Students speak out on NCEA

Stephen Whittington and Sam Coombes from Wellington College recently gave their views on NCEA during a meeting held at their school for parents. The year 11 students used speeches that they had already been assessed on for English as the basis for their address at the meeting.

English teacher Margaret Adeane says some of her students, including Sam and Stephen, had been turning in exceptional work for their public speaking assessment.

"It is good for students to actually write a speech and get assessed on delivering it, rather than having to write about it in an exam."

Sam, Stephen and Wellington College kindly agreed to let QA News reprint their speeches here so that others could get a student perspective on NCEA.

Sam Coombes

My name is Sam Coombes and I am a year 11 student. Let me share some thoughts with you this evening.

NCEA is a revolutionary new system that shakes the tree and rocks the established order.

Controversial ? - Yes
Flaws ? - Some
Should we have it? - Perhaps
So, let us look at NCEA.

The human race is competitive and most students are human, although some teachers would not agree, and we like to know where we stand in relation to others.

NCEA does not address this adequately. There is not enough distinction between the grades - Not Achieved, Achieved, Merit and Excellence. For example, a student who would have scored 95 percent is given the same Excellence grade as the student who scored 85 percent. Is this fair? No it is not.

(This actually happened to me in accounting. It was an internal assessment that consisted of four papers. I achieved Excellence in three of the criteria and the fourth one Merit. What do you think my overall grade was? - Merit... I was quite upset with that.)

Another problem is that there does not appear to be a universal marking standard, therefore a student getting Merit in Otago could easily be marked as Achievement in Auckland. Again, not fair.

Now the positives

Under the new system, we must work consistently hard throughout the year. In addition, we can now get particular parts of a subject recognised. For example, in English, creative writing might be a strength and if you do well in this you get rewarded with Excellence. This is good for your self-esteem and personal satisfaction.

Another advantage is the fact that I can sit the internal assessments again. Some ask is this fair? I say definitely. After all, you do not put up a building if the foundations are shaky.

In conclusion

I like the idea of being able to work throughout the year and have my work assessed knowing that it counts towards my final mark at the end of the year. However, we must address the marking system so that it reflects individual achievement. I am speaking on behalf of all students.

Stephen Whittington

I'm Stephen Whittington and tonight I've come to talk to you about NCEA from a student's perspective. NCEA has many benefits from the point of view of a student, and a few disadvantages, which I will talk about later on.

As a student, I quite like NCEA as I see it as a system that enables me to be assessed on things that previously weren't able to be assessed, like public speaking and media presentations. Under the School Certificate system, we weren't assessed on these. Public speaking is a major part of English, and should definitely be assessed. In Latin we're working towards unit standards for Latin dictation, and Latin speaking, qualifications which weren't assessed previously but show a learning area that's an integral part of Latin. I think NCEA is beneficial as it assesses us on important parts of subjects that weren't assessed before.

At first I was a bit sceptical as to how moderation would be done, and standards between schools upheld. But they have been. For example, earlier this year in History, students handed in the achievement standard 1.1 which was gathering resources for study and commenting on their appropriateness. When we got the marks back, many students were quite angry at the mark they had received, saying they'd been marked down for silly reasons with pedantic marking schedules. The assessments were sent in for moderation, and on the reassessment opportunity the majority of students received a grade they were happy with.

Students also find it quite useful that all resources and information can be easily found on the NCEA website, making it easier to double-check criteria and marking schedules.

My main criticism of NCEA is that it doesn't really give students an update on their progress. Students are simply told what they got in an assessment, and because there are only three areas where they can achieve a standard, there are huge differences in the work, even in the same category.

For example, the difference between work of a meritorious standard is huge, but students are not told if their work is of a high merit or low merit standard. If students were told this, they would know exactly where they stood, and would be able to improve or continue to be consistent throughout the year. Achievement, Merit and Excellence contain such a wide difference in marks that students can no longer compete.

I'd like NCEA more if we were given a better indication of how we achieved as opposed to lumping us together in huge groups where the quality in work of some students is quite clearly better than that of another who received the same mark. To put it into School C terms, we're told we got somewhere in between 50 and 75%, but not told where exactly. And the difference between the two marks is huge. It could be at the bottom, or the top. I'd prefer NCEA if we were given more specific marks.

Many students complain of being overworked, but for me I don't really see it as too much of a problem. The way I see it is that we're getting rid of some of the work over the year, so there won't be as greater importance on the exams at the end of the year. We're not learning things in May for November. We're learning things to use as we learn, which I think creates a better understanding of what we've been taught.

For example, in English, we're taught about drama, and then it's assessed within the next fortnight. I find that this helps me get a grasp of it as opposed to having to remember it until the end of year exam, and then forgetting it straight afterwards. I agree that I'm certainly working harder than I did last year, but I think the step up in work between 4th and 5th form even under School C was similar. And also, I don't think I'll end up studying as much at the end of year exams as they won't control my whole year's mark, and won't assess as much, so it should basically even out. I don't see being overworked as a problem as I won't have to be studying towards an exam that dictates my year's mark.

I like NCEA because essentially it creates opportunities for assessments that weren't there previously, giving us a wider understanding of our subjects. I'd like it more if we were given an insight into how we achieved as opposed to lumping us together in huge groups where the difference in the standard of work is phenomenal. I also find that learning things, then putting them into use creates a better understanding of what we've just been taught.

I like NCEA, but can see it being a better education system if the fields are narrowed, so students know exactly how they achieved.