Moderation in Physical Education | What is it? | How to do it?

Mar 25, 2024

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Kas

Have you ever given a student an ‘A’ and wondered…. Should this really be an A? Would this be an A at another school? Am I too lenient or is my marking is too harsh?

What can you do if the use of rubrics, curriculum and data still leave you uncertain about your grades?

The key is Moderation!

A key part of assessing students in any subject area is the process of moderation. Moderation is the process of comparing and contrasting student assessment data to ensure you have provided them with a fair and reasonable grade for the work they have provided. Moderation is an important practice which should be used by all teachers to ensure students are receiving fair and reliable grades for their work regardless of who their teacher is and what class they are in. Moderation means that one class will not have higher standards than another class of the same year level within a school. Ensuring there is fairness for all students and a clear understanding between teachers as to what each grade should be like in a student’s piece of work.

In short, the moderation process provides consistency and reliability in the grades you award your students and in your assessment procedures across the year levels in your school.

In HPE, moderation is also very important. The P.E subject area does provide use with some different challenges compared to other subjects. In a subject like English, we can compare two English poetry assignments in order to moderate them. Whereas in P.E, being a practical based subject, comparing students skills and understanding will look very different.

Lets discuss how we achieve moderation in physical education and also what are some things we need in order for great moderation practises.

Moderation is the practice of teachers or students sharing and developing their understanding of what learning looks like by examining examples of different types and quality of students’ work and comparing these with formal standards and success criteria (Department of Education Victoria, 2019)

What Do You Need To Do Before You Are Able To Moderate?

Teaching The Same Units Of Work:

  • In order to moderate effectively students will need to be learning the same content- i.e, all classes that are being moderated would need to be moderated on the sport of basketball.
  • Students would need similar time to learn the unit of work- it would not be fair to have one group of students spend 3 weeks on a topic whilst another class spent 5 weeks. This will mean one group of students had more opportunities to practice, learn and develop their skills compared to the other group of students.
  • All classes would need to be learning the same skills (technical, tactical).  
  • The same activities would need to be used in all units of work in order to provide consistent learning experiences for students

Having A Consistent Assessment Method:

  • You need the same assessment type when you are assessing each class- (GPAI, checklist, video entry, post-lesson quiz, project, peer assessment).
  • The time each student has to complete the assessment or work on the assignment needs to be the same
  • Have a mutually agreed upon Rubric

Using The Same Pedagogies:

  • Teachers implementing the same teaching pedagogies will allow for the information to be delivered in a similar way.
  • If information is delivered in a vastly different way it may have an effect on how each class undertake the assessment or understand the learning taking place

What If You Are The Only P.E Teacher?

In many situations when you are moderating data you are cross-checking your assessments with another faculty members assessments or another teacher colleague. In some school settings particularly in a primary school, you may be the only P.E teacher in the school. You can still moderate effectively by comparing and contrasting the grades between your classes of a similar year level. If you are still unsure if you are marking effectively and and really want a second opinion you can do the following:

  • Ask another experienced colleague to support your moderation or to look over your justifications for your grades
  • Ask you line manager or school leader
  • Contact nearby P.E teachers to look over your moderated assessments and data
  • Use the Australian Curriculum: which has many examples of an ‘A’ grade piece of work
  • Try to find local Facebook groups of teaching pages where you may be able to ask questions or get professional guidance from other HPE teachers

How Do You Moderate?  

Before You Start:

  1. Pick an assessment that has been completed by all classes in that particular year level
  2. (Example: Year 7 Invasion Games: Basketball)
  3. Have all your data ready (Assessments, data collection, observations, notes, videos, checklists, GPAI’s). *Click here to read more about GPAIs  
  4. Each teacher will provide an example they feel outlines the criteria of the assessment effectively for each grade band. (An example of work that reflects a D, C, B and A)
  5. Generally you may only need to provide a sample of what would be a failing grade (D grade) or what an (A grade) would look like.

Moderation:

  1. Read, share and discuss how and why you feel each student was awarded with the grade they received. Justify your grades and question other pieces of work where you feel are not consistent with the rubric, criteria or expectations.
  2. Ensure that the grades provided ultimately meet the guidelines and standards outlined in the curriculum.
  3. Make adjustments if needed. Maybe some grades need to be lowered due to being marked too highly or some grades may need to be lifted.
  4. Ultimately each piece of work should be able to unnamed and marked by any of the teachers in the meeting and receive generally the same grade. That shows that there is a sound understanding of how to mark students’ work against a mutually agreed upon rubric or set of criteria.
  5. (There are many different ways to moderate, it really depends on the assessment being marked and of course the subject area. This moderation process outline is a basic starting point with the practical subject of P.E in mind.)

Post Moderation:

  • You may need to reflect as a group what needs to be changed to the assessment or marking criteria
  • Changes may need to be made to teaching styles, time spent on assessment, the assessment itself may need to be different if a lot of students are struggling to understand it or find success
  • Changes may need to be able to topics, unit duration and even how content is delivered.
  • Moderation is a great time to reflect on your own practice and learn from others or share what you found is working well for you.

General Advice for Teachers on Moderation- (Victorian Government, 2019)

  • Moderation is an effective way for teachers to build their own formative assessment skills.
  • Teachers can use moderation to invite collaborative discussion on design of a learning program based on criteria identified in a set of Assessment Standards.
  • Moderation allows teachers to collectively discuss results and come to shared understandings of student achievement. Teachers may find it useful to consider what data they use to analyse and evaluate student understanding.
  • As moderation often involves teachers from different year levels, it can be a particularly rich way for teachers to discuss and apply high-impact teaching strategies based on evidence.
  • Teachers within cultures that encourage challenging conversations can use moderation to give each other feedback: where to focus, where to adjust their practice, and what is working well.
  • Teachers can engage students directly in their own moderation and develop their self-regulation ability by explicitly teaching the criteria they are looking for and introducing tools such as rubrics, or checklists.

Lets Look At The Evidence! Why you need to start Moderating.

Ensuring Consistency and Fairness: Moderation helps maintain a consistent standard of grading across different teachers and classes. Without moderation, subjective biases can influence assessment outcomes, leading to discrepancies in student grades. According to Harlen (2007), moderation processes ensure that all students are assessed according to the same criteria, providing a level playing field for all learners .

Improving the Quality of Feedback: Through moderation, teachers can collaborate to develop a shared understanding of assessment criteria and expectations. This collective insight enhances the quality of feedback given to students. The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) states that effective moderation practices help teachers provide more accurate and constructive feedback, which is crucial for student learning and improvement .

Supporting Professional Development: Moderation sessions serve as professional development opportunities, enabling teachers to discuss assessment standards and share best practices. This collaborative approach helps teachers refine their assessment skills and align their teaching strategies with curricular goals. As noted by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL), moderation fosters a culture of continuous improvement among educators .

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