National Certificate of Educational Achievement: Issues of Reliability, Validity and Manageability

Abstract

This paper examines the implications of the NCEA approach to standards-based assessment, in particular the reliability of assessment against separate achievement standards, and the pedagogical implications of the policy of non-aggregation. The paper argues that assessment against separate standards is unlikely to yield sufficiently reliable results to satisfy public credibility, and that the same focus is likely to foster a “bricks without mortar” approach to course design, delivery and assessment. The paper also argues that the NCEA involves manageability issues similar to that of unit standards. The recommendation is made that the designers of the NCEA rethink the basis by which internal and external assessments could be blended within a standards-based system so that the strengths of each approach to assessment are emphasised.