About this report
The following report gives feedback to assist assessors with general issues and trends that have been identified during external moderation of the internally assessed standards in 2023. It also provides further insights from moderation material viewed throughout the year and outlines the Assessor Support available for English.
On this page
Insights
91475: Produce a selection of fluent and coherent writing which develops, sustains, and structures ideas
Performance overview:
This standard requires students to produce a range of fluent and coherent writing which develops, sustains, and structures ideas at curriculum level 8.
Moderated evidence that met the requirements of the standard included pieces that were crafted to demonstrate a clear understanding of purpose and audience. To do this, ideas were sufficiently developed and linked throughout the piece of writing. Structures and language features appropriate to the text type were selected to create effects and sustain interest.
Various appropriate text types were seen in moderation, including feature articles, persuasive opinion pieces, literary essays and a range of creative writing. Poetry was increasingly popular, with examples of extended poems or collections of shorter poems submitted.
Pieces that were intended for a public audience beyond the teacher usually demonstrated evidence of deliberate crafting to better meet the standard.
Practices that need strengthening:
A common issue noted was the submission of written work from other subjects, or from other English standards that do not meet the requirements of this standard. For example, research reports that presented only found information were unlikely to meet the standard. Reports for English standards 91478 and 91480 required further crafting to sufficiently demonstrate the discerning/sophisticated understanding of purpose and audience required for Merit/Excellence.
The ‘Integrated writing’ section in the clarification document provides guidance on using evidence from other standards. Evidence should be treated as a source of draft material and re-worked to produce an appropriate text type at publication standard. This will better enable students to meet the standard at Merit and Excellence.
In addition, the use of syntax, diction and structures that meet the conventions of the selected text type is needed. A fluent writing style and tone should be sustained across each piece.
91477: Create a fluent and coherent visual text which develops, sustains, and structures ideas using verbal and visual language
Performance overview:
To meet the standard, students need to create a fluent and coherent visual text which develops, sustains, and structures ideas using verbal and visual language at curriculum level 8.
Evidence seen in moderation that clearly met the standard included visual texts that demonstrated understanding of purpose and audience through the clear development and linking of ideas. Structures and visual language features were selected and used to sustain interest.
Common and successful text types moderated included digital visual essays and static images with a series of developed visual content.
Practices that need strengthening:
A common issue noted in moderation was a text’s reliance on verbal or oral language to communicate meaning. For example, the reliance on voiceover for digital presentations or verbal text for static images. The focus of this standard is primarily on the visual mode. Verbal and oral techniques can be incorporated, but overall, the visual text must ‘stand alone’ in its ability to communicate the ideas.
An additional issue was the use of images that had been insufficiently manipulated to make them the student’s own, such as unmodified screenshots from films or stock images sourced from the internet. Whilst extracts from others’ work can be used as a starting point, students need to ensure that they build on, manipulate and add to these sourced images to create their own, original visual text.
Insufficient development of ideas across the visual text was also an issue in some evidence. Presenting individual ideas without sufficient linking between them is unlikely to meet the standard at this level.
91479: Develop an informed understanding of literature and/or language using critical texts
Performance overview:
This standard requires students to develop an informed understanding of literature and/or language using critical texts. This involves developing a coherent reading, critique and interpretation which includes judgements, commentary, and details and/or examples.
Moderated evidence that met the requirements of the standard usually included a clear hypothesis that enabled students to demonstrate their understanding at level 8 of the curriculum. Evidence of the process of student selection, evaluation and synthesis of selected critical texts was demonstrated.
Although findings can be presented in appropriate oral, written and/or visual forms (or a combination of these), most samples seen in moderation were presented in the written form. Literature topics were the most popular choice. A wide variety of topics were explored successfully, and discerning/insightful understandings were often demonstrated.
Practices that need strengthening:
A common issue identified in moderation was where students had selected critical texts that were below the level expected for this standard. Notes from study websites, Wikipedia, Fandom, or other similar sources that are written by ‘non-experts’ are unsuitable choices for this standard.
