• February 2023
• February 2022
• February 2021
• February 2020
• March 2019

February 2023

The following report gives feedback to assist assessors with general issues and trends that have been identified during external moderation of the internally assessed standards in 2022. It also provides further insights from moderation material viewed throughout the year and outlines the Assessor Support available for English.

Contents

• Insights
• Assessor Support
• Contact NZQA

Insights

91475: Produce a selection of fluent and coherent writing which develops, sustains and structures ideas

To achieve this standard, students need to produce at least two pieces of fluent and coherent writing at curriculum level 8.

Evidence seen in 2022 external moderation that clearly met the requirements of this standard demonstrated a clear understanding of purpose and audience through the development and linking of ideas, and selection of structures and language features appropriate to the text type to sustain interest. Accurate use of written text conventions (including spelling, punctuation and grammar) was also evident.

Text types in 2022 that provided strong evidence for this standard included, but were not limited to: short stories in a range of genres, flash fiction, poetry, feature articles and opinion pieces.

Samples that included pieces written for other English standards or other subject areas, but were not reworked to produce an appropriate text type at publication standard, do not always provide sufficient evidence to meet the standard.

Student evidence can be strengthened if some text types (such as reports or oral transcripts) are redrafted and crafted into more appropriate text types (like reviews, feature articles or opinion pieces).

In addition, evidence that demonstrates the accurate use of written text conventions (including spelling, punctuation and grammar) is more likely to reflect the expectations of this standard at curriculum level 8.

91476: Create and deliver a fluent and coherent oral text which develops, sustains and structures ideas

This standard requires students to create and deliver a fluent and coherent oral text that develops, sustains and structures ideas, and is predominantly the student’s own work.

Evidence seen in 2022 external moderation that met the standard demonstrated a clear understanding of purpose and audience via the development and linking of ideas throughout the oral text. The texts also used appropriate oral language features to create consistency in meaning and effect, and to sustain audience/viewer interest.

Text types that provided strong evidence for this standard included, but were not limited to, formal speeches, seminars, podcasts and vlogs.

Students who did not demonstrate sufficient control over oral language features to sustain audience/viewer interest were unlikely to meet the standard. Some student evidence can be strengthened with further eye contact, if required by the text type, and greater variation in tone of voice and pace of delivery.

91478: Respond critically to significant connections across texts, supported by evidence

To achieve this standard, students need to respond critically to significant connections across at least four texts, one of which must be student selected. All texts selected should allow students to explore ideas at level 8 of the curriculum. 

Evidence seen in 2022 moderation that met the requirements of this standard demonstrated the ability to make evaluative interpretations and judgements about key aspects and interpretations of the texts and how these were linked. Interpretations and judgements were also supported with specific and relevant evidence from each text to build the argument.

Focusing on one significant overall connection, which was then explored using related sub-statements/questions, provided students with a good opportunity to demonstrate the level of critical response required at curriculum level 8.

Students were unlikely to demonstrate the depth of response required to meet the standard where they provided personal responses, summaries and descriptions that did not enable them to explore ideas at curriculum level 8.

91479: Develop an informed understanding of literature and/or language using critical texts

This standard requires students to develop an informed understanding of a selected primary text within the English Learning Area, using critical texts. The primary text can include written, oral and visual texts, and should be at curriculum level 8, and/or have characteristics that enable students to meet the expected level of informed understanding. Critical texts may include linguistic or literary theory, criticism and/or analysis written by experts/theorists. These should be student selected.                             

Evidence seen in 2022 external moderation that clearly met the requirements of this standard showed a developed and coherent reading, critique and interpretation of the selected primary text. This include judgements, commentary and specific details and/or examples from both the primary and the critical texts to support the argument.

A number of student samples show an understanding of the primary text, but do not underpin the response with sufficient examples of viewpoints of experts/theorists to meet the standard.

Additionally, some submissions focus on demonstrating an understanding of either the wider issues raised by the primary text or of the critical texts selected, rather than of the primary text itself.

Assessor Support

Online

NZQA’s learning management system (Pūtake) offers 150+ easy to access courses, materials and products. These are designed to support teachers as assessors to improve their assessment of NCEA standards. 

Online, subject-specific, bite-sized learning modules and short courses are now available to complement the traditional face-to-face workshops that NZQA offers. These online courses can be accessed using your Education Sector Logon. Courses available for English include:

• 90853: Forming inquiry questions
• 91101: Crafted and controlled writing
• 91107: Analyse an aspect of visual text

Online Making Assessor Judgements workshops are also available throughout the year. These workshops are structured to guide teachers to improve their understanding of each grade level by examining several full samples of student work. The following standards are available for enrolment in 2023:

• Making Assessor Judgements: 91475, 91478, 91106

Feedback from teachers for these workshops indicates that more than 90% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that the content in the module was beneficial:

“This would be a really good department exercise to do in a meeting before marking the standard.”

“I found reading and analysing the extracts for evidence against level 8 in the curriculum very useful.”

In 2023, English teacher-assessors will have the opportunity to participate in the Phase Two pilot for the Assessor Practice Tool, which enables assessors to practice making judgements on up to ten samples of student evidence per standard. Once assessors have assigned a grade, they will receive immediate feedback from a moderation panel on their judgement. NZQA are piloting the Assessor Practice Tool with the following standards for English:

• 91475: Produce a selection of fluent and coherent writing which develops, sustains and structures ideas
• 91479: Develop an informed understanding of literature and/or language using critical texts

The Assessor Practice Tool will be used to provide assessors with support for the new NCEA standards from 2024 onwards. Schools will receive further information about Phase Two of the Assessor Practice Tool in early 2023.

NZQA will continue to offer several non-subject-specific modules and workshops, designed to improve general assessment practice. The following modules and workshops will be available in 2023:

• Assessment Approaches, an online workshop exploring different methods of assessment
• Culturally Responsive Assessment
• Assessment Guidance – Reviewing Your Practice
• Tāku reo, tāku mahi – My voice, my work, a guide to managing authenticity
• Why Less is More, a guide to reducing volumes of student evidence

We will also continue to run the Transforming Assessment Praxis programme, an online workshop relevant to all subjects which helps assessors learn about re-contextualising assessment resources and collecting evidence in different ways, in order to better meet the needs of students.

Check the NCEA subject pages on the NZQA website regularly, as more online modules, workshops and courses will be added throughout 2023.

Live and Face-to-face

The Best Practice Workshops (online and face-to-face) offered by Assessment and Moderation continue to be viewed by the sector as significantly contributing to improved assessor practice:

“The workshop helped to review my own knowledge, and great to share ideas."

“It was great having time to challenge my thinking in assessment."

Workshops, webinars, or presentation slots can be requested to provide targeted support to local, regional or national audiences. National Moderators are available to present at conferences, local or national hui or via live webinars. These services are available on request and subject to availability.

Contact NZQA

More detailed information, including how to request or register for a workshop or online course, can be found on our Assessor Support pages or by emailing workshops@nzqa.govt.nz.

To give feedback on this report click on this link.