Unlocking the Formative Potential of NCEA

Abstract

This article examines the formative potential of New Zealand’s exit qualification from secondary school, the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA). Drawing on findings of a study conducted in a senior mathematics classroom it asks the question: To what extent can high-stakes assessment be used to formatively direct and influence students’ learning? The article argues that, when a distinction between the gathering and the interpretation and use of assessment evidence is established, the formative function of assessment tasks need not be incompatible with high-stakes summative assessment.