Clarification details
Updated December 2020. Minor revisions have been made to most sections of this document to address issues that have arisen from moderation.
The purpose of clarifications
We create clarification documents to help people understand the current requirements of achievement standards. Clarifications do not introduce new criteria, change the intent of the standard, or change what we expect from assessment.
These documents unpack and explain the language and intent of the standard so people interpret and apply the standard consistently. We provide examples or guidance as illustrations only. They are not prescriptions or requirements.
For official requirements, always refer to the current version of the achievement standard as published by NZQA.
Focus
The focus of this Achievement Standard is the ability to:
- examine what happened in an historical event or place (or movement – see Explanatory Note 3)
- process the evidence so that it is communicated through key historical ideas with supporting evidence
- avoid presenting an historical narrative
- explain how the event or place was significant to New Zealanders.
Processing the evidence so that it is communicated through key historical ideas with supporting evidence
Judgements on the use of key historical ideas with supporting evidence need to consider whether:
- each paragraph or section of writing has a clearly expressed key historical idea (usually the topic sentence that begins a paragraph)
- there is evidence that directly supports the key idea
- the evidence supporting a paragraph’s key idea does not move on to other matters, thus turning the paragraph into a narrative.
A document further explaining key historical ideas is provided as a stand-alone clarification document.
Examine an historical event or place
’Examining’ at level 2 concerns the ability to identify and communicate key historical ideas, the depth of evidence used to support those ideas, and the extent to which explanations demonstrate understanding of the context.
Volume of evidence
Where assessment workload is an issue, teachers may wish to suggest word counts, ensure that contexts used for assessment are not too broad, or make use of the overlap in standards 91230 and 91232 to offer a combined assessment opportunity.
Explaining how the event or place was significant to New Zealanders
The focus of students’ evidence needs to be the examination of the event, place or movement. Explanation of how the event, place or movement was significant to New Zealanders should normally be part of a concluding section. This section should include specific evidence and is likely to be between 350-450 words. The degree of difficulty in establishing significance using a particular topic should be taken into account when making a judgement on this aspect of the standard.