The aim of this Field Study is to establish the extent to which Year 12 students understand and appreciate the ACT College System of senior secondary and the information which appears on the ACT Year 12 Certificate. In order to provide the reader with a basis for understanding what happens over the final two years of secondary education in the ACT the author has established the historical context that gave rise to the establishment of the Secondary Colleges in the ACT. This brief history outlines the causes and reasons which led to separation from the NSW state system of education and the decision to develop a different approach to the provision of education for students in Year 11 and 12. To provide an idea of how the system works a description of what makes up the College System is provided. This includes an explanation of how the colleges relate to the high schools, their curriculum, the accreditation of courses, assessment and certification. The role of the ACT Schools Accrediting Agency is explained in the way it underpins the credibility of the system and of how it carries the responsibility for the final generation of the ACT Year 12 Certificate. While this study looks at the system some seven years after it began, earlier evaluations had taken place which examined matters linked with the ACT Year 12 Certificate. In writing this report the author reviews two important assessments of the system, one of the role of the ACT Schools Accrediting Agency and the other concerned with the success of the Colleges as educational institutions from a student viewpoint. The author also attempts to compare the changes which came with the ACT College System with recent developments and current thinking about senior secondary education in other Australian states. The major part of the Field Study was a survey of a sample of Year 12 students at the end of 1983 to establish the extent to which they understood the aspects of the system they had been a part of for two years. The data and findings of this survey are presented. The report concludes with an outline of the most recent changes, developments and reactions which in some way affect the system. At the end of the conclusion, the author presents a list of recommendations aimed at overcoming some of the problems pin-pointed in the report.

In January, 1974, the Interim ACT Schools Authority assumed responsibility for pre, primary and secondary schools in the Australian Capital Territory. It took steps to provide a basis for the restructuring of secondary education. The traditional six-year comprehensive high school was to be replaced in 1976 by a four-year high school and a two-year secondary college. The Interim Authority decided that each school should be responsible for its own curriculum which should not be constrained by an external examination. A system of course development and teacher assessment, to replace the New South Wales Higher School Certificate syllabuses and examination, was developed during 1974. The Interim Authority sought the advice of the Australian Council for Educational Research, and a report prepared by it was used to stimulate public debate. After considering a wide cross section of points of view the Interim Authority decided that accredited courses would replace syllabuses, teacher assessments, the examination and profile reports the Certificate. The ACT Schools Accrediting Agency, a committee of the Interim Authority, was formed in 1975 to administer accrediting assessment and reporting. The Accrediting Agency negotiated the basis for tertiary entrance for ACT students. It determined that a single aggregate score, the Tertiary Entrance Score, should be calculated, using aggregated scaled teacher assessments. Scores from three major and one minor accredited-TES courses scaled by the Australian Scholastic Aptitude Test total score would be aggregated. A system-wide order of merit would be created. The maximum aggregate score would be 360. The basis for the aggregate was very different from that which it was replacing. In New South Wales, five subject scores with a possible maximum of 900 was used. An examination of a number of comparison and correlation studies presented in Part B indicates that ASAT scaling of teacher estimates improves the correlation of teacher estimates with the Higher School Certificate examination aggregate scores. Some correlations between ASAT-scaled criteria and HSC aggregates are in the order of 0.9. As is expected some movement away from what was acceptable in 1975 occurred. When examined in the light of the philosophy of school responsibility for curriculum and assessment the procedures adopted certainly facilitate this, while at the same time produce students' results which can be used as confidently as external examination results have been.