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First annual monitoring report

This first annual monitoring report tracks the progress of the tertiary education system against the TES during the initial period of implementation of the tertiary education reforms from 2002 to 2004. It builds on the Baseline Monitoring Report¹, which provided a view of the tertiary education system at the start of the TES and before implementation of the tertiary education reforms.

The emphasis in the period from 2002 to 2004 has been on developing the new infrastructure, through establishment of the Tertiary Education Commission, implementation of planning and accountability documents for all government-funded TEOs and implementation of new funding mechanisms to encourage quality in research and teaching and learning.

Therefore, this report largely focuses on implementation of the reforms and the initial response of the sector to the TES. It provides:

• updates of key indicators
• progress with implementation of key policies
• initial analysis of tertiary education institution (TEI) and industry training organisation (ITO) profiles.

The report also includes new baseline data on the quality of research (from the Performance-Based Research Fund quality evaluation) and qualification retention, completion and progression rates.

Structure of the report

The report begins with an overview of the state of the sector two years into the implementation of the TES. This section is structured around the four key themes of the reforms – excellence, relevance, access and capability – to draw together key themes from across the TES.

This is followed by a set of cross-strategy indicators which highlights the overall changes in the sector. These indicators provide contextual information against which broader changes resulting from the TES can be monitored.

The rest of the report is structured around the six strategies of the TES. These sections provide more detailed analysis of change within the important areas of each strategy and identify key challenges for moving forward in each area.

Included in this report are specific examples of changes taking place within the sector. These examples are included as illustrations of what the overall direction of change means at a local level.

The purpose of monitoring

The purpose of monitoring the TES is to provide ongoing, timely information on the progress of the tertiary education system against the TES. Monitoring will help make sense of the extent to which the intended changes are happening, in which areas and to what degree.

There are three main audiences for this work:

• Ministers and government — providing information on progress and highlighting any areas that may require further attention
• the tertiary education sector and its agencies — providing information that can provide a broader context for policy development and sector planning processes
• key stakeholders — helping them understand the sector’s contribution and progress towards meeting national goals.

Monitoring looks at the tertiary education system as a whole, rather than assessing the performance of individual organisations. It considers the overall patterns of change and response. It specifically examines the progress of the TES and is not intended to provide monitoring of all aspects of the tertiary education system. Monitoring and evaluation of specific policy and funding changes will be undertaken separately.

Information from monitoring has informed the development of the 2005/06 STEPs. It will also inform the development of the next TES.

The challenge of monitoring

The TES sets a direction for the sector. It aims to improve the ability of the sector to achieve better outcomes. It does not set specific, measurable goals and targets. Much of the TES is aimed at shifting the attitudes, culture and focus of the sector. The key messages of the TES are summarised in the nine change messages². These change messages are intrinsically difficult to measure.

A narrow focus on quantitative indicators could easily miss the ‘real’ story. The system may be ‘scoring’ well on a whole range of indicators but still missing the point of the TES as set out in the change messages — or the other way around.

The challenge of monitoring, therefore, is to highlight the overall messages, not just report on indicators. This requires using a mix of quantitative data that can provide measures of change over time, balanced with qualitative information that can provide explanation of how and why change is or isn’t occurring. The monitoring needs to examine system-wide indicators, but these are likely to be slow to show change in many areas. Therefore, there also needs to be information on examples of innovation and successful change. Some areas will require longer-term research beyond the scope of the monitoring work.

Even so, monitoring can only provide a partial and selective view of change across a system that is as complex and dynamic as tertiary education.

Over the period of the TES, monitoring will shift from summarising what is happening in relation to the TES, to making sense of how changes are contributing to the larger goals of the TES and the well-being of the country. This will require greater attention to the change messages to understand how well the tertiary education system is performing in a national and international setting.

Further areas for monitoring information

While new data has been added to this report and new indicators developed, this report can only provide a partial picture in relation to the TES. Work will continue over the next year or so to fill out the picture further. In particular:

Course retention and completion

New information on retention and completion rates at course level will become available for analysis during 2005. This information will complement analysis of qualification completion and retention.

Research on stakeholder engagement with tertiary education

The Ministry of Education is scoping work on how to gather information on the experiences of engagement by key stakeholder groups with the tertiary education system. This will provide an external view of the performance of the system, particularly with regard to delivering education and research that is relevant to the needs of industry, business, Māori, iwi and Pasifika communities.

The Ministry is also developing a research project on internationalisation within tertiary education, which is likely to provide insight into the international aspects of the TES.

¹ Published in April 2004. (↑)

² Refer to the previous section on the Tertiary Education Strategy. (↑)

← The Tertiary Education Strategy | Home Page | List of Abbreviations →

• Table of Contents

• The State of Play

• Cross Strategy Indicators

• Raise foundation skills

• Skills for our knowledge society

• Strengthen research and knowledge creation

• Te rautaki mātauranga Māori

• Pacific people’s development and success

• Capability and quality

• Technical and Data Definitions