School moderation visits
Each year, moderators and school moderation officers (experienced teachers from all school sector/systems) visit a sample of schools. The purpose of school moderation visits is to ensure that Council requirements are understood, that approved assessment procedures are implemented, and that statewide comparability of standards is achieved. School moderation visits are scheduled if requested by the school principal or where evidence suggests to the Council an assessment issue may exist in a particular course or subject. Schools are provided with at least three weeks’ notice in writing of a planned moderation visit.
There are two forms of school moderation visit:
- a document visit
- a grading visit.
For a document visit, the school is required to make available the following materials:
- a course unit or subject outline
- an assessment outline for the course unit or subject which reflects the assessment requirements of the syllabus
- student assessment records for the class or classes (i.e. the marks book) up to the point of the visit
- assessment tasks conducted before the visit and any developed for use later in the year
- marking keys for assessment tasks conducted before the visit and any developed for use later in the year
- a brief statement of the internal comparability processes being applied, where more than one teacher is involved
- a brief statement, where required, of the moderation processes being applied to achieve comparability with the small group partner school/s.
For a grading visit, the following additional materials are required:
- a proposed grade distribution (i.e. the anticipated number of students at each grade)
- assessment files containing all marked tasks for a sample of students at each grade cut-off point
- a ranked order list of students based on the total marks at the point of the visit (for course units and TEE subjects only).
Guidelines and a checklist to assist teachers in preparing for a school moderation visit are provided before a visit occurring.
At the conclusion of a school moderation visit the principal receives a written report.
