3 June 2020
Kieran Gainsford
[FYI request #12674 email]
Dear Kieran
Thank you for your email of 21 April 2020 requesting the following information under the
Official Information Act 1982 (the Act):
•
Any survey response data (including verbatim comments), received from the survey
which was called "Review of Achievement Standards (RAS) - Pilot Phase: Science". I
am specifically requesting the raw survey response data in full, subject to any relevant
redactions for privacy reasons.
•
Any analyses conducted, or reports, advice or summaries written up to and including
the date this request is received, from responses to the survey which was called
"Review of Achievement Standards (RAS) – Pilot Phase: Science". As an example
from a previous consultation process of the nature of information I am requesting, I
refer you to the documents produced by the Ministry relating to the Tomorrow's
Schools Review Survey, namely the documents entitled "Tomorrow’s Schools Review
Quick Survey Detailed Analysis", "Tomorrow’s Schools Review Detailed Survey
Report", and "The Tomorrow’s Schools Review 2019 Survey Report".
•
Any submission data (including verbatim comments) and analyses thereof relating to
formal submissions received by the Ministry relating to the feedback process for the
Review of Achievement Standards pilot phase for Science. This should include raw
submissions, subject to any appropriate redactions. As an example of the nature of the
information I am requesting, I refer you to the documents produced by the Ministry
relating to submissions received during the Tomorrow's School's Review process,
namely "METIS 1071138 - Summary and Analysis of Submissions - Tomorrow's
Schools Review 2018" and "Tomorrow's Schools Review - summary of submissions at
29 May 2019"
•
Any reports or advice written up to and including the date this request is received
relating to formal submissions received during the feedback process for the Review of
Achievement Standards pilot phase for Science. As an example of the type of
information I am requesting, I refer you to the document produced by the Ministry
relating to the Tomorrow's Schools Review Survey, entitled "Summary of Submissions
Report: Based on the Tomorrow’s Schools Independent Taskforce Interim Report".
Your request has been considered under the Act.
OIA: 1226463
National Of ice, Mātauranga House, 33 Bowen Street, Wellington 6011
PO Box 1666, Wel ington 6140. Phone: +64 4 463 8000 Fax: +64 4 463 8001
e ducation.govt.nz
To provide some historical context to your request it is important to note that science was one
of four trial and pilot subjects as part of the ministry’s NCEA Change Package (May 2019)
which aims to make our senior secondary qualification more robust, consistent, and accessible
for all students. An important underpinning of the review is for NCEA Level 1 to become a
broader, foundational qualification across a wide range of Learning Areas while Levels 2 and
3 become more specialised.
In response to the first part of your request, for the raw survey data in full, please find the
information you have requested in the spreadsheet attached to this letter as
Appendix A. The
Science Trial and Pilots products were published for consultation on CitizenSpace on the
Kōrero Mātauranga section of the Ministry’s website accessible from 10 December 2019.
Some information has been withheld under section 9(2)(a) of the Act, to protect the privacy of
natural persons. This information includes verbatim submission data, answering the third part
of your request, in part, as well.
We have identified three documents in scope of your requests for analyses, reports, advice
and summaries relating to the survey and submissions (parts 2-4 of your request). Please find
these documents attached as
Appendices B, C, and D. I have prepared the following
contextual information about these documents:
• In order to collate the responses for a scheduled Science Subject Expert Group
(SEG) meeting, an interim report was produced on Tuesday February 13 2020
(
Appendix B). As this interim report was produced before the close of consultation,
it may not accurately reflect the final distribution of responses. The comments in
red represent some initial observations noted by the Ministry Senior Advisor who
facilitates the Science SEG.
• A compilation of CitizenSpace feedback was collated on 14 February 2020
(
Appendix D) with a column of ‘Things to Think About’ to highlight to SEG
members the recurring suggestions or themes to emerge from the engagement.
This was deemed necessary due to the volume of feedback received.
• This compilation was then processed further into an easy-to-use discussion
document (
Appendix C) for the SEG to refer to in an upcoming Zoom meeting and
to help inform them so they could prepare an appropriate response to the feedback.
The SEG response is publicly available on Citizen Space at
https:/ consultation.education.govt.nz/ncea/sector-feedback-science/.
The volume of feedback through the Trial & Pilots public engagement was considerable. The
Ministry ensured that each SEG that was involved developing the products (including the
Science SEG) had the opportunity to consider the feedback and revise their recommended
approach. It is important to note that the Trial & Pilots initiative remains ongoing and is not yet
complete. The Ministry welcomes all feedback and is committed to listening to the whole range
of perspectives being expressed.
Please note that the engagement on the provisional subject list for NCEA Level 1 has been
extended provisionally to 20 June. The Ministry has also met with SEGs to discuss the
provisional list. Feedback we receive wil be considered before final decisions are made on
the Level 1 subjects. Once final, we are commit ed to proactively releasing the official
information on the final decisions.
education.govt.nz
Thank you again for your email. If you have any further queries about this matter please direct
these to
[email address]. You also have the right to ask an Ombudsman
to review our decision on your information request. You can do this by writing to
[email address] or Office of the Ombudsman, PO Box 10152, Wel ington
6143.
Yours sincerely
El en MacGregor-Reid
Deputy Secretary
Early Learning and Student Achievement
education.govt.nz
