Introduction
During 2000 the Ministry of Education invited Professor Paul Black of King's College, London to review the publicly available background papers relating to the development of the NCEA. This invitation was made in the context of providing quality assurance for the policy advice.
Professor Black's career began in Physics, and Physics Education. He has been involved in establishing the direction for qualifications and assessment in the United Kingdom. He was chairman of the Task Group on Assessment and Testing (TGAT) that began the curriculum reform process in the UK in the early 1980s. In recent years Professor Black has provided consultancy services for the OECD in these areas and is one of the world's most respected authorities on educational assessment.
Professor Black has provided a report to the Ministry, which is available from the Ministry of Education or for download from this web-page.
Professor Black raises a number of questions in his paper. He frames these with very clear statements of support for the intent of the policy, and seeks to ensure that the exploration of problems is seen within this context:
"There is a great deal that is to be commended in the plan proposed, but the positive welcome for these will be expressed rather briefly. Thus the fact that the bulk of the text is devoted to exploring problems should not be taken to be inconsistent with my general welcome for the proposals." (Section 1)
"Most of the points I have made in this paper do not call for any significant change in the plans as proposed. They do lean strongly in the direction of emphasis on the need for a dynamic and evolutionary implementation, and are formulated to indicate issues which might well deserve priority for consideration in such a framework." (Section 5.2)
Within the context of the general commendation, Professor Black identifies further throughout the paper a number of policy decisions, which he endorses. Further he expresses support for the stated intention to ensure an evolutionary approach to implementation, with ongoing monitoring and research.
He affirms the appropriateness of the level of detail provided in the achievement standards, and the use of exemplars, particularly where these provide analysis of actual student work to promote professional debate to inform judgement. He sees the potential of the system to enhance teachers' assessment knowledge and practices. He further reinforces the use of professional judgement in ensuring the continuity of standards.
The report identifies a number of sound principles on which the qualification is based. Key among these are:
- That in a society that is changing more rapidly than at any time in human history, young people have to be equipped with knowledge, skills and personal qualities which will enable them to take on new learning and changes of occupation throughout their lifetime.
- That all approaches, from external formal tests, through external assessment of work produced in less formal contexts, to internal assessments conducted by teachers in the context of normal classroom work, are to be used as appropriate.
- That the choice between these is to be decided both by their fitness for the purpose (i.e. in validity with respect to the educational aims of different types of work) and by issues of teachers' burdens, cost and public confidence.
- That assessment ought to be flexible in allowing credit to be gained for a variety of types, styles and contexts of students' work.
Black notes that the discussion re inclusion of both external and internal assessment rests on the issue of workload alone. He does not dispute the decision or the balance, but does question why the issues of public credibility and teacher capability were not equally canvassed in the discussion.
With respect to the philosophical and theoretical framework, Professor Black discusses 5 premises in further detail: