Anatomy of an internal assessment resource … that students and teachers can understand, and teachers assess. Learning Media Limited for Ministry of Education 2010

Student instructions 1.Name the “product” What is it that students actually have to submit for assessment? As a general principle, there should be a single, assessable “product” – not multiple products that have to be individually assessed and then a global grade somehow determined. (Non- assessed, prerequisite tasks such as research or planning OK.)

Student instructions 2. Explain how the work will be judged Where should the students put their energies?

Student instructions 3. Specify any conditions Involvement of others, necessary but non-assessable tasks, alternative product formats, time period, etc.

Student instructions 4. Describe and structure the task A level of scaffolding is expected. This may include step-by- step description of a process, a list of things to be kept in mind when creating the product, short exemplars, etc.

“organise a concert”, “write a report”, “write a brief”, “produce an executive summary”, “present a portfolio”, “provide a critique”, “create a script”, “develop a prototype”, “compare the two works”, “design a shed”, etc., are complex tasks that need to be given some definition. And students need to be given some pointers about what is expected / how to go about them.

As a general rule, do not provide formatted templates with spaces for students to write in.

Student instructions 5. Add notes to the teacher (annotations) The resource is not engraved in stone; it can and should be modified by the classroom teacher to better engage their students and for use in other contexts. Interpolated notes explicitly give teachers permission to make alterations.

Assessment schedule The schedule should be written in such a way that the teacher knows what achieved, merit, and excellence look like. Don’t split the schedule into tasks; finally, the teacher has to make a global judgment – the schedule needs to facilitate this.

Teacher instructions Write this part last This section contains two standard paragraphs, (i) notes on context/setting, (ii) notes on conditions, (iii) notes on resources, (iv) additional information. The Teacher Instructions should be no more than a brief overview of what the task involves, any necessary clarification or disambiguation, advice on conditions (including group work, checkpoints, timeframe), suggested resources, and teaching- related guidance. Do not repeat definitions, points, etc., that are already in the student instructions but, by all means, draw the teacher’s attention to these.