Summary

Introduction

In 2002 the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) was introduced and has been progressively replacing formal assessment at senior secondary school. A consequence of the new system is that more detailed information is available on senior secondary achievement. The Ministry's Demographic and Statistical Analysis Unit is currently undertaking an analysis project using this data from NZQA.

The first area of interest in this project was achievement of Māori medium students. Over the last ten years participation in education in te reo Māori has increased, particularly in Māori immersion (where 81-100% of instruction time is in te reo Māori). How well students are achieving in Māori medium settings and how they compare to Māori overall is of interest to many groups. The paper Māori achievement and achievement at Māori immersion and bilingual schools is the first of two papers utilising NZQA data to investigate these questions.

A summary of the findings is given on this page. The full report is available as a download at the bottom of this page.

Definitions

The paper discusses the achievement of 2003 candidates. A candidate is a student who has achieved at least one credit during the year.

An immersion school is where all students at the school receive 81-100% of their instruction in Māori.

A bilingual school is where all students at the school receive 12-100% of their instruction in Māori.

Key Findings

Māori Achievement

• The proportion of Māori candidates gaining qualifications is increasing faster than for non-Māori, though Māori candidates are still less likely than non-Māori candidates to gain a qualification. The proportion of Māori Year 11 candidates who gained an NCEA qualification grew from 36% in 2002 to 41% in 2003 – an increase of 5 percentage points.
• Just over half of the Year 11 Māori candidates who did not gain a qualification in 2002 stayed on at school and either completed a qualification or gained more credits towards a qualification in 2003.
• When compared with non-Māori, a disproportionate number of Māori Year 11 level 1 candidates did not meet the literacy and numeracy requirements for level 1 NCEA.

Achievement at Māori Immersion and Bilingual Schools

• Year 11 candidates at bilingual schools were very successful in meeting the literacy and numeracy requirements for an NCEA level 1.
• Year 11 immersion school candidates were not as successful at gaining both requirements as bilingual school candidates. However, they had a very high rate of meeting the literacy requirements.
• Over half of all candidates at immersion and bilingual schools gained an NCEA qualification.

Background

The National Qualifications Framework (NQF) defines what standards-based qualifications can be awarded by New Zealand educational institutions. The main qualification on the NQF available to secondary school students is the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA). NCEA level 1 was first available in 2002. Similarly, NCEA level 2 was first available in 2003, and NCEA level 3 is widely available from 2004 onwards.