3. CONTENTS
Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1
Operating Principles ................................................................................................................ 1
Stage 2 Moderation ...................................................................................................................... 3
Purpose of Moderation at Stage 2........................................................................................... 3
Stage 2 Moderation Procedures.............................................................................................. 3
Attachment: Operational Processes in Final Moderation ................................................................... 6
Purpose ................................................................................................................................... 6
Process ................................................................................................................................... 6
After Moderation ..................................................................................................................... 7
4.
5. INTRODUCTION
The SACE Assuring Assessment Integrity policy describes the four-phase process of planning,
clarifying, confirming, and improving that is used to ensure that the assessment of student
learning in the SACE is valid and reliable and that the performance standards in each subject
have been applied consistently across the state.
The policy outlines the roles that both the SACE Board and schools play in each phase of the
process.
The SACE moderation procedures are central to the confirming phase of the SACE Assuring
Assessment Integrity policy, as it relates to school assessment for Stage 2 subjects.
The procedures for assuring the integrity of assessment measures used for SACE assessments
are based on the interconnected and complementary responsibilities of students, teachers,
principals, and the SACE Board in the moderation process.
School assessment in the SACE is defined as an assessment that is set by the school, in
accordance with the subject outline, and carried out by the school.
Students’ results for these school assessments are moderated at the A+ to E− standard in all
Stage 2 subjects.
SACE Moderation Procedures 2011 should be read in conjunction with SACE Assessment and
Quality Assurance of Board-accredited Subjects and SACE Assessment and Reporting:
Guidelines for Teachers 2011.
OPERATING PRINCIPLES
The following operating principles underpin the moderation procedures for SACE subjects at
Stage 2.
Validity
That moderation seeks to confirm the school’s assessment decisions about student
achievement, based on the assumption that the learning requirements and assessment design
criteria described in the subject outline have been followed, and that the performance standards
have been interpreted consistently.
Sampling
That moderation is based on evidence provided in a sample of student work from an
assessment group, representative of the range of achievement grade levels.
Consistency
That moderation decisions confirming or recommending adjustments to school assessment
results are applied to all students in an assessment group with the same result and across all
schools with the same result.
Achievement order
That moderation decisions maintain the order of student achievement within assessment types
for each assessment group (that is, the range A+ to E−).
SACE Moderation Procedures 2011: Stage 2 Subjects 1
6. Fairness
That a student is not advantaged or disadvantaged by having his or her work included in the
sample submitted for moderation.
In this document, when reference is made to schools this refers to responsibilities of the
principal or the principal’s delegate. When reference is made to the SACE Board this refers to
responsibilities of SACE Board officers, or officers appointed by the SACE Board with particular
responsibilities (for example, moderators).
2 SACE Moderation Procedures 2011: Stage 2 Subjects
7. STAGE 2 MODERATION
PURPOSE OF MODERATION AT STAGE 2
The role of moderation at Stage 2 is to confirm the school’s assessment decisions, and it does
not involve remarking student work. In each Stage 2 subject, student achievement is assessed
using three assessment grade levels (+, mid-grade, and −) within each grade band (A, B, C, D, E).
Final moderation is used to confirm that, for the 70% school assessment in each subject, the
application of A+ to E− assessment grade levels is consistent with the performance standards
described in each subject outline and consistent across all assessment groups.
STAGE 2 MODERATION PROCEDURES
Step 1: Pre-moderation Activities
The following activities take place before moderation.
The SACE Board:
• provides planning support for teachers
• approves the learning and assessment plan for each subject (plans may be approved for up to
three years)
• arranges clarifying forums for teachers, to support them in developing an understanding of the
performance standards and how to apply them in a task or set of tasks during the teaching
and learning program
• provides guidelines to support schools in developing and applying supervision and verification
processes
• encourages experienced teachers to apply to act as moderators, supporting the SACE Board
in assuring the integrity of students’ results.
Schools:
• ensure that enrolments in all subjects are completed by the published due date
• encourage teachers to access planning support according to the school’s quality assurance
needs
• submit learning and assessment plans (through the principal or principal’s delegate) to the
SACE Board for approval
• release teachers to participate in clarifying forums according to the school’s quality assurance
needs
• analyse and, where necessary, implement the school’s understanding of the application of the
performance standards from the clarifying forum
• join with other school(s), where necessary, if the school determines that the assessment
group size is too small
• conduct confirmation activities within the school to ensure that assessment decisions at each
grade band (A+ to E−) are consistent, fair, and reliable across assessment groups in each
subject
• make available all student samples, if the SACE Board advises that additional samples of
student work are needed for moderation purposes
• implement the school’s supervision and verification processes to ensure the authenticity of
student materials.