In addition, the language/literature topic selected should be in the context of the English Learning Area of the New Zealand Curriculum. The English field requires the critique of the primary text/s themselves, rather than focussing on developing an understanding of the critical texts selected or the wider societal ideas that they represent.
Assessor Support
Online
NZQA’s learning management system (Pūtake) offers 150+ easy to access courses, materials and products. These are designed to support teachers as assessors to improve their assessment of NCEA standards.
Online, subject-specific, bite-sized learning modules and short courses are now available to complement the traditional face-to-face workshops that NZQA offers. These online courses can be accessed using your Education Sector Logon. Courses available for English include:
- 91101: Crafted and controlled writing
- 91107: Analyse an aspect of visual text
Online Making Assessor Judgements workshops are also available throughout the year. These workshops are structured to guide teachers to improve their understanding of each grade level by examining several full samples of student work. The following standards are available for enrolment in 2024:
-
91106: Form developed personal responses to independently read texts, supported by evidence
-
91475: Produce a selection of fluent and coherent writing which develops, sustains, and structures ideas
-
91478: Respond critically to significant connections across texts, supported by evidence
Feedback from teachers for these workshops indicates that more than 74% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that the content in the module was beneficial:
“Although I was a bit skeptical that this was going to provide me with better understanding of the standard (and marking it), I found I've picked up more certainty about making judgements about the work my students might produce. I'm also more secure about guiding them through the selection of their topic and setting it up so that they are able to complete a successful investigation.”
Exemplars of student evidence for Level 2 and 3 standards at each level of achievement are available on the NZQA subject page for English.
NZQA will continue to provide generic modules and workshops designed to improve general assessment practice. The following modules and workshops will be available in 2024:
- Assessment Approaches, an online workshop exploring different methods of assessment
- Culturally Responsive Assessment
- Assessment Guidance – Reviewing Your Practice
- Tāku Reo, Tāku Mahi – My voice, My work, a guide to managing authenticity
- Why Less is More, a guide to reducing volumes of student evidence
- Integrated Assessment
- Modes of Assessment
- Alternative Assessment
- Acknowledging Sources
“This was great! I liked that I could choose from different scenarios, see how sources are used and the way the student answered the question.”
“Reassuring and very thorough. Easy to use/follow.”
We will also continue to offer the Transforming Assessment Praxis programme, an online workshop relevant to all subjects which helps assessors learn about re-contextualising assessment resources and collecting evidence in different ways, in order to better meet the needs of students.
Check the NCEA subject pages on the NZQA website regularly, as more online modules, workshops and courses will be added throughout 2024.
Assessor Practice Tool
The Assessor Practice Tool (APT) will be used to support assessors with the new NCEA standards from 2024 onwards. The purpose of the APT is to allow assessors to practice making assessment judgements and immediately receive feedback on their judgements from a moderation panel. The APT will initially have material for some existing Level 3 standards, with moderated samples for the new Level 1 NCEA standard subjects being added as material becomes available. Material for the new Level 2 and Level 3 standards will be added over time, and all material for the old NCEA standards will be archived.
Material is currently available for:
- 91924: Demonstrate understanding of how context shapes verbal language use
- 91925: Demonstrate understanding of specific aspects of studied text
- 91475: Produce a selection of fluent and coherent writing which develops, sustains, and structures ideas
- 91479: Develop an informed understanding of literature and/or language using critical texts
Workshops and presentations
The Best Practice Workshops offered by Assessment and Moderation continue to be viewed by the sector as significantly contributing to improved assessor practice:
"I thought the workshop was very clear and helpful, there were a lot of varied examples of ākonga work discussed and opportunity for participants to discuss and ask questions.”
We offer several options of online workshops and presentations for events to support assessors with the assessment of internally assessed standards. These can be subject-specific, or general assessment support, and tailored to the audience. Virtual presentation slots, online workshops or webinars can be requested to provide targeted support to local, regional or national audiences.