NCEA Results Analysis 2016

It is that time of year again when the school asks all the teachers for the analysis of the NCEA results for their subjects.

I received an email today from my HOD reminding me that it is due tomorrow, so cue the mad panic tonight to get it finished. It had gone out of my head / mental to-do list as I had started it!!

These things take a bit of time to put together but it is always worth the effort. We need to look at the good and bad of what has happened in the previous year so we can move on this year to improve outcomes for our students.

To be honest, the not so good stuff is more useful than the good stuff. With the things that have gone well, we will continue to skip along with how it is, feeling happy with ourselves. The things that are "not so good" pull us up short and make us think. We can only improve our teaching and approach if we are honest with ourselves first.

The cliff notes version is :-

• I intend to include a lot more SOLO structured learning activities so the analysis is so much more in depth. This will give easier access to merit and excellence.
• More step by steps rewindable skills in the form of google slides, videos of the drawing board and recorded screen casts.
• Use of checklists for both teacher and students.
• Use of calendars and Google Plus communities for day to day instructions so students know what they are doing and can keep up if absent.
• Hopefully all this will mean more self motivation within the class so I can get more one to one time.

So...warts and all... here is my analysis of last year's Design and Visual Communication results.

Tamaki College Technology Department 2016 NCEA Results

Design and Visual Communication

Overall

How many students gained the following number of credits at each level?	16 Credits at Level 1	14 Credits at Level 2	14 Credits at Level 3
All Students	5 / 9	7 / 12	0 / 3
Maori Students	1 / 1	0 / 3 (1 got 12, 1 got 3, 1 got 0)	0 / 1
What was the reason for this? What worked well?	The students who achieved well, attended regularly and worked consistently when they were in the class. There are 3 students on 13, whose attendance was not as good but who worked well when they were in. 1 is student on 4 credits, but his attendance was really poor. The 1 student on 0 credits is very lazy and never finished anything. I have broken the projects down into small tasks. We did a lot of support work together in Google Plus Communities.	Students who did well were good attenders on the whole. They worked well in the class and mostly finished their work. (4 of them especially, who got 21 and 24 credits). 1 student got 12 credits. He worked well when in the class, with support from me, but was a bit random as to whether he would attend. 4 students ( 3 on 3 credits and 1 on 0 ) have very bad attendance and their focus when in the class has not been good. I have broken the projects down into small tasks. We did a lot of support work together in Google Plus Communities.	All 3 students got 12 credits which were the 2 internal standards. Absolutely terrible attendance from 2 of the students.
What needs to change to ensure that  more students gain this number of credits?	I am going to add more screencasts / drawing board videos so the students who miss lessons can still access the content. This will also help the students in the lesson to remind them what they have been shown. I am going to add more SOLO supported activities so that the students have easier access to merit and excellence. We will work in groups together wherever possible before they have to work individually.	I am going to add more screencasts / drawing board videos so the students who miss lessons can still access the content. This will also help the students in the lesson to remind them what they have been shown. I am going to add more SOLO supported activities so that the students have easier access to merit and excellence. We will work in groups together wherever possible before they have to work individually.	More practice with the drawing from observation and then using this as the starting point for ideas, as the external standard is based largely on this.

External Results

Level 1

AS Number - AS91063	External	No. of Students	Not Achieved	Achieved	Merit	Excellence
All Students		8	1	6	1	0
Maori Students		1	0	1	0	0
For externals include a comparison with national data for decile 1 schools.
Comments	What worked well? Doing freehand sketches in every project so there is a large body of work to send away for assessment. Allowing students to use support grids for 3D sketching at the start of the year, so by the end, they were very confident with their 3D sketching without the support.
	What would you change? Need to include more cutaway and exploded drawings as well as work on analysis notes as this will improve the achievement up into merit and excellence.

Level 2

AS Number - AS91337	External	No. of Students	Not Achieved	Achieved	Merit	Excellence
All Students		11	4	7	0	0
Maori Students		2	1	1	0	0
For externals include a comparison with national data for decile 1 schools.
Comments	What worked well? We made a specific effort to use design related terminology in general so when they wrote their analysis notes, the students were more readily able to use these terms to describe their work.
	What would you change? Use SOLO to support the analysis of the student’s design ideas. More in depth analysis will then be possible.