SACE Moderation Procedures 2011: Stage 2 Subjects 3
8. Step 2: Preparation and Submission of Moderation Materials
The following activities support the preparation and collection of sample materials for
moderation.
The SACE Board:
• generates a school assessment result sheet for each nominated assessment group in a
subject, and sends it to the school
• receives from the school the completed result sheet(s) to use as a basis for selecting a
moderation sample for each assessment group that the school has nominated for moderation
• sends to the school the SACE registration numbers of the students selected in the moderation
sample for each assessment group for each subject for final moderation (central), or for final
moderation (on-site) for Visual Arts and Physical Education
• organises courier collection of materials for final moderation (central), and makes available
the final moderation (on-site) schedule for Visual Arts and Physical Education
• organises a panel for final moderation
• receives the samples sent from the school in each subject and distributes them to a
moderation panel for final moderation (central).
Schools:
• nominate assessment groups in each subject (this may be done by individual class, by
teacher, or by school, or may include classes from more than one school)
• confirm their assessment decisions by completing and submitting to the SACE Board a result
sheet for the school assessment for each nominated assessment group in a subject (signed
off by the principal or principal’s delegate)
• either collect the selected sample from students, ensuring (where possible) that students and
the school are not identified in the materials (the sample should include: the marked student
work for each task; a copy of the learning and assessment plan; task sheets for each
assessment task and any associated marks scheme, rubric, or specific features of the
assessment design criteria; the grade or marks spreadsheet; and the final grade for each
assessment type); or organise the sample for final moderation (on-site) for Visual Arts and
Physical Education
• prepare the sample in assessment groups for courier collection, or for the final moderation
(on-site) for Visual Arts and Physical Education
• retain all other student work samples for each assessment group at the school.
Step 3: Moderation Procedures
The following activities take place during and after moderation.
Stage 2 final moderation (central) is held at a central venue for most subjects. Final moderation
(on-site) takes place mostly at school sites (schools can nominate an alternative venue for
approval by the SACE Board for Visual Arts and Physical Education).
Moderation occurs at the end of Semester 1 for some subjects and at the end of Semester 2 for
others, depending on the duration of the learning program and the number of students
undertaking the subject.
Moderation assumes the performance standards have been consistently applied to assessment
decisions within an assessment group.
During the moderation process, moderators review assessment decisions at the overall school
assessment grade level and at the assessment type level.
4 SACE Moderation Procedures 2011: Stage 2 Subjects
9. The SACE Board:
• actively recruits moderators from a range of schools, to reflect the diversity of SACE students
• appoints moderators in each subject, appointing from each school sector and from schools
across each socio-economic quartile where possible
• releases TRT funding to cover moderators during the moderation process
• trains all moderators in the moderation process
• conducts a benchmarking exercise before moderation begins
• reviews samples and confirms or adjusts school assessment decisions (see the attachment
on page 6 for detailed information about moderation processes, including quality assurance)
• provides feedback to the principal to confirm the school’s assessment decisions, and informs
schools of adjustments made to school assessment results (if more than three assessment
grade levels) at the time of students’ results release.
Schools:
• support the SACE Board’s moderation process by encouraging teachers to be involved in final
moderation for their subject(s).
Step 4: Adjustment Procedures
The SACE Board and schools’ interconnected responsibilities support quality assured
assessment results. The following activities take place if the assessment decisions for an
assessment group in a subject, as represented by the sample for final moderation, do not align
with the quality of learning described in the performance standards for the assigned grades.
The SACE Board:
• makes adjustments to students’ results if the moderation process leads to a change of one or
two assessment grade levels (for example, B adjusted to B− or C+; or B− adjusted to B or B+)
in the results submitted by the school; the SACE Board informs the school of these changes
within the overall results information that schools receive at the end of the results cycle (the
SACE Board will also make an adjustment in the event of a clerical error).
