Curriculum and Assessment

Introduction

This page provides information on current initiatives around curriculum and assessment.

The New Zealand Curriculum

NZEI contributes to the development of the Curriculum through regular meetings with the Ministry of Education, representation and advocacy on the Ministry’s national advisory groups provision of feedback from NZEI members, and formally through submissions. Read NZEI's submissions on curriculum and other issues.

The New Zealand Curriculum provides an opportunity for new directions and new thinking. To achieve these there are four necessary conditions: enlightened leadership, ongoing professional learning, regular review and time! While The New Zealand Curriculum becomes the official curriculum from February 2010, it needs to be understood that deep and worthwhile development will need to go on well beyond that date.

The New Zealand Curriculum is a significant change for schools and has workload implications for school staff. NZEI is seeking provision of two days professional development release for all teachers for the next three years to develop their implementation plan, in consultation with community and other staff. This is necessary to ensure the New Zealand Curriculum is successfully introduced and sufficiently embedded in schools to support quality teaching and learning.

NZEI Initiatives

At the request of the principals’ councils of both NZEI and PPTA, an online survey (June 2008) for principals was developed to gauge their schools’ opportunities to participate in professional learning to support implementation of the New Zealand Curriculum. The results of the survey were presented at the Ministry of Education’s Curriculum Advisory Group.

NZEI received Ministry of Education funding and support to produce a comprehensive DVD/Online resource to clarify the intent, spirit and content of The New Zealand Curriculum. The resource aims to help principals review their current curriculum, assessment and school practices and align their school curriculum with the intent of the NZC. As part of NZEI’s professional support for teachers and principals, the DVD will be provided free to all primary and intermediate schools in Term 3 2009. It will be supported by a print booklet and will be available online via NZEI’s website as the base for further information on the NZC.

• View or download a copy of the The Connected Curriculum.
• Visit the New Zealand Curriculum website.

Purposeful Assessment

Assessment must be reliable and assist students' learning; and be manageable and meaningful for teachers, students and parents. Information gathered by schools should be used to inform practice, teachers, boards and government. NZEI opposes 'national testing' because research shows it does not enhance individual students' learning. Assessment of key competencies by students using their knowledge and skills is supported.

New Zealand has a range of sophisticated world-standard assessment tools that have the potential to provide rich information to teachers, students, parents and boards of trustees about student progress. The Education Review Office expects that schools will use a range of assessment practices to gather information on the progress and achievement of students.

The requirements for assessment and reporting are given in the National Administration Guidelines (NAG 1 ii). These are stated in ways that allow schools to interpret the requirements in ways that fit with their priorities and intentions. Importantly these interpretations need to be shown to be consistent with the general intent of the National Administration guidelines, namely, that

Each Board of Trustees, through the principal and staff, is also required:

• To gather information that is sufficiently comprehensive to enable evaluation of student progress and achievement
• To identify students and groups of students who are not achieving, who are at risk of not achieving, and who have special needs, and to identify aspects of the curriculum which require particular attention
• In consultation with the school’s Maori community, to develop and make known plans and targets for improving the achievement of Maori students.

These requirements give schools considerable responsibility and scope for deciding what they will assess, how they will assess, and the approaches and “tools’ they will choose to use.

NZEI Initiative

In May 2008 the National President hosted a symposium which included representatives from literacy and assessment experts, Government education agencies and practitioners.

The purpose of the symposium was:

• to have an open and frank discussion on why the results from the Progress in International Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2005-06 are as they are
• to explore New Zealand’s results considering a range of possible factors, for example, infrastructural, organisational and teaching practices from broad perspectives
• to identify areas where further investigation or change is required.

NZEI wanted to:

• create teacher confidence in strategies and programmes that are currently in use
• provide a realistic picture of literacy strategies – what teachers do and why?
• acknowledge the contribution made by teachers and empower them
• identify issues that may require further investigation.

In October 2008 similar discussions were held with three focus groups of primary teachers in New Plymouth, Hamilton and Nelson. Following on from the success of these discussions a small group of facilitators throughout New Zealand have been trained and a further three focus groups of primary teachers, with local facilitation, were held in Whangarei, Tauranga and Greymouth (June 2009). A module on national standards has been added to the June 2009 focus groups’ discussion.