Level 3

AS Number - AS91627	External	No. of Students	Not Achieved	Achieved	Merit	Excellence
All Students		3	3	0	0	0
Maori Students		1	1	0	0	0
For externals include a comparison with national data for decile 1 schools.
Comments	What worked well? ARRRRRHHHHH!!!
	What would you change? More structured, supported, tracked tasks. More practice during the project work so they are not doing something for the first time on the their main work.

Internal Results

Level 1

AS Number - AS91069	Internal	No. of Students	Not Achieved	Achieved	Merit	Excellence
All Students		8	0	8	0	0
Maori Students		1	0	1	0	0
For externals include a comparison with national data for decile 1 schools.
Comments	What worked well? Having past project from Tamak College to show a range of achievement levels. The students responded better to these than the exemplars from NZQA.
	What would you change? Add more SOLO supported activities so the students’ writing level rises. This will allow access to merit and excellence levels of achievement.

AS Number - AS91066	Internal	No. of Students	Not Achieved	Achieved	Merit	Excellence
All Students		9	2	5	2	0
Maori Students		1	0	1	0	0
For externals include a comparison with national data for decile 1 schools.
Comments	What worked well? Practice exercises and use of different media in practice situations worked well as the students could try out skills that were not directly on their projects. The step by step presentations of skills helped the students remember the steps for rendering skills.
	What would you change? I will make more step by step how tos for skills.

AS Number - AS91067	Internal	No. of Students	Not Achieved	Achieved	Merit	Excellence
All Students		7	0	7	0	0
Maori Students		1	0	1	0	0
For externals include a comparison with national data for decile 1 schools.
Comments	What worked well? Focussing on the design elements in general then focussing them into their designer. This allowed the students to see what elements were used in the architect's work and to directly link them to their own work.
	What would you change? More input into where and who with the design. More thought about how the chair would work. Linking these back to the design elements of the chosen designer will allow students to get up to merit and excellence.

AS Number - AS91068	Internal	No. of Students	Not Achieved	Achieved	Merit	Excellence
All Students		9	4	5	0	0
Maori Students		1	0	1	0	0
For externals include a comparison with national data for decile 1 schools.
Comments	What worked well? Seeing each other’s work in the class community to get support from  each other. I saw a lot of helping each other out both with drawing skills and online tasks.
	What would you change? Allow a range of products to choose from. Think about the future of a product so the students don't’ just copy what is already here.

AS Number - AS91047	Internal	No. of Students	Not Achieved	Achieved	Merit	Excellence
All Students		9	4	5	0	0
Maori Students		1	0	1	0	0
For externals include a comparison with national data for decile 1 schools.
Comments	What worked well? Linking this work to an already existing project so the students did not feel overwhelmed by another  one.
	What would you change? Giving specific instructions for this standard within the existing project.

Level 2

AS Number - AS91340	Internal	No. of Students	Not Achieved	Achieved	Merit	Excellence
All Students		11	1	6	4
Maori Students		3	1	2	0
For externals include a comparison with national data for decile 1 schools.
Comments	What worked well? The project is structured into small tasks.
	What would you change? Add more SOLO  supported tasks and more group work were I can before they have to produce separate evidence.

AS Number - AS91342	Internal	No. of Students	Not Achieved	Achieved	Merit	Excellence
All Students		11	3	7	1
Maori Students		2	1	1	0
For externals include a comparison with national data for decile 1 schools.
Comments	What worked well? Taking the design elements from the design era research into the product design. Responding to the moderation feedback about a product design project and what it should include. Continuous production of exemplars by me to show the students what i want them to do.
	What would you change? More SOLO supported activities so analysis is more in depth.

AS Number - AS91356	Internal	No. of Students	Not Achieved	Achieved	Merit	Excellence
All Students		11	4	7	0	0
Maori Students		2	2	0	0	0
For externals include a comparison with national data for decile 1 schools.
Comments	What worked well? This standard was linked to an existing project.
	What would you change? Breaking down the specific tasks for this standard within the project.

AS Number - AS91341	Internal	No. of Students	Not Achieved	Achieved	Merit	Excellence
All Students		6	1	5	0	0
Maori Students		0	0	0	0	0
For externals include a comparison with national data for decile 1 schools.
Comments	What worked well? 3D modelling a lot within the designing stage.
	What would you change? I am not offering this standard this year due to running out of time and receiving feedback from the students that to suddenly change gear after spending so much time on their design era was very disruptive. I will offer AS91343 instead as this will involve presenting work they have already done.