• informs the principal regarding adjustments to students’ results at the time of final moderation,
if the moderation process leads to a change of three or more assessment grade levels (for
example, from B to C). This warns the school that there has been a significant change in
assessment grade levels before students receive their results, and also prompts schools to
check for any inadvertent procedural error (for example, non-delivery of a package of student
material). The SACE Board will ask the principal to provide information about any procedural
error within 3 days.
Schools:
• note the feedback from the SACE Board when school assessment decisions are adjusted
• provide information about any procedural error within 3 days, if applicable.
Step 5: Post-moderation Information
The following feedback and information is provided to schools at the end of the moderation
process.
The SACE Board:
• provides quantitative and qualitative data confirming the application of the performance
standards to all schools following results release.
Schools:
• note the feedback from final moderation for each subject and incorporate this into their
improving and planning processes.
SACE Moderation Procedures 2011: Stage 2 Subjects 5
10. ATTACHMENT
OPERATIONAL PROCESSES IN FINAL MODERATION
PURPOSE
The main purposes of final moderation (central) are to:
• ensure that the performance standards in a subject have been applied consistently
• ensure that school assessed grades awarded to students across schools are comparable
• help ensure fairness to students
• provide the community with reliable information about student performance.
PROCESS
The SACE Board:
• appoints an assessment panel for final moderation consisting of
– a Chief Supervisor (School Assessment)
– a Chief Supervisor (Materials Development)
– (for some subjects) the Chief Assessor
– a number of moderators, depending on the size of the student cohort
• lists all schools, in order of moderation, in conjunction with the Chief Supervisor (School
Assessment), and grouped into categories as follows
– remote and regional
– multiple assessment groups in one school
– metropolitan
– moderators’ schools (moderators do not choose the school they moderate, but follow the
listed order)
• allocates each moderator to a pair, in conjunction with the Chief Supervisor (School
Assessment), and changes these pairings on at least a daily basis throughout the moderation
process, in order to
– enable productive professional dialogue between moderators
– support new moderators
– promote shared understanding and practice among members of the moderation panel.
A SACE Board officer and the Chief Supervisor (School Assessment) lead and support
moderation for each subject.
The Chief Supervisor (School Assessment), the Chief Supervisor (Materials Development), and
the SACE Board officer:
• train moderators in moderation processes and procedures
• conduct a benchmarking exercise in each subject before the start of moderation, to
– establish consensus between moderators through conversation, achieve agreement, and
resolve and mitigate most differences of opinion, before moderation starts; these
conversations will focus on evidence in the benchmarking material to support assessment
decisions
– ensure that moderators consistently apply the performance standards throughout the
moderation process; moderators will appreciate that, in the interests of fairness, consistent
application of the performance standards is prioritised over any personal opinion
• discuss the outcome of the moderation process with the moderators before any adjustments
are made to student grades
6 SACE Moderation Procedures 2011: Stage 2 Subjects
11. • monitor moderators’ decisions during the moderation process
• ensure the integrity of the moderation process
• implement the review of assessment groups which have differences to be resolved, in
accordance with the Assessment Integrity Panel instructions.
At final moderation:
• All assessment groups are moderated according to the listed order.
• When moderation is complete all final result sheets are checked by
– the Chief Supervisor (School Assessment)
– the Chief Supervisor (Materials Development)
– the SACE Board officer.
• After this set of checks, the Assessment Integrity Panel reviews the final result sheets of those
assessment groups flagged for review to ensure that all differences have been resolved.
• If there are any outstanding differences to be resolved, a second pair of experienced
moderators will moderate the flagged assessment group, without any knowledge of the first
moderation outcome or of the unresolved differences.
• The Assessment Integrity Panel reviews the results from this second moderation process
(including any word-count, plagiarism, or other technical issues).
• The Assessment Integrity Panel confirms the results from the second moderation process.
AFTER MODERATION
All final result sheets in a subject are checked to ensure consistency of moderation processes
and procedures across assessment groups and schools. All feedback sheets are also checked
in the same way, including alignment with the final result sheet(s) for the subject.
The Chief Assessor, Chief Supervisor (External Assessment), Chief Supervisor (School
Assessment), and Chief Supervisor (Materials Development) contribute to a report for each
subject, which includes information and data from the school assessment (moderation) and
external assessment (marking) processes.
SACE Moderation Procedures 2011: Stage 2 Subjects 7
