NCEA Analysis

Waihi College Compared

NZQA has released the data for participation results for all of the country (it was part of Sunday newspapers).  This can become a snapshot of where we got to last year and refocus our collective efforts on getting as many of our students qualified.  I felt it would be interested in looking at the data.  I’ve created a spreadsheet with all of NZ schools (469 in total) and then created pages just with Decile Four schools and then with the local schools.  You can see we had a very pleasing year particularly with significant increases in the pass rates for Level One (12.8%) and Two (6.9%).  

The following powerpoint was presented to staff to encourage good conversation about getting our students through the national qualification system.  

Waihi college's place in the world ncea analysis april 2016 from WaihiCollege

This post is related to RTC #1. "Establish and maintain effective professional relationships focused on the learning and well-being of ākonga." And RTC #7. "Promote a collaborative, inclusive and supportive learning environment part ii. foster trust, respect and cooperation with and among ākonga.  And ERO's School Evaluation Indicators Domain 4 "students have an effecive, sufficient and equitable opportunities to learn - Explicit instruction in learning startegies (such as goal setting, self monitoring and deliberate practice) strengthens learner ability to take control of their learning)." 

Class Numbers and Students Changing Classes

Managing Students into Classes.  

The following presentation was made to staff in recognition of the pressures of the new year.  Waihi College is working through a change in the demographic of students in the school.  

Our intention here is to let staff know that we understand where they're at and to explain how we've got to where we are and to explain the next steps.  

Much is made of the effects of class size.  Any experienced teacher knows that you can afford more time with students in a smaller class.  At Waihi College we've aimed primarily to get students into appropriate classes (for interest/talent/vocational direction) and then to manage the size (aiming to keep below 30).  

Student Numbers and Class Sizes March 2016 from WaihiCollege

This post is related to RTC #7. "Promote a collaborative, inclusive and supportive learning environment part ii. foster trust, respect and cooperation with and among ākonga." And ERO's School Evaluation Indicators Domain 4 "Responsive curriculum, effective teaching and opportunity to learn - students have effective, sufficent and equitable opportunities to learn".

What Is A Good Learner

Shared Understanding of Learning

We've all been there - sitting in the first week of a new school year looking over the class list/photo's thinking about those 30 odd students we've just met.

The honeymoon is a nice stage pretty much students are working on those first impressions.  Teachers are working on the 'don't smile until Easter'.  The students will be weighing up what sort of teacher they've got and teachers are thinking what kind of learners they've been timetabled.  What specifically is it that students are trying to project?  What characteristics are the teachers looking/hoping for?  

An interesting exercise has been to see if there is a shared understanding of whether students and teachers have the same ideas about what makes a good learner. 

An early staff meeting this term I presented the following presentation.

What does it mean to be a good learner? from WaihiCollege

Part of this professional development programme was to survey staff on the characteristics of good learners.  I've also interviewed fifty students and asked them the same question.  

What was very interesting was that although there was much middle ground between what teachers and students viewed as good teaching there was very significant differences. 

Perhaps the most obvious difference was that the students view 'good learning' as physical actions; like 'listening' and 'neat books' or 'good test results'.  For teachers the most common view was the dispositions of mind 'collaborative' or 'determination'.  

I think that this is a valuable observation.  That our young people haven't yet thought deeper about education and their larger role in the learning.  I think that there are good messages that can move our students to a more empowered space as learners.  

This post relates to RTC #8. "Demonstrate in practice their knowledge and understanding of how ākonga learn - iii. encourage ākonga to take responsibility for their own learning and behaviour 
iv. assist ākonga to think critically about information and ideas and to reflect on their learning." 

And ERO's School Evaluation Indicators Domain 4 "Responsive Curriculum, Effective Teaching and Opportunity to Learn - students develop learning to learn capabilities."

Educating Boys'

Males and NCEA

I began my teaching career in a traditional single sex boys high school.  My initial years were grounded in School Certificate, Six Form Certificate and Bursary - these were systems that I was familiar with (I was a product of them myself).  

Peter Lyons - Otago Daily Times

An opinion piece by Peter Lyons (an economics teacher from St Peter's in Auckland) in the New Zealand Herald (click here) raises the issue of gender inequality in education - specifically in NCEA qualifications.  Whilst acknowledging the pitfalls of making generalised statements Lyon's points out that "NCEA is a standards-based assessment system. Many boys seem to adopt the attitude that meeting the minimum standard will suffice."

I wanted to know how reflective this statement would be for us here at Waihi College.  Do we in fact have results that reflect boys struggling in NCEA compared with the girls (and if so what does that mean for us as an educational institution)?

Here are some of our NCEA results from last year...  Level One 2014 had Girls endorsed with Excellence 6.3% (boys were at 3.3%) Girls endorsed with Merit 46.9% (boys were at 23.3%).  Similar results existed for Level Two. Level Three was more even.  So it would not be out of place to say that girls have twice the rate of excelling in NCEA than the boys last year in NCEA.  

Some of the specific issues Lyon has with NCEA include the lack of competitiveness and that instructional nature of assessments; "Boys are also generally less inclined to read instructions carefully. NCEA assessments are laden with instructions, assessment criteria and much additional reading material that camouflages the actual questions that need to be answered."  This are observations which I tend to agree with.  

So what is it that can be done by teachers here at Waihi College to counter these?  I would strongly suggest that regular review of the progress of students through NCEA (one of the core roles of the senior Pouako) would add to the competitive nature among boys.  We have annual goals around endorsement (L1 3 x Exc + 21 x Mer : L2 5 x Exc + 20 x Mer : L3 3 x Exc + 6 x Mer) - we will need boys to be better represented to gain these rates.  

Opportunities and expectations around internal assessments are key.  Are boys not taking the opportunities for 'sign posting' or re-submissions or resits?  Teachers having real conversations about the high expectations for our boys is key.  Are we pushing our boys and creating that environment of excellence?  In ERO's School Evaluation Indicators Domain 4 : Responsive curriculum, effective teaching and opportunity to learn "teachers and students co-construct realistic and challenging learning goals..." 

This post is related to RTC #1. "Establish and maintain effective professional relationships focused on the learning and well-being of ākonga." And RTC #7. "Promote a collaborative, inclusive and supportive learning environment part ii. foster trust, respect and cooperation with and among ākonga.  And ERO's School Evaluation Indicators Domain 4.