Random Samples of Schools and Students
Each year nationally representative random samples of 2,880 students from 260 randomly chosen schools were carefully selected from national lists of state, integrated and private schools; half at year 4 (ages 8-9) and half at year 8 (ages 12-13). From each school or pair of neighbouring small schools, twelve students were randomly chosen to take part. In turn, the twelve students were assigned to three groups of four. Each group of students worked on a different set of tasks across all of the curriculum areas being assessed that year. Over a period of a week, each student typically took part in about four hours of assessment activities. Schools and parents/students were individually notified of their selection to take part in national monitoring, and given the opportunity to withdraw.

Approximately 11,500 students from over 1000 schools took part in the first four years of national monitoring. Over 1000 personal contacts were made with school principals by the project's directors along with numerous discussions with individual parents. In the first four years ten schools withdrew for reasons not related to the project, and were subsequently replaced. The number of students who were replaced for reasons other than change of school or absences averaged approximately 2 percent of the original sample.

Learning Areas Assessed
Within repeating four year cycles, NEMP assessed and reported on all major curriculum areas. This is recognition of the considerable value and importance New Zealand attaches to a broad-based curriculum which relates to the world around the school, and to learning for life beyond school.

In the first four years of national monitoring, assessments were reported in 15 areas of the curriculum: science, art, information skills (graphs, tables and maps) (1995); reading and speaking, aspects of technology, music (1996); mathematics, social studies, information skills (library and research) (1997); writing, listening and viewing, health and physical education (1998).

Curriculum Advisory Panels
The process of identifying the key learning outcomes to be assessed (knowledge, skills, understandings and attitudes) and deciding on suitable assessment tasks involved curriculum advisory panels made up of curriculum specialists, classroom practitioners and Mäori educators. These panels assisted with drawing up frameworks to guide the development and selection of tasks without being unduly prescriptive or limiting. The assessment frameworks helped to guide task development decisions and helped those interested in contributing task ideas. NEMP curriculum panels played an important part in generating task ideas and guiding the final selection of tasks that were used in the assessment programme.

National monitoring drew upon the experience and insights of 65 nationally acknowledged curriculum specialists, classroom practitioners and Mäori educators who were members of the project's nine curriculum panels and its Mäori Reference Group, Te Pitau Whakarei.

Task Administration and Marking
Each year more than 100 national monitoring tasks and survey questionnaires were administered by trained teachers seconded from their own schools for periods of six weeks. Each teacher attended a one week national training workshop then spent the following five weeks working with a paired colleague in group of selected schools. Each week each pair of teachers visited one school where twelve randomly selected students were assessed, or two small neighbouring schools which together provided the required twelve students. At the conclusion of the assessment programme in schools, tasks were marked by senior tertiary education students and teachers. Tertiary students generally marked tasks which required reasonably clear cut answers. Teachers marked tasks requiring a higher degree of experienced professional judgement. The payback for professional development from these involvements is an established feature of the project.

In the first four year cycle of national monitoring, 384 teachers had opportunities to work as task administrators. 120 senior tertiary students and 660 experienced teachers were involved in marking. Systematic feedback each year from all groups shows a high level of professional satisfaction and extended understandings of assessment principles and methods.

Approaches to Assessment
Assessing a full cross-section of students across a broad range of curriculum outcomes in authentic, contextualised ways required varied approaches suited to the different processes and outcomes that were assessed. National monitoring used five main approaches for presenting assessment tasks, each one allowing students easy access to the support of a trained teacher assessor: Most sessions took approximately one hour.
One-to-one interview: each student worked individually with a teacher with the whole session recorded on videotape.
Stations: four students worked independently, moving around a series of task activity stations.
Team: four students worked collaboratively with the session usually recorded on videotape.
Independent: four students worked individually on paper and pencil task or art making tasks.
Open Space (physical education): four students, supervised by two teachers, attempted a series of physical skill tasks with performances being videorecorded.

Across the first four years of national monitoring approximately 15,000 hours of video recorded performances and 240,000 pages of paper responses (including art works) were gathered for marking from a total of 499 tasks. Total student assessment time amounted to approximately 45,000 hours. Approximately four tonnes of supplies and equipment were in use around New Zealand during each year's assessment programme. About one million bits of information were produced from the marking of individual tasks each year. The highest proportion of tasks used performance assessment methods. Very few tasks involved paper and pencil multiple choice methods.

Low Stakes, High Impact Assessment
There is a considerable imperative arising out of the low stakes nature of national monitoring (no school, teacher or student is identified at any point). Tasks and their presentation had to be designed so that students would feel strongly inclined to produce and sustain their best efforts regardless of individual differences in ability, background and experience. However, the national monitoring project recognised that any form of externally administered assessment inevitably constrains the sorts of things that students can be asked to do. Despite this, there has been a strong commitment to developing and administering tasks that reflect the best of day to day teaching methods, learning experiences, and the world in which we live. Emphasis was placed on assessing important or "big picture" learning outcomes in order to sum up students' achievements at particular points in time.

Every student who has taken part in national monitoring assessment was asked to rate their impressions of the tasks they attempted a s "really enjoyed" or" not enjoyed". Feedback on this variable can be useful for gauging task attributes that might have a negative impact on student performance. Of the 499 tasks administered in the first four years, in only 4 tasks did fewer students say they really enjoyed them than those who said they did not enjoy them Ð each at the year 8 level.

Reporting NEMP Results
The project attaches great importance to wide distribution and easy access to its reports on student achievement. Annual reports of assessment results provide task by task descriptive information in preference to statistically aggregated data which can be largely meaningless and easily misused. Approximately one third of each year's tasks will be used again as "link tasks" in the second four year cycle to allow comparisons of performance over time. The descriptive details of these monitoring tasks will not be fully published until they have been repeated. The relative performance of subgroups was also reported using nine demographic variables. Prior to public release, all reports were examined by national reporting forums made up of curriculum and assessment specialists, teachers and Mäori educators. Each year the forum produced a summary statement of key findings and highlighted implications for policy and practice.

In the first four years of national monitoring a total of approximately 210,000 copies of reports were distributed to major educational institutions and agencies, and to every New Zealand school and its Board of Trustees. Around 170,000 copies were distributed of the Forum Comment which highlights major findings and their implications for policy and practice.