The Board of the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority) has endorsed full day Consensus Moderation meetings for 2020.

Preparation for Consensus Moderation Meetings

In preparation for the consensus moderation meetings teachers are required to:

• retain all student assessment tasks completed prior to the meeting
• compile a student assessment file indicative of a mid 'A', a mid 'B' and a mid 'C' for the meetings (i.e. three files in total)
• ensure student assessment files meet with the specific course requirements as outlined during the registration period in March
• include a copy of the assessment tasks and marking keys in each student assessment file
• include a copy of the assessment outline in each student assessment file
• prepare a proposed grade distribution for the course to submit at the meeting.

For enquiries relating to consensus moderation please email consensus.moderation@scsa.wa.edu.au or contact Mandy Hudson on 9273 6755.

Why?

Consensus moderation provides opportunities for teachers to build common understandings of the course standards that underpin comparability. Comparability between schools ensures fairness for all students.

Which courses?

The following Year 11 and Year 12 ATAR Languages courses and Year 12 General courses are in consensus moderation in 2020:

ATAR Courses
Year 12
Chinese: Second Language	Indonesian: Second Language
German: Second Language
Year 11
French: Second Language	Japanese: Second Language
Italian: Second Language
General Courses
Year 12
Accounting and Finance	Geography
Ancient History	Human Biology
Biology	Marine and Maritime Studies
English	Modern History
Food Science Technology	Visual Arts

Who?

Participation in consensus moderation is compulsory for one representative from each school for each of those courses that the school is delivering.

Where?

Consensus moderation meetings are held in the Perth metropolitan area and also, where numbers are viable, in regional centres. Each school is allocated to a consensus moderation group (typically of 10–15 schools) for a course. The meetings are typically facilitated by the Authority officer responsible for the course.

Alternative arrangements are made for regional, remote and international schools. Online meetings, following the same format as face-to-face meetings, are conducted for these schools and the required materials must be uploaded to the Authority’s online system before the meeting.

When?

The consensus moderation process will be conducted in two blocks of 3 weeks duration. The first in Term 2 from Weeks 7 to 9 (Monday 8 June 2020 to Friday 26 June 2020) and the second in Term 3 from Weeks 2 to 4 (Monday 27 July 2020 to Friday 14 August 2020).

How?

The meeting agenda will reflect the two parts to consensus moderation in 2020:

• a focus on applying the grade descriptions to determine a grade through the review of student assessment files
• a focus on assessment practice and the development and implementation of valid and appropriate school-based assessment tasks.