Level 3

AS Number - AS91630	Internal	No. of Students	Not Achieved	Achieved	Merit	Excellence
All Students		3	0	3	0	0
Maori Students		1	0	1	0	0
For externals include a comparison with national data for decile 1 schools.
Comments	What worked well? Exemplars made by me. Being able to look at previous year's work that included achieved and merit, made by Tamaki College Students.
	What would you change? Make them stick to DEADLINES!!!!

AS Number - AS91610	Internal	No. of Students	Not Achieved	Achieved	Merit	Excellence
All Students		3	0	3	0	0
Maori Students		1	0	1	0	0
For externals include a comparison with national data for decile 1 schools.
Comments	What worked well? The standard covering work that was happening in an existing project.
	What would you change? Make them stick to DEADLINES!!!! Making specific reference to tasks for this standard within the project.

NCEA Analysis: Tell the Story Behind Your Statistics

The Curriculum

1.Is this an especially difficult or easy aspect of the subject?

The design work is never the hard part. The analysis is always the part where the students struggle.

2.Is this skill dependent on another?

(For example, how much is research dependent on reading? Do you need to be about to do algebra well to succeed in trigonometry?

Reading and writing skills are key if they are to achieve at higher levels.

The Students

3.Are our students in general simply good/weak at his aspect?

(Are they better at production/performance skills that at conceptual/abstract skills?)

They are always good and if not good then keen with the drawing element of the work. They always seem to be surprised when it is not ALL drawing. I am building the Year 10 course to be more like an NCEA level 1 course because of this so it is less of a shock to them when they get to Y11.

4.Does the subject or standard attract relative experts – or does virtually the whole cohort take this subject? (Students in some sciences, arts and languages tend to be specialising already and self-selecting for ability, while most students are entered for English and Mathematics standards.)

I get a mixture of students who are really good at drawing but their analysis is weak and the weaker ones at the drawing element too. They seem keen though.

The Teaching

5.Are teaching methods and resources especially strong/weak in this area at our school or  nationally?

Resources are physical (pens, pencils, paper, 3d models etc), computer controlled (3D printers and a laser cutter) as well as online using GAFE. We are very well resourced.

6.Have we neglected this area in the past? (Areas that have not been formally assessed nationally in the past may not have been given high priority in classrooms. The old qualifications may not have demanded high-level thinking in some areas. Teachers and students may not have had clear expectations and targets.)

No

The Standards

7.Are the national standards appropriate? (When are they reviewed, do they need to be eased, raised or clarified?)

I always use the most up to date standard from NZQA

8.Have we got the right assessment approach? (Are students getting enough opportunity to show how well they can do? Are all assessments adequately assessing to the standard?)

I have made the tasks cover a variety of skills and they can mostly choose how they want to produce the worrk.

Getting NCEA classes organised at the start of the year...

It is always a bit full on at the start of a new year. students settling into new years, classes and courses. Getting the routines down so the rest of the year can be as smooth as possible.
Part of what we have been doing in Design and Visual Communication this week, is setting up the student's new sites to put all of their design work on.
What we have been doing this week is part of the way that I want to support students to be more self managing within a multi level NCEA class.
I made template sites for them this year. All the students know how to make a site now, so to save some time and give them a scaffold as to what to put in each project online, I made templates.

Here are the links to the templates :-

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

I was a bit more free with the Level 3 template and not so descriptive of what goes where on purpose.

I like to keep all the links to the student's work all on one spreadsheet so I can keep on top of where they are in a project and an easy link to all of their work.

As well as this spreadsheet that makes it easier for me to see the whole picture, the students have individual tracking sheets for each project.

I put links to these on my over view too so I can easily see where the students think they are up to.
Here is where they are on the class site :-
Level 1  Level 2  Level 3
I hope that this helps the students have the confidence to realise when they have done everything and conversely, when there is still work to complete.

Woolf Fisher Research Feedback February 2017

We are lucky in the Manaiakalani cluster (CoL) as we have an external company who looks at what we do in the classroom and the outcomes for the students. This keeps us on our toes and keeps it all real and up to date.
All the teachers form the cluster met in the Tamaki College auditorium after school today for a feedback presentation from Woolf Fisher.

My main take outs from todays presentation are :-

• I need to focus on literacy and language skills that are subject specific - this is a good one to look at as these skills will help the students at NCEA raise their level of achievement into the merit and excellence range. It is the notes and analysis skills that are key to do this.
• Bringing in the key competencies into the student's project work - this links so well with my inquiry this year, which is looking at supporting multi level NCEA classes with the class Google Site. Being able to include the key competencies in this will be the way to support it by helping the students to be more self managing and have more self control, so be able to work more independently. An interesting final note on this was whether to teach this implicitly or explicitly.

