The Teachers Conceptions of Assessment Inventory was used to investigate New Zealand teachers' beliefs about assessment. The participating sample comprised teachers who work almost exclusively at the senior level of high school and are responsible for school-based assessment programmes that contribute at least 50% of students' final grades towards…

The New Zealand National Qualifications Framework (NQF) is a new qualifications, credit, and assessment system. This report explores the difference the NQF makes for young people. It is the first report of a longitudinal study that will follow two cohorts of students in seven North Island (New Zealand) high schools to see the impact the NQF has on…

When the New Zealand Qualifications Authority began designing the National Qualifications Framework, it was discovered that the modular studies program in Tikipunga High School was a model of the type of preparation needed to implement the framework. Characteristics of the Tikipunga modular studies program are as follows: (1) a 6-week semester for…

This booklet explains New Zealand's National Qualifications Framework, a system of quality standards affecting high schools and postsecondary colleges and universities that is to be fully operational by 1996. Following an introduction, the first section explains why the current system urgently needs changing in order to equip workers for the…

The New Zealand Qualifications Authority was established to develop a consistent approach to the recognition of academic and vocational qualifications. The National Qualifications Framework was designed following surveys of a number of sectors: universities, colleges of education, polytechnics, private training firms, schools, businesses, unions,…

Standards-based assessment is the student evaluation method favored by the National Qualifications Framework developed by the New Zealand National Qualifications Authority. Before determining an assessment method, definitions of key terms and concepts such as assessment, validity, and reliability must be determined. Good assessments are developed…

This document is intended to generate discussion about the plans of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority for developing a National Qualifications Framework. The document begins with an explanation of the qualifications framework in Maori and in English. A guide to reading the document points out its organization and the inclusion of diagrams…

This document consists of three separately-published booklets all concerned with criteria for accreditation of educational institutions in New Zealand: (1) "Guidelines and Criteria for Registration of Private Training Establishments"; (2) "Guidelines and Criteria for Obtaining Ministerial Approval of Government Training…