1. Writing Criterion Referenced Assessment Criteria and Standards
Deb Murdoch, QLT Assessment

2. Learning objectives for this session:
Identify assessable components of the task ready to develop criteria in line with AQF requirements
Define and develop clear criteria
Develop differentiating levels of performance standards

3. Defining clear criteria
While a task description shares what students will submit, criteria are about what you will value when you assess what they submit.
Criteria should align to the learning outcomes of the subject.
Defining clear criteria tells the students the elements which the marker values and relate or align strongly to the intended learning outcomes for the subject. The task descriptors shares what will be handed in, while criteria tells the student what you are prioritising what you will assess.
Telling students what you value helps them to understand and produce what’s needed but also shares the responsibility for their learning and assessment.

4. Aligning your outcome, task and criteria
Check the alignment between the learning outcomes, the task requirements and the criteria.
4 steps to criteria and standards:
Analyse what the learning outcome is assessing
Analyse whether the learning task is actually assessing those elements
Check whether the criteria include those elements or write criteria that do
Write differentiated standards that at a minimum meet a PS level
3 steps to alignment

5. Step 1: Analyse the learning outcome
What action does the student have to take? What is the verb in the learning outcome? E.g. analyse, create, describe, identify. What’s the level of thinking you are expecting from the student?
What is the content area, concept, theory, knowledge that is being assessed?
What is the context of the assessment? Or how is the task being assessed? What should the content area relate to?
Breaking down the learning outcome helps you to identify the action the student will take with which content or knowledge and the context or application of the knowledge to practice. Review Bloom’s

6. Step 1: examples
develop and reflect on their emerging identity as student engineers, and how this will change as they move into placement in industry
identify strengths and opportunities for improvement in a team environment ;
Green are the verbs or the action that students will need to take
Red is the body of knowledge that that are working with
Blue is the context that it will need to be considered in
Task 1: identify the student actions, the content areas and the context or environment for a subject. You can work in pairs, alone or in the group to get support from one another.

7. Step 2: Analyse the task
Does the action the student has to take in the task match the learning outcome? E.g. analyse, create, describe, identify.
Does the content area, concept, theory, knowledge that is being assessed match the task?
Does the context of the assessment match the learning outcome?
Breaking down the learning outcome helps you to identify the action the student will take with which content or knowledge and the context or application of the knowledge to practice.

8. Step 2: example
Task
Choose one indigenous community and prepare a 10 minute oral presentation on medicinal foods used within this indigenous community.  Within your oral presentation, addressing the following items:
Provide examples of foods that are used for medicinal purposes within this culture;
Describe how these medicinal foods are gathered and prepared;
Describe how the medicinal foods are used;
Provide evidence for and against efficacy of these traditional medicines;
Learning outcome
discuss the use of food as medicine in indigenous communities of the world

9. Align your outcomes and the tasks
Task 2: Draw up a two column table and put outcomes in the left column and then describe how you might or do meet them in the right hand column.
Outcomes
Task description of how you might or do meet the outcome
be able to demonstrate information, digital and academic literacy and numeracy skills appropriate for health and medical sciences
Task requires students to do literature searches, evaluation of literature, review of information
develop and reflect on their emerging identity as student engineers, and how this will change as they move into placement in industry
Task 1: Reflection and evaluation of their existing practice
Task 2: reflection and evaluation of the change in practice at the end of the design process
identify strengths and opportunities for improvement in a team environment
Task 2

10. Step 3: check the criteria
Have you written criteria that match up what the learning outcome is asking for and what the task is asking for? The
The criteria should be described in a way that makes clear to the student what is valued.
Criteria don’t need to be specific to the particular task content but they do need to be specific to the learning outcomes.
In this third step, check your existing criteria or maybe identify what you need to have in a criteria if you have to start from scratch. Criteria should relate to learning outcomes so shouldn’t need to change much each session even if the assessment task changes because the same taxonomic requirement (in the verb) or student action should stay the same to match the learning outcome.
If the learning outcome changes then you need to write a new criteria but otherwise you should be able to write a criteria and standards that need far less tweaking.

