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Letter to NZ Herald

15 May 2009

The Editor NZ Herald
I am writing with regard to your article about NCEA results and how Auckland's schools performed.  Most school principals to whom I have spoken applaud the new reporting format which reports the percentages of candidates who passed the qualification as a proportion of those who were eligible for the whole certificate.  I share the belief that this measurement is more reflective of success than previous measures used.

I do, however, take issue with the article in one respect: schools that offer alternative qualifications, such as Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) and the International Baccalaureate (IB), are not identified, nor the percentage of the cohort in each school that sit this alternative qualification.  You do state "one of the reasons other top academic schools do not perform as well in comparison may have been that many of the high achieving students had opted for the Cambridge International Examinations or International Baccalaureate instead of NCEA".  This is fair, but for a true comparison, I would like to suggest that in the future 'The Herald' identifies which schools offer an alternative qualification and the percentage of the cohort that sit this alternative qualification.  This would enable those interested in comparing schools to do so with more confidence that the information provided is accurate.  I might also add that the figures you report do not differentiate between NCEA passes in Achievement Standards and NCEA passes in Unit Standards. It is widely acknowledged that it is much easier for a student to achieve credits in Unit Standards than in Achievement Standards.

I have led IB, CIE and NCEA schools and believe that it is nearly impossible to compare the three qualifications, especially as each school combines their use in different ways.   Having clearer indicators will make any form of comparison easier to interpret.  Our school, for example, looks comparatively poor with pass rates of 64.9% (Level 1), 78.0% (Level 2), 62.9% (Level 3) and 66.0% for University Entrance.   The fact is, however, that 40% of our most able students sit CIE and are not represented in your article.  Incorrect assumptions about the school's academic performance might follow, as could ill-informed decisions about the futures of some of our young people.  Westlake Boys continues to provide exceptional students who were fortunate enough to gain a number of Top of the World results in CIE last year and received two of the top 10 Premier Scholars awards yesterday in front of the Governor General and the Minister of Education.

Your headline "Private Schools Top Exam Pass List" reflects the information you have provided; it is, however, interesting to see a breakdown of the very best students' achievements that were presented in Wellington yesterday, namely 79% of the top Subject Award winners were from state schools, as were 7 of the top 10 premier scholars in New Zealand.

We are fortunate in New Zealand to have both high performing private schools and exceptional state schools from which our parents can choose.  It is, I would suggest, important to give all information to parents before they make a choice for their son or daughter.

In an era where the academic success of a school is prominent in the choice of schools parents make for their children, it would, I am sure, be appreciated by your readers if they could see all of the information available.  A balanced view is, after all, the aim both of the New Zealand Herald and of those of us working in education.

Yours sincerely,

C A Monaghan
Headmaster