Summary

Informing progress

This report is part a set of three reports:

• Summary: provides a brief overview of the tertiary education sector as the strategy was being implemented
• Cross-strategy indicators (this report): provides a detailed view of the overall health of the tertiary education system, using a set of enduring indicators against which broader changes can be monitored
• Expected contributions: provides a detailed view of the state of the tertiary education system with regard to the three areas of expected contribution and related priorities.

The information in these reports is intended to:

• inform decisions about the priorities for future funding allocations across the tertiary education sector
• provide the tertiary education organisations with a fuller, overall picture to inform their planning for the next funding round
• provide information that will help groups such as business and industry, Māori, iwi and Pasifika communities, to enter into discussions with tertiary education organisations on their needs and priorities.

These monitoring reports focus on the tertiary education system as the current strategy unfolded. The reports provide trend data to 2008 and include comment on the direction taken by tertiary education organisations in their 2008 to 2010 investment plans.

Purpose of monitoring

The purpose of monitoring the strategy is to provide ongoing timely information on the progress of the tertiary education system against the strategy. Monitoring can help make sense of the extent to which the intended changes are happening and to what degree. The monitoring information provides a broad picture that enables understanding of:

• the contribution of tertiary education to wider economic and social outcomes
• the general direction and trends in tertiary education in relation to the focus areas of the strategy
• overall progress towards the priority outcomes.

The results of the monitoring project will:

• inform Ministers of the overall progress being made against the strategy
• provide system-level, contextual information to inform ongoing planning and decisions by tertiary education organisations and the Tertiary Education Commission
• provide context for the monitoring of the Crown entities (Tertiary Education Commission, New Zealand Qualifications Authority and Career Services)
• provide alerts to any possible need to reconsider the policy mix
• feed into further developments of the strategy and associated priorities.

Roles and relationships

The Ministry of Education leads the work on monitoring the strategy and is responsible for the publication of reports. The project draws on and synthesises a wide range of monitoring information that is already being collected and developed across a number of departments, ministries and agencies. It complements these activities by bringing together a broad overview of change and achievement.

The Tertiary Education Commission is responsible for monitoring the performance of tertiary education organisations against their agreed performance measures, while ensuring there is a coherent network of tertiary education provision.

The New Zealand Qualifications Authority is responsible for quality assurance of tertiary education (with the exception of the universities), including developing self-evaluation standards for providers to assess their own performance and identify areas for improvement.

The Ministry works in close collaboration with the Tertiary Education Commission and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority to ensure that the overall monitoring of the tertiary education system is connected and aligned, and to avoid duplication of effort.

Similarly, the Ministry works with the Department of Labour with regard to monitoring skills and labour market outcomes, with the Ministry of Economic Development with regard to monitoring economic transformation and with the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology with regard to monitoring knowledge development and transfer.

Approach to monitoring

Monitoring of the strategy uses a mix of quantitative indicators that can provide measures of change over time, balanced with qualitative information that can provide information on areas that are harder to measure meaningfully through quantitative data. There is also a mix of lead indicators, which provide information on change underway, and lag indicators, which provide information on achievements.

A narrow focus on indicators could easily miss the 'real' story. The system may be 'scoring' well on a whole range of indicators but not making the substantive shifts as indicated by the strategy – or the other way around. The challenge of monitoring, therefore, is to highlight the overall messages, not just report on indicators.

Monitoring can only provide a partial and selective view of change across a system that is as complex and dynamic as tertiary education. Therefore, the results need to be considered alongside other information, such as research and expert advice.

The current strategy sets out new areas of challenge for the tertiary education system. In a number of these areas there is a lack of current, robust data to assess progress. In many cases, this data will become available over time.