Teacher conference works towards awarding Year 12 results

About 900 of Queensland’s most experienced senior secondary school teachers are meeting in Brisbane this week to moderate Year 12 student assessments.

The Queensland Studies Authority’s annual moderation conference runs from 21–25 July and involves state panels and district review panel chairs from across the state comparing student work against standards in 52 Authority subjects.

Education and Training Minister Rod Welford said the conference would help ensure that student results in the same subject were comparable no matter the school attended.

“In Queensland, senior students are taught and assessed by their school within a rigorous quality-assurance framework,” Mr Welford said.

“District review panels look at student folios from each subject at each school to check schools’ judgments about students’ achievements.

“State review panels then examine sample school submissions from each district to ensure that standards of assessment and levels of achievement are maintained across Queensland.

“This means we can be sure, for example, that a Very High Achievements (VHA) score in English, Maths or Modern History is the same in a Brisbane school as they are in schools in Mackay, Mount Isa or Rockhampton.

“It is a system that promotes consultation and partnership between teachers and schools to ensure fairness and equity for all students.”

Mr Welford said Queensland’s system of externally-moderated school-based assessment had several advantages over one-off “high stakes” exams.

"Research has shown our system produces reliable and comparable assessment of student achievement at higher levels than typically found in the marking of public exams,” he said.

"A further strength is that students are judged on their performance over two years of study, rather than on one day of the year.

"Using a range of assessment approaches — including oral exams, presentations, group work and written tests — encourages deeper understanding of a topic and engages students' higher-order thinking skills."

A Sound level of achievement or higher in an Authority subject contributes four credits towards the new Queensland Certificate of Education. Students’ results in Authority subjects are also used in the calculation of Overall Positions and Field Positions for tertiary entrance.

Media contact: Marnie Stitz on 3237 1000 or 0419 734 985