Assessment and Certification Rules and Procedures for Secondary Schools - 2008
5.2.2 NZQA Managed Systems
- Schools will have a submission date each year for sending material for moderation for standards selected from the school's assessment plan.
Managing National Assessment |
||
| b. | Managing National Assessment (MNA) is the term used to describe the processes for achieving valid, fair, accurate and consistent internal assessment in schools. It is a partnership between schools and The New Zealand Qualifications Authority. | |
| c. | MNA provides a transparent reporting system to schools on the quality of systems to assure assessor decisions. | |
| d. | MNA for NQF qualifications has two components:
|
|
| e. | Where external moderation or the assessment systems check reveals problems, The New Zealand Qualifications Authority may as appropriate
|
|
School Assessment Systems Check and MNA Report |
||
| f. | The Managing National Assessment report provides a summary of the findings of the school assessment systems check. | |
| g. | Schools have a systems check at least every three years unless significant problems in a report or identified by external moderation override that timeline. Schools will normally be notified in February if there is to be a visit during that year. | |
| h. | The New Zealand Qualifications Authority will conduct a school visit to interview middle management staff about the assessment systems their departments use to ensure assessment is valid, fair, consistent, reliable and accurate, and to the national standard. | |
| i. | The New Zealand Qualifications Authority will provide verbal feedback to the Principal at the end of the visit. This will be followed up by a written report, which includes analysis that highlights good practice, identifies weaknesses and suggests strategies for amending poor practice. | |
| j. | The MNA report is in draft form for two weeks, to allow the school to clarify any issues of factual accuracy or misunderstanding. Once agreement has been reached, or after two weeks, the report will become final. | |
| k. | Copies of the final report will be sent to the Principal and Chair of the Board and published on The New Zealand Qualifications Authority website. | |
| l. | The New Zealand Qualifications Authority will work with senior staff to address internal systems problems identified in the MNA report. |
|
| Questions Which May Be Asked or Information Sought During the School Assessment Systems Check Visit |  |
 |
External Moderation of Assessor Decisions |
|||
| m. | Trained moderators selected for their assessment and curriculum expertise carry out the external moderation of assessor decisions. All moderators are peer reviewed for quality control purposes. Moderators ensure the confidentiality and security of all assessment materials and assessed work belonging to schools and students. | ||
| n. | External moderation for the NQF is a mechanism by which NZQA can:
|
||
| o. | Each school will have one submission date between February and October. The submission date is established at the conclusion of the previous submission round when schools are advised which standards have been selected for moderation. | ||
| p. | Material for moderation must include a completed Moderation Cover Sheet and be placed in the appropriately labeled bag supplied by The New Zealand Qualifications Authority. | ||
| q. | For unit standards the school must send the relevant assessment activity, schedule and four samples of student work to arrive by the submission date. The four samples should exemplify the range of assessor judgements at or near the grade boundary. If fewer than four samples are submitted a reason should be noted on the Moderation Cover Sheet. | ||
| r. | For achievement standards the school must send the relevant assessment activity, schedule and eight samples of student work to arrive by the submission date. The eight samples should exemplify the range of assessor judgements at or near the grade boundaries. If fewer than eight samples are submitted a reason should be noted on the Moderation Cover Sheet. | ||
| s. | From July 2008 Random Sampling will become a feature of external moderation. This will have an effect on which samples are selected. | ||
| t. | Samples of student work may take the form of portfolios, written tests, research assignments, audiotapes, videotapes, photographs, CDs, models, computer discs, zip files or videos. When a recording is of a group the individual whose work is being submitted for moderation should be clearly identified for the moderator on the form Student Identification for Video/Audio Evidence. | ||
| u. | In the case of individual performances, recordings should include only the performance of students whose work is being submitted for moderation. | ||
| v. | Copies of completed moderation reports will be returned to the school along with the assessment material. | ||
| w. | The New Zealand Qualifications Authority provides a report to the Principal summarising information gained from the external moderation process for identified standards. The report identifies quality assessment practices and areas of weakness. Non-compliance is drawn to the school's attention in the report . | ||
| x. | Allegations of teachers providing undue assistance to candidates may result in an investigation being conducted under terms which parallel those of Breaches of the Rules-External Assessment. | ||
| y. | If a teacher wishes to lodge an appeal regarding the external moderation report, the Principal's Nominee must complete the Moderation Appeal Cover Sheet and send the material requested on the cover sheet to the school's School Relationship Manager at The New Zealand Qualifications Authority. | ||
Non-compliance |
|||
| z. | A school will be regarded as failing to comply when:
|
||
| aa. | When a school is considered to be non-compliant, follow-up action will normally rest with the School Relationship Manager in the first instance. | ||
| ab. | Where non-compliance continues, The New Zealand Qualifications Authority has the following legislative sanctions available:
|
||
5 School-based Assessment Rules and Procedures
5.1 Accreditation Requirements
5.1.1 Base Scope Accreditation for Schools (BSAS)
5.2 Moderation Requirements
5.2.1 Industry Training Organisation Managed Systems
5.2.2 NZQA Managed Systems
Last updated: 01 February 2008