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What is best practice in moderation?
Internal moderation
The quality of national assessment is reliant on quality assurance systems operating in every institution where assessment takes place. Schools must have in place assessment policies and procedures to ensure that assessment is valid, fair, consistent, reliable, accurate and to the national standard. As part of these processes schools should adopt internal moderation systems to ensure that:
- all assessment material is checked prior to use
- there is consistency of assessment across classes
- samples of all assessor judgements are verified
- benchmark samples of student work which exemplify individual grades are identified and retained
- assessment materials including appropriate assessed student work are retained for external moderation purposes
- material is reviewed prior to further use
- advice from external moderation is followed up as required
- staff are using external collegial links in order to maintain a current understanding of the national standard.
Implementing internal moderation
| Teachers can be assisted in applying these internal moderation systems by the use of checklists and summary sheets. A model (see opposite) that schools may like to adopt or adapt is available. |  |
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Ways in which departments can check the quality of their materials before they are used include discussion at departmental meetings and with subject advisers or external colleagues. A simple record of this process should be kept on internal moderation checklists.
Verification of assessment decisions can be undertaken within departments, often by the Head of Department or the teacher in charge of checking samples of assessed work, particularly those identified as being at the grade boundary. In some cases the size of the school or cohort, or the nature of the assessment mean it is advisable to consult with existing professional networks like a colleague at another school, or the subject adviser. A checklist can be used to record who was involved in this assurance process and the basis for changing any assessment decisions.
It is good practice to annotate a master copy of assessment materials to facilitate their review. This can include amendments to the nature of the assessment itself, ranging from modification of the conditions to changes to the questions and tasks themselves. Real life student answers that exemplify grade specific responses can be identified and appended to the assessment schedule as part of this review.
The procedures for follow-up of concerns raised in external moderation reports should be formalised in assessment documentation and addressed by the Head of Department with a report made to the Principal's Nominee on action taken. Action may be taken by making the minor adjustments suggested, reviewing the content of a course, finding new resources and organising some internal professional development.
One consequence of the move to standards based assessment is that teachers have established external links with subject advisers and with colleagues in other schools. Distance can make active membership of professional associations difficult but contacts can be maintained through email links as appropriate. As external professional interaction helps staff maintain a current understanding of the national standard, it is recommended that senior management in all schools continue to encourage and, if necessary, facilitate these contacts.
National Moderator Reports
These reports, available on the NZQA website, contain summary comments from National Moderators for teachers, assessors and other interested parties. Their purpose is to give an overview of moderators' findings. They aim to disseminate ideas about good practice and to enhance understanding of the national standard.
Managing National Assessment School Assessment Systems Check
The application of school internal moderation systems is monitored by NZQA as part of the regular cycle of Managing National Assessment systems checks. Each school should also establish simple systems to monitor teacher practice in regard to quality assurance each year.
These processes not only meet quality assurance requirements, they help develop process leadership, professional memory and the development of guild knowledge.
Last updated: 09 October 2007