Here are some photographs of the board while the presentation was on.

Here are my notes from the presentation ...

Woolf Fisher Feedback February 2017

Manaiakalani Pedagogy

Aaron Wilson

Cumulatively, a high percentage of y12 and y13 have meaningful qualifications.

Not at expected year level but NCEA gives ability for cumulative achievement.

Provisional year by year results are inline with where they were last year. Bubble students will raise this later in the year.

Asstle writing - term 4 2014 - y4-y10

Very close to national norms. There is a gender difference, gets more pronounced as they get older.

Writing

The graphs match year levels from year to year, not the same students.

Year 9 and 10 show higher levels from the previous year.

The rate of gain is much higher than national gain even though the overall level is lower than national norm.

Gender difference is more pronounced from y6 onwards.

Writing - what is happening is working - needs sustaining and constant improvement.

Reading

Overall pattern - not accelerating relative to national. Size of the gap is staying the same.

Progress pattern was similar to previous year.

Parallel progress up toy y6 then leveling off after that, especially y8 onwards.

Gender gap - not as pronounced as it is in writing.

It is reducing where the gap in writing is getting bigger.

The big issue is the pattern of flattening out after year 7 onwards.

Maths

Similar to reading pattern - progress parallel to nors but no acceleration.

Y8 , 9 and 10 starting lower than previous years.

Maths gains - progress in y9 and 10 is a lot flatter than norm

Fewer gender gaps except in older years.

They will be looking at the same students over different time points so more detail can be seen, especially at transition points.

Results to be split in future in regards to year levels and type of school.

Y7 - Y10 classrooms with positive gains in reading to share practice.

Access to devices

They saw good access to devices.

Earning management

Instructions and task access - how do they get it, what is the blend?

Blended model is the most common.

Size of group

More whole class teaching in older years.

Small group is more powerful for reading.

Teaching approach

Conference and extended discussion - much higher than anything else seen. - especially in y7 and y8, much more than in y9 and y10, where more roving was seen but not extended discussion.

Literacy / language focus - more episode in secondary where no literacy or language focus.

They need to be able to access the specific subject literacy.

Promoting Key Competencies / Summer drop off

Stuart McNaughton

Using key competencies to get more out of the teaching to raise progress.

In digital environments - they are saying they are less self controlled - they are more aware of it - they need more strategies so they can approach this problem.

Research into students who read more books tend to be more empathetic.

Awareness of online presence will impact on online bullying.

Here are some ideas for inquiry that I took from the presentation today .....

• Literacy / language focus within a specific learning area
• Structured / supported reading within a specific subject - reading for understanding
• Cross curricular literacy skills - using the same skills across subjects
• Using key competencies in critical thinking
• Using arguing and reasoning within subject areas using collaborative tasks
• Using key competencies to improve self control and self management
• Giving students strategies for self control while online that they can take on anywhere
• Online empathy related to cyber bullying
• Explicit v implicit tasks to build empathy

Visible Teaching and Learning - Calendars

After seeing the students for the first time at the end of last week, tomorrow is the first full teaching day for me. So that has meant me doing the "P" word tonight...... planning!!!

On my class Google Site, I have calendars embedded for all the year levels. These calendars include an overview of the year, where tasks slot in over the year in a broad sense. They also include individual appointments for each class, where specific lesson details, instructions and links can be added on a daily basis.
Here are links to the embedded calendars :-
Year 9, Year 10, Level 1, Level 2, Level 3


I have also embedded a calendar on my site that has all the class calendars on it so it is easy to refer to as an overview.

Using the description box when you make an appointment on Google Calendars means that you get a very useful, filled in drop down when you click on an appointment when the calendar is embedded.

Clickable links and coloured headings can is included by using this very simple and handy bit  of html in the description box ....

<font color="red">USEFUL SITES</font>

<a href=“url”>Title</a>

Here is an example of the html used in the drop down shown here :-

I have used coloured headings <font color="color">Title</font> for the task titles and  useful sites header.

I have used the <a href></a> to include useful links for the classes to access easily.

<font color="blue">Task 1</font>

You need to look at the choice of 3 architects. On the project page, there are examples of their work and some other information to browse through.

Make sure you have a good look at the work as you will spend a long time using this work as a reference for your own. When you have made your choice, fill in the form on the page so your teacher has a record of your choice.

