Curriculum, teaching, learning and assessment > Literacy and Numeracy > Year 2 Diagnostic Net > Information booklet for state schools >

Moderation

Overview
School management
Moderation procedure
Moderation materials
Common issues
Regional Moderation

Overview

Moderation ensures that phase allocations are comparable across classes and schools.

Through moderation, teachers have the opportunity to:

share beliefs and practices;
enhance their understanding of the continua;
ensure that interpretations of indicators are consistent;
confirm their judgments about the phases in which students are operating, in particular those Year 2 students who will be considered for additional support.

Refer to Information Sheet 22 for more information on moderation.

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School management

School-based moderation can be conducted at any time after all validation activities have been completed, up to and including the pupil-free day at the commencement of Term 3.

The Year 2 Diagnostic Net moderation process involves all teachers of Years 1, 2 and 3 and may occur as part of in-school activities. Small schools (with fewer than four teachers of Years 1, 2 and 3) will need to combine with other small schools or with a larger school to facilitate the process. Larger schools may also join with other schools for the moderation process if they wish.

The key teacher, itinerant key teacher or an administrator should be appointed as the process facilitator. The process facilitator arranges the time, venue and group composition for moderation. Groups should consist of four to six participants and may comprise teachers from a single year level or across year levels.

It is the principal's responsibility to ensure that all Years 1, 2 and 3 teachers attend moderation adequately prepared.

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Moderation procedure

Refer to Information Sheet 22 for a full explanation of how to conduct moderation. A set of overhead transparencies, a Group Leader Summary Sheet and a Process Facilitator Summary Sheet are included with Information Sheet 22.

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Moderation materials

The following list of moderation materials is extracted from Information Sheet 22.

Teachers of Years 1 and 3 need to select:

one representative student case from each of the phases allocated in their class in each focus area;
all student cases where the teacher is unsure of phase allocation.

Teachers of Year 2 need to select:

one representative student case validated as requiring support from each focus area;
one representative student case from each of the phases allocated in their class in each focus area;
all student cases where the teacher is unsure of phase allocation.

Teachers of multi-age classes need to select:

one representative student case from each of the phases allocated in their class in each focus area;
all student cases where the teacher is unsure of phase allocation;
one representative student case validated as requiring support from each focus area if the class includes Year 2 students.

All teachers will need to assemble a set of moderation materials for each of the students selected.

A set of moderation materials consists of:

the Individual Student Profile for the focus area;
validation recording sheets (for identified Year 2 students only);
supporting assessment evidence.

It is recommended that teachers provide sufficient evidence to support their judgments. The quality of assessment items and the degree of analysis included is important. Supporting assessment evidence could include at least one of the following from each focus area.

Reading

a running record
a reading interview
a comprehension activity

Writing

a writing sample - for example, journal entry, learning log, draft writing sample from current unit of work
a writing interview

Number

reflective writing
an interview
representative sample of a student's day-to-day work - for example, a maths day pad or scrapbook, outcomes from specific maths tasks

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Common issues

Ensure that sufficient time is allocated. This will allow for evidence and indicators to be matched, and for explanations of indicators to be referred to when necessary.
Teachers of Year 1 will have fewer phases to share. Their contribution to confirming the phases of other year levels is valued.
It is recommended that teachers provide sufficient evidence to support their judgments. The quality of assessment items and the degree of analysis included is important.
Work samples that are dated and annotated are more helpful to the moderation process.
To ensure that consistency of judgement is being applied by teachers in all schools across the state, reference should be made to the following resources when determining how key indicators are to be interpreted: Understanding the Key Indicators of Reading and Writing (QSCC, 1997) and Number Developmental Continuum (QSCC, 1997).

Regional Moderation

Each school with Year 2 students is to participate in a regional Moderation process. The school representative is usually the Key Teacher. Regional moderation is organised by the Principal Education Officer (Performance Measurement) or nominee in consultation with the Manager, Education Services. This includes notifying schools on the range of issues such as dates, venue, what to bring to regional moderation etc. Regional moderation is usually timed to occur within the first three weeks of Term 3. (Specific dates are notified annually).

School Year 2 Diagnostic Net reports should not be completed and distributed to parents until after regional moderation in case the moderation process leads to an adjustment of the ratings provided by teachers on individual student's levels of development. If Year 2 Diagnostic Net reports are released prior to moderation then parents will need to be notified of any phase changes that occur as a result of moderation.

For more details, see Memorandums.

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