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Moderator's Newsletter - Biology
January, 2010
From the Moderator
Contents
Changes to optional teacher-selected evidence
Changes from September 2009 (Circular A2009/027)
- The number of samples of student work for optional teacher selected evidence has been increased. Teachers may now send up to ten samples per standard per year.
- The samples for optional evidence feedback can relate to any standard, not just the standard selected for external moderation.
- The samples can be sent at any time throughout the year (through Secondary Moderation, NZQA), not just at the time of the school submission date (directly to moderator).
- The samples do not have to be accompanied by other assessment materials unless the teacher believes they would assist the moderator in understanding their question
- There is no specific turnaround time for samples sent outside the school submission date as this will depend on moderator capacity.
A specific question should be asked about each sample sent. The question asked by the teacher should aim to help further define the grade boundaries and clarify issues in the assessment of that work. Questions such as ?Please verify the grade of this work? should be avoided because they are not specific enough to help the teacher clarify specific issues or grade boundaries. The feedback provided from the moderator does not form part of the official moderation report and is designed to be more developmental in nature. Teachers are encouraged to take this opportunity to engage in professional dialogue to further define the grade boundaries. Refer also to the January 2009 Biology newsletter for an example of a typical specific question that could be asked.
Further Assessment Opportunities
A key feature of school-based internal assessment is that further opportunities to be assessed can be provided for students who initially fail to achieve their potential at any level, where this is appropriate.
The diversity of practice between schools, and sometimes between departments within a school, regarding the provision of further assessment opportunities for internally assessed standards (sometimes called "reassessment") has led to credibility issues and perceptions of unfairness. Furthermore, further assessment can contribute to over-assessment of students.
After consultation with the sector, from mid-2009 schools were asked to begin implementation of new rules and procedures into their school-wide policies and procedures. The new requirements are part of the 2010 Assessment and Examination Rules and Procedures. The aim of these rules and procedures is to reduce the current diversity of practice, while at the same time allowing teachers to exercise professional judgement in their assessment practice. It is important that teachers and students understand that further assessment opportunities are not mandatory and may not always be practical or feasible to provide.
Where verbal evidence is given in a resubmission, the moderator must be able to identify this new evidence in writing to be able to attest that the standard has been achieved.
For a full description of the new rules and procedures refer to the NZQA policy on 'Further Assessment Opportunities'.
Dual Assessment
Moderators are seeing more examples of assessment materials designed by teachers to assess against two standards that have the potential for some overlap in assessing against the achievement criteria of each Achievement Standard. For example, 90457 and 90460 at level 2 and 90714 and 90718 at level 3. Teachers should be aware that in such examples students must have fair and valid opportunity to meet the requirements of both standards at Excellence. A separate assessment schedule must be submitted for moderation that includes examples of evidence and judgement statements that meet the requirements of each standard being assessed.
Last updated: 09 February 2010