Moderation
AITSL Graduate Standards: 1.4, 1.5, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.2, 3.5, 3.6, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4
Moderation was an important aspect of assessing my student’s work from their first summative assessment for the Year 6 HASS History curriculum: Interview with a key Australian Icon involved in the process of federation. I conducted this moderation in conjunction with my mentor teacher and another year 6 teacher, Michael. Each class supplied three work samples with each one falling into the categories; below satisfactory, satisfactory and above satisfactory. Moderation of student work using the marking rubric, created using the achievement standards from the Australian Curriculum, this process in turn allowed me to grade my three focus students Kasia, Stephen and Shannon.
Every Monday night after school we would have a Year 6 History planning meeting which also included assessment moderation. Prior to the moderation meeting, my mentor and I chose our three work samples. On observation of our entire class’s body of work we found that we didn’t have an above achievement standard with a majority falling into what we perceived as developing or satisfactory. Michael found he had the same issue with many of his student’s unable to deliver what he deemed a satisfactory standard. Most of his student’s struggled with the same issues as our students which were the language conventions of historical texts, writing facts into their own words with some struggling to write in first person. We ended up comparing more than just the three samples.
As a result of this moderation, our initial thoughts didn’t change to the level of what was deemed to be a satisfactory and above satisfactory standard. Based on the amount of teacher support given to students, notes and observations, students would struggle to reach a satisfactory level as determined by the Australian Curriculum. Michael was in agreeance as his observations of his class were similar and supported by the quality of work submitted. Our joint analysis of the Australian Curriculum Year 6 HASS Achievement standards only confirmed our thoughts. Below are the specific standards we focused on for this assessment. ‘Students sequence information about events and the lives of individuals in chronological order. They identify a range of primary and secondary sources and locate, collect, organise and categorise relevant information to answer inquiry questions. Students develop texts, in developing these texts and organising and presenting their information, they use historical terms and concepts, and incorporate relevant sources.’ (Year 6 HASS, Australian Curriculum). The results of my three focus students did not vary or change as a result of the moderation process which stayed in line with the views on the performance of the rest of the class.
Although as a result of moderation we didn’t change any results this time, I can see the importance of moderation. I found the process of moderation very interesting. Moderation was informative for me to observe and gain feedback from another teacher other than my mentor about assessment, as well as the ability to just compare capabilities of students and understanding where the ‘gaps in their prior learning’ are in our classes. I feel that the use of evidence is important in moderation due to the ability to compare work samples with each other visually, garnering a consistent approach to the assessment of the same or similar work. ‘When teachers get together in professional discussions about student progress and learning, they enrich their knowledge and understanding of the curriculum as they learn from each other about designing learning, about what student progress and achievement looks like and about assessing learning.’ Moderation Matters (2016).
I have learnt through the moderation process and continued collaborating with colleagues that moderation contributes to establishing next-step planning and teaching. A fresh set of eyes on a student’s work sample can highlight ideas on that student’s deficiencies that might not have been thought of by myself, which in turn will allow me to potentially differentiate the learning goals of that student and many others. Moderation with other teachers can also give ideas on how to approach and teach a subject which has been proven by their own teaching experiences to work for them.
Moderation is a process that not only schools view as very important but it’s something I would like to participate in as much as possible. Any opportunity to reflect on my teaching and look for ways to improve as well as to provide a level of consistency to assessment and grading is important. The process of moderation allows students in the same year level to be compared and graded evenly, especially with composite year level classrooms which commonly occur in schools.
Every Monday night after school we would have a Year 6 History planning meeting which also included assessment moderation. Prior to the moderation meeting, my mentor and I chose our three work samples. On observation of our entire class’s body of work we found that we didn’t have an above achievement standard with a majority falling into what we perceived as developing or satisfactory. Michael found he had the same issue with many of his student’s unable to deliver what he deemed a satisfactory standard. Most of his student’s struggled with the same issues as our students which were the language conventions of historical texts, writing facts into their own words with some struggling to write in first person. We ended up comparing more than just the three samples.
As a result of this moderation, our initial thoughts didn’t change to the level of what was deemed to be a satisfactory and above satisfactory standard. Based on the amount of teacher support given to students, notes and observations, students would struggle to reach a satisfactory level as determined by the Australian Curriculum. Michael was in agreeance as his observations of his class were similar and supported by the quality of work submitted. Our joint analysis of the Australian Curriculum Year 6 HASS Achievement standards only confirmed our thoughts. Below are the specific standards we focused on for this assessment. ‘Students sequence information about events and the lives of individuals in chronological order. They identify a range of primary and secondary sources and locate, collect, organise and categorise relevant information to answer inquiry questions. Students develop texts, in developing these texts and organising and presenting their information, they use historical terms and concepts, and incorporate relevant sources.’ (Year 6 HASS, Australian Curriculum). The results of my three focus students did not vary or change as a result of the moderation process which stayed in line with the views on the performance of the rest of the class.
Although as a result of moderation we didn’t change any results this time, I can see the importance of moderation. I found the process of moderation very interesting. Moderation was informative for me to observe and gain feedback from another teacher other than my mentor about assessment, as well as the ability to just compare capabilities of students and understanding where the ‘gaps in their prior learning’ are in our classes. I feel that the use of evidence is important in moderation due to the ability to compare work samples with each other visually, garnering a consistent approach to the assessment of the same or similar work. ‘When teachers get together in professional discussions about student progress and learning, they enrich their knowledge and understanding of the curriculum as they learn from each other about designing learning, about what student progress and achievement looks like and about assessing learning.’ Moderation Matters (2016).
I have learnt through the moderation process and continued collaborating with colleagues that moderation contributes to establishing next-step planning and teaching. A fresh set of eyes on a student’s work sample can highlight ideas on that student’s deficiencies that might not have been thought of by myself, which in turn will allow me to potentially differentiate the learning goals of that student and many others. Moderation with other teachers can also give ideas on how to approach and teach a subject which has been proven by their own teaching experiences to work for them.
Moderation is a process that not only schools view as very important but it’s something I would like to participate in as much as possible. Any opportunity to reflect on my teaching and look for ways to improve as well as to provide a level of consistency to assessment and grading is important. The process of moderation allows students in the same year level to be compared and graded evenly, especially with composite year level classrooms which commonly occur in schools.
Appendix A
References