11. Step 3: check the criterion example
Learning outcome
Task
Criteria
discuss the use of food as medicine in indigenous communities of the world
Choose one indigenous community and prepare a 10 minute oral presentation on medicinal foods used within this indigenous community.  Within your oral presentation, addressing the following items:
Provide examples of foods that are used for medicinal purposes within this culture;
Describe how these medicinal foods are gathered and prepared;
Describe how the medicinal foods are used;
Provide evidence for and against efficacy of these traditional medicines;
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of: Gathering, preparation, use and efficacy of, survival of the culture and traditional knowledge.
Work together in a group or pairs to rewrite this criteria to better meet the learning outcome.
Task 3: Does the criterion align with the learning outcome? How could you rewrite it? What does demonstrate knowledge and understanding mean? Put your suggestions in the chat box.

12. Step 4: Differentiated standards
Pass level must equal the learning outcome requirements e.g. discuss in the learning outcome must have discuss (or equivalent) in the standard
Tell students what they have to do to achieve a certain grade
Use of taxonomies such as Bloom’s or SOLO to differentiate
Provide feedback to students on their work and information about what grade they have achieved for that task
Non-quantitative progression, unambiguous, self contained
Use positive language to describe what students CAN do, not what they are missing, particularly at the lower levels.

13. It is VERY common in rubrics.
The problem of subjective language
The use of subjective language, such as that in the example below, to differentiate standards of performance adds little to student understanding of assessment tasks and their criteria & standards.
It is VERY common in rubrics.
Here is a common problems in writing differentiated standards. Comprehensive, extensive, fundamental and partial application of knowledge is confusing and doesn’t clarify what each means to the student. Clearer descriptors need to be written to identify exactly what is expected of a student.
What does Comprehensive, extensive, fundamental and partial application mean in practical terms?

14. Activities to help you work through this process
Task 1:
Identify the student actions, the content areas and the context or environment for a subject.
Determine what you would need to assess to ensure that the student can meet this outcome based on the above.
Write a criterion that tells students what they need to do to meet the outcome
Green are the verbs or the action that students will need to take
Red is the body of knowledge that that are working with
Blue is the context that it will need to be considered in
Task 1: identify the student actions, the content areas and the context or environment for a subject. You can work in pairs, alone or in the group to get support from one another.

15. Activities to help you work through this process
Task 2:
Write a PASS standard that tells students what standard they need to do to meet to achieve the criterion
NOTE: ensure that the student actions also meet the standard of the related subject learning outcome
Green are the verbs or the action that students will need to take
Red is the body of knowledge that that are working with
Blue is the context that it will need to be considered in
Task 1: identify the student actions, the content areas and the context or environment for a subject. You can work in pairs, alone or in the group to get support from one another.

16. Activities to help you work through this process
Task 3:
Write a HD standard that tells students what standard they need to meet to achieve the criterion
Green are the verbs or the action that students will need to take
Red is the body of knowledge that that are working with
Blue is the context that it will need to be considered in
Task 1: identify the student actions, the content areas and the context or environment for a subject. You can work in pairs, alone or in the group to get support from one another.

17. Standards example Criterion High Distinction Distinction Credit Pass
Explain the main regulatory mechanisms that aim to reduce the risk of harm to patients (in your organisation) from this practice or system issue from individual practitioner, organisational and systems perspectives. 20%
Presents a succinct explanation, synthesising and evaluating theory from subject sources and individual research with knowledge of regulatory mechanisms that are directly related to this practice from system, organisational and individual practitioner perspectives.
Presents a succinct explanation integrating theory from subject sources and individual research with knowledge of regulatory mechanisms that are directly related to this practice from system, organisational and individual practitioner perspectives.
Presents an explanation of “environment” in relation to health services, referring to theory presented in subject readings.
Presents an explanation referring to theory from subject sources, individual research and knowledge of regulatory mechanisms that are directly related to this practice from system, organisational and individual practitioner perspectives.
Presents a description referring to theory from subject sources, individual research and knowledge of regulatory mechanisms that are directly related to this practice from system, organisational and individual practitioner perspectives.

18. Standards example Criterion High Distinction Distinction Credit Pass
Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of the role of race and racism in health care provision 
10 marks 
The role of race and racism in health care provision and how race and racism contribute to the current health status of Indigenous Australian peoples have been critically examined.
The role of race and racism in health care provision and how race and racism contribute to the current health status of Indigenous Australian peoples have been explained.
The role of race and racism in health care provision and how race and racism contribute to the current health status of Indigenous Australian peoples have been described.
Outlines broad and relevant content on the role of race and racism in health care provision and how race and racism contribute to the current health status of Indigenous Australian peoples.