Alignment of achievement standards with the New Zealand Curriculum - Consultation

To all TENZ members

Alignment of achievement standards with the New Zealand Curriculum – Consultation

The first phase of consultation was coordinated by TENZ and a summary of the responses was published in the May 2009 issue of  t-news. (www.tenz.org.nz/t-news/t-news-no36-may-09.pdf)

The draft Level 1 achievement standards with additional support material have now been released by the Ministry of Education for a second round of consultation and can be accessed at:
http://www.tki.org.nz/e/community/ncea/technology.php

Consultation relating to the Standards Alignment process is no longer being coordinated by individual subject associations, but is being managed on behalf of the Ministry by Research NZ.

The TENZ National Council was disappointed with relatively low number of responses to the initial web based consultation material. However significant issues and concerns were able to be identified from this feedback and it is clear that these will need to be adequately addressed if effective engagement of teachers is to occur during the alignment process and in the subsequent implementation phase.

We therefore strongly encourage all TENZ members to make time to consider the amendments to the matrix and the structure of the Level 1 standards and to engage in wider discussion with colleagues before completing the web based consultation questionnaire.

Relevant points for consideration in terms of the structure of the standards include:

• How well does the knowledge and/or skills the standards are asking students to demonstrate align with the achievement objectives in the curriculum?
• How can students demonstrate or present evidence for the competencies described in the standards to teachers and assessors, and what will this evidence look like?

• Do the credits attached to the draft standards adequately reflect the time required for students to learn the competencies asked for in the standards and present evidence of these competencies?  
• Do the grade distinctions, as presented in the standards, clearly differentiate student achievement based on the quality of the evidence they can present and the extent to which they have demonstrated a higher level of competency?

• Will you be to write valid and reliable assessment activities (units) that enable students to present evidence that accurately and consistentlyreflects the competencies required by the standards, if not what are the difficulties that you see?

To access the web site for consultation, go to:
survey.researchnz.com/mrIWeb/mrIWeb.dll?I.Project=W3962Reg

We would welcome a copy of any specific comment you make in relation to the draft material as presented. These comments can be forwarded to TENZ@ipenz.org.nz   - please put ‘SAP consultation’ in the subject line.

Online feedback must be completed by 3 July

Regards

Wendy Fox-Turnbull
Chairperson
TENZ National Council