groups will be appointed to design the new learning and assessment matrices and supporting resources. They include teachers, academics, Māori and Pacific members with expertise in the subject, and industry representatives (where appropriate).

22. Big ideas, significant learning, asessment • Individual Subject Expert Groups are leading the work to identify the big ideas that underpin the significant learning in each learning area. • They will use a consultation process to ensure that the sector can meaningfully contribute. Learning matrix Curriculum Big ideas in Maths and Stats Significant learning in each subject Assessment matrix

23. What does ‘significant learning’ look like? There are several ‘big ideas’ in Science. One is about the concept of energy. e.g. The total amount of energy in the Universe is always the same, but can be transferred from one energy store to another during an event. This ‘big idea’ about energy is explored through the various strands/subjects within Science with concepts being developed in a specific sequence. Big Idea Biology AgHort • Transferring the maximum amount of solar energy into biomass • Energy flows through ecosystems • Energy (ATP) within cell processes Earth & Space Science Physics Chemistry • Kinematics • Electricity • Nuclear physics • Energy drives Earth and ocean systems • Thermodynamics

24. Trial Subject: Science (focus on Level 1) • They have started the RAS process and are completing a truncated version to check the system • They will continue with the full process next year after consultation

25. Pilot subjects: Visual Arts, Religious Studies and English • They have started the RAS process and are running through the entire process ahead of the other subjects • Part 1 to be completed this year includes producing • a teaching, learning and assessment guide • a learning matrix • assessment matrix • outlines of the 4 standards • Part 2 to be completed in the first half of next year includes producing • completed standards • conditions of assessment • internal assessment activities • external assessment briefs • external assessment specification and sample assessment

26. Opportunities for involvement • Subject Expert Groups: Will describe significant learning at subject level, shape the matrix, standards and supports and direct the writing teams. Our plan is to call for expressions of interests next term. We need teachers, academics, Māori and Pacific members with expertise in the subject, and industry representatives (where appropriate) • Feedback: Multiple consultation points during matrix and standards drafting • Trial new standards: Be a trial school from 2021 and be supported to provide feedback on how the new standards and resources work in schools

27. Opportunities for Maths and Stats To re-focus achievement standards on the really important learning To take advantage of different forms of external assessment that align with social sciences To review and redefine the important contexts through assessment activities To refresh courses at the school level To address current known problems and negative Others?

28. Questions Lauren Burr Lauren.Burr@education.govt.nz