Level+3

Level 3 [|NZQA Level 3 page] Introduction ot new standards facilitated by Mary Libby the new English co-ordinator.    It was a pleasure facilitating the Level 3 realignment workshop and meeting everyone on Tuesday. I really look forward to working with "the extension class" in the future:)

 I hope that the time to work through the new standards invigorated you and that you have a clearer idea about how you will use them in your 2013 courses. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions as you begin planing your courses for next year.   Below Cynthia Orr and I have addressed the lingering questions/clarifications people wrote on their post-it notes and exit cards. Please feel free to share this with the teachers from your school and please feel free to contact me with further questions.

 **Texts which help drill students how to alter sentences and work with them so they "command attention"**  **If this is in reference to 3.4 then we suggest a student's ability to command attention is enhanced through multiple opportunities to closely and critically examine examples of writing, by other writers, that command attention. This allows them to see and think about what the author has done with language to command that attention.**

 **Could we please have clarification about holistic marking for 3.4? When can we mark holistically? When should we mark pieces seperatly? i.e. Where lowest mark prevails?**  ** If students have produced 2 pieces of writing that are significantly different in ideas then I would imagine it would be very difficult to mark holistically. If students have produced work using an approach similar to that exemplified in the 2 TKI tasks then holistic marking should be more straight forward. As discussed in the workshop, the students Statement of Intent will be very useful in determining which way to mark. **

 **What is going to be UE at level 3?**  ** We are still waiting for an answer from NZQA on this. **  <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;"> <span style="font-family: Calibri,Verdana,Helvetica,Arial;"> **Still unclear from lack of exemplars what is the 'standard'… Too much open for individual school to judge differently to another e.g. Visual Text** <span style="font-family: Calibri,Verdana,Helvetica,Arial;"> ** As mentioned in the workshop it is important to consider four elements when marking student work: the standard, the conditions of assessment, the curriculum level, and the task. In due time NZQA will be providing annotated exemplares of the Level 3 standards **

<span style="font-family: Calibri,Verdana,Helvetica,Arial;"> **I am still concerned about the "double dipping" possibilities particularly with regard to the cross curricular aspect. There is a __real__ need for there to be much more effective communication between different __faculty__ and students!** <span style="font-family: Calibri,Verdana,Helvetica,Arial;"> ** With the newly aligned standards the possibilities seem endless. I agree that there is a real need for schools and departments to have clear protocols and lines of communication with students and staff) when a piece of student work will be marked across two curriculum areas. As professionals we need to ensure that the conditions for the standard, the conditions of assessment, the curriculum level, and the task have all been met before we mark a piece. It is important to realise that work from one subject area will likely need adapting to meet the assessment criteria for English. **

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