<font color="blue">Task 2</font>

Collect images of your chosen architect's work.

Arrange these images onto a google slide show ( 1 image per page ). Make sure this slide show is public and share it into the Level 1 Google Plus Community and put it onto your DVC portfolio site.

<font color="red">USEFUL SITES</font>

<a href="https://sites.google.com/a/tamaki.ac.nz/dvc-online-courses/level-1/home/architects/">Choosing your Architect</a>

<a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/108410330912817460238/">Level 1 Google Plus Community</a>

I am going to explain all of this planning and where to find it to the classes tomorrow. I also plan on copying and pasting the daily planning into the Google Plus Class Communities so that it is in multiple places for the students to access. (years 10-13 in this case).
This will be extremely useful for my senior classes especially. I have one class that is a mix of NCEA Levels 1, 2 and 3 and a the other class is a mix of NCEA Levels 1 and 2. Having the planning accessible, easy to find and in multiple places will hopefully enable the students to get straight on with things as soon as they get to the class, and not have to wait for me running round after 2 or 3 different classes in the same room.

You will all FAIL!!!!

It was our first full day back with all our students today so i got to meet both of my senior Design and Visual Communication classes. One of the classes in a mix of NCEA Level 1, 2 and 3 and the other class is a mix of NCEA Level 2 and 3.
We did some silly warm up design games and then I really wanted to talk to them early this year about the concept of failing. I asked them to write down what they thought of when they heard the word fail. This is some of what they said :-
Sad, exams, tests, depression, expectations, letting people down, loose
It was a very negative response to the word.
Then we talked about where they thought you could fail when you did design work :-
drawing, colour, ideas, thinking etc...

I then wrote on the board - "All designers fail"
They looked at me like I had gone a little crazy at this point.
They need to understand that failing is a vital part of designing. Without failing you can't learn what does not work in a design situation.
We talked about different words that we use in the design process :-
Test, trial, try, prototype, model .....
These are al things we do where we learn from our mistakes and failures in the process.

Then I wrote 90% on the board.
They will not be happy with 90% of the design work or the way they did it in their sketch books. They need to get over this and see it as part of the process. Students are terrible at tearing out pages where they are not 100% happy with the work. They only want their "pretty" "best" work in their books.
I asked them to see their sketch books as the messy story behind the final piece of work. This final piece will be the "pretty" version, nicely presented etc. It needs it's messy story to go with it.

I don't think they were convinced today, to be hoest. I am going to have to keep supporting them on this way of thinking. I always do sketchbooks of work along with the students, so I will actively point out my 90%,  say why I don't like it and highlight what I am learning from it by keeping it.

Health and Safety PD

No one wants a disaster to happen but it is good to be prepared. We had health and safety PD this morning so we know what to do in case of evacuation or lock down.










Notes from the session here :-

Health and Safety PD - Wednesday 1st February 2017

How to approach emergencies, both natural and man made.

Start at the top and scale it down not the other way round.

Fire alarm is the evacuation alarm - fire, earthquake, bomb threat etc…. Move to the field (you don't know at the time of the alarm what the emergency is).

Follow the procedure until it is proved otherwise. SLT to give the word to go back.

Lock down - response to threat from outside the school.

Decision for lock down is only made by SLT - intermittent ringing of the bell - on / off for about a minute.

Everyone on the floor, away from doors and windows. On stomachs, lying down. Phones off. No noise. Stay there until instructed otherwise.

Teachers quick check of adjoining areas. Lock doors in classroom. Lights off. Curtains, blinds open.

Probable max 15 time - emergency services to assist in that time.

Longer than that - a message will come round to get up but everything else stays the same.

Noise and movement - these are the key things to keep down as this is a proved aggravating factor.

Interval / outside - stop noise and movement - students to go to the nearest building then everything is the same.

Duty staff - opening doors - staff inside, open doors and help.

No role taken as students are in different places if coming in from outside.

Admin area shut down - lights off - Russel’s room is control room - SLT is there.

Contact to the police is from there.

Email will be sent to staff. Have your device on the floor with you.

SLT will decide what information leaves the school to the community.

Emails and texts out to the community to explain the lock down. Information on the website ???

End of lock down is a member of SLT coming round to each area to tell you personally.

Might return to normal or we could evacuate to the field so we can assess we have all the students.

Communication from staff out of the lock down room - email or if big threat, phone 111.

No laptop - stay where you are until SLT contact you, do not go looking for contact.

There will be a whole school assembly presentation then a series of practices will be organised.