Preview

All high schools should teach Cambridge International Examinations Curriculum

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
803 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
All high schools should teach Cambridge International Examinations Curriculum
ENGLISH 1.5 FORMAL WRITING
By Connor Slattery

All New Zealand Schools Should Abandon NCEA and Follow the Cambridge International Examinations Curriculum!

The National Certificate of Educational Achievement - or “NCEA” – was introduced earlier this century between 2002 and 2004. Its primary objective is to offer a standard-based, as opposed to norm-based, system for assessment. In evaluating only a student’s self-knowledge and understanding, NCEA promotes mediocrity. With no comparison to more advanced students, the system provides no incentive to excel. The Cambridge International Examinations curriculum consists of an exam at the end of the year for each course. From this exam, the applicants receive their final grade for the subject. This avoids internal work, which NCEA is largely comprised of. Internal assessment often leads to inconsistent marking and unfair biased judgment of student work. The Cambridge International Examinations curriculum, in being a largely exam-based programme, prepares students for tertiary study better than NCEA. I believe the Cambridge International Examinations will provide a more advanced structure and a far superior academically challenging course that NCEA has not successfully implemented.
The National Certificate of Educational Achievement deeply encourages a sense of mediocrity among its students. The system is developed and structured in a manner that allows students to “do just enough”. This essentially creates a pattern of settling for low achievement among the average student. In many cases it becomes acceptable for the average student to meet the bare minimum requirements of an assessment to pass. They are aware that in “Achieving” the standard of assessment, they will receive the same number of credits as the next student, who may have received an “Excellence” grade. When comparing two different exam scripts that received an Excellence grade and therefore the same quality of credits, one of the papers may have

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Assessment is carried out to ensure that learning has taken place. This is used to measures the learner’s knowledge and skills in their chosen area of learning. Assessment can be used to encourage learners to ask questions on anything they have not understood, learners at some point will have to know that they will have to prove their knowledge and understanding to the standards of the awarding body.…

    • 1489 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Each learner is an individual and any particular learner requirements must be taken into account along with the relevant equality and diversity factors no matter who is setting the assessment - the teacher or an awarding authority. Methods of assessment can be used to help determine a myriad of accomplishments, they can help:…

    • 1521 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Taqa Unit 301

    • 2725 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Assessment plays a significant role in the learning experience of students. It determines their progression through their programmes and enables them to demonstrate that they have achieved the intended learning outcomes. It is assessment that provides the main basis for public recognition of achievement, through the awarding of qualifications and/or credit.…

    • 2725 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ctlls 003 Assessment

    • 1798 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Therefore assessment can be understood as a means to not only certificate a learners achievement at the end of a course but also to establish a learners needs at the start of a learning programme and continually throughout the learning process to evaluate the learning taking place. Assessment should be valid, reliable, fair, sufficient for external awarding bodies/examiners and authentic as the students own work.…

    • 1798 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    ‘’Assessments should be seen as an intrinsic part of the learning process rather than something which is just ‘tacked on’ at the end in order to get some marks’’…

    • 1983 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    It could be said that the education reforms under the coalition government have been both desirable and necessary. To be desirable they would allow they system to be more efficient and enviable while to be necessary the old system would need to be proven to be ineffective and broken, calling for the need for a new system. Michael Gove, former coalition education secretary, made many drastic changes to the education systems including ending modular exams, the reform of the GCSE grading system and preventing the manipulation of league tables. This essay will ultimately argue that yes the reforms are in fact desirable but are not entirely necessary.…

    • 1325 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    5. Assessment registers: This gives information on the student’s academic development. It also reflects continuous assessment, performance in…

    • 1076 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Critical Literature Review of Brady, L & Kennedy, K 2012, The national curriculum and NAPLAN: Chapter 8 in assessment and reporting, Celebrating Student Achievement, 4th Edition, Pearson, Australia, pp. 121-131.…

    • 463 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ny Times Review

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages

    An article was published in The New York Times by Max Roosevelt titled “Student Expectations Seen as Causing Grades Disputes.” The focus of this editorial was to highlight what is often seen as a disruption to grades and our educational system. Many students these days feel they are entitled to higher grades because they did what was only expected of them which do not involve the greatest effort. In my opinion, a student that subjects themselves to minimum effort should receive the minimum grade without any complaints. In past experience, I have realized that students fail to recognize their creative abilities which cause typical mind-sets and projections. Professor Marshall Grossman of the University of Maryland presumes that he will receive complaints whenever he returns assignments to students; many feel as though they are privileged in this manner. Grossman’s point is outlined relatively throughout the article, providing useful information through personal experience based on his observations. A recent study by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, highlights his objective whereas 40 percent of surveyors believe that they should receive a B just for completing the required reading.…

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One might argue that physicians, lawyers, real-estate brokers and pilots all take high stakes standardized tests to ensure they have the necessary knowledge for their job. Kids obsess with passing their test so much that they can’t focus on being a kid. When students get these test back and compare scores with others some might feel worthless and, it separates the smart kids from the ones who scores lower. “Schools selects NWEA as its testing vendor and reports an 80 percent proficiency rate. Now let’s say Worthington City Schools suburban Columbus selects PARCC and reports a 50 percent proficiency rate”…

    • 649 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    References: Gravells. A (2014) Achieving Your Assessment and Quality Assurance Units (TAQA) Learning Matters: London…

    • 5985 Words
    • 171 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    Once we look at assessment, we are looking at something which, historically, has been at the will of the social, cultural, political and moral values of the marker. That is to say, and admittedly not all of these traits are manifestly evident, some are hidden, the level of assessment, certainly at higher education levels, is of a more subjective nature, rather than the ‘tide-turning’ objectivity of modern assessment methods or regimes. Whilst each of the approaches has its merits, and de-merits, there is a need for continuous assessment.…

    • 2217 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    However, since the exit exam has already been implemented, the government, educators, and the public are now aware there is a serious problem with California’s educational system, which, in turn, could lead to a reconstruction on education. As Fair Test Public Educator director observes, “Believing that you can improve schooling with more tests is like believing you can make yourself grow taller by measuring your height”. All students have the ability to learn and succeed, but not on the same day or in the same way; therefore, they should not be given the same exam at the same time in their academic…

    • 1666 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    PGCE Module 1 Assignment

    • 3987 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Harlen, W., Gipps, C., Broadfoot, P. and Nuttall, D. (1992) Assessment and the Improvement of Education, The Curriculum Journal 3(3) pp. 215 – 230. Available at: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/000000085.htm [Accessed 11 August, 2014].…

    • 3987 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays

Related Topics