Judging Standards Support Materials
Please note: Judging standards materials are now housed within the extranet for privacy of student work samples, especially for those relating to performance. Teachers can login or register for an account at https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/extranet/login.
Judging standards is a tool to support teachers when reporting against the achievement standards for each year of schooling; when giving assessment feedback; and when explaining the differences between one student's achievement and another's. The achievement standard describes an expected level that the majority of students are achieving or working towards by the end of that year of schooling. Some students will have progressed beyond the achievement standard; others will need additional support. The expected standard for each year is described as 'C' or Satisfactory.
‘As reporting student achievement in terms of grades is a broad classification of performance, each grade represents a wide range of student ability. Many students will be given the same grade in semester 1 and semester 2, even though their teachers will have observed growth in learning. Bearing in mind that work in Semester 2 builds on Semester 1, maintaining a grade indicates students have held their own in the face of more advanced material and in this way have grown in their learning’ (Western Australian Curriculum and Assessment Outline, Assessment Principle 5-Assessment should lead to informative reporting).
The Judging Standards resources comprise three, interrelated components:
Grades, and or achievement descriptions: for describing student achievement for the purpose of reporting. Grades, and/or achievement descriptions, are not assigned for individual pieces of work.
Assessment pointers: for validating teachers’ professional judgement when reporting against a five-point scale.The pointers are examples of evidence in relation to the achievement standard; should be used with the annotated work samples; and, exemplify what students may demonstrate rather than a checklist of everything they should do. In some learning areas, depending on what has been taught in the reporting period, teachers may refer to only a selection of the pointers in one or more of the subjects and/or contexts of the learning area.
Annotated work samples: for supporting teachers when reporting against the achievement standard; when explaining the differences between one student’s achievement and another’s; and, in implementing internal moderation practices. ‘Moderation for Reporting focuses on those aspects of assessment where schools are required to be accountable for student performance and where it is important that teacher judgements are comparable. When undertaking moderation for reporting purposes, the emphasis is on broad classifications of student performance (e.g. reporting student performance in terms of grades or in terms of achieving the standard), and ensuring teachers have consistent interpretations of these broad classifications (Western Australian Curriculum and Assessment Outline, Assessment Principle 5-Assessment should lead to informative reporting).