Untitled - Umalusi

Chapter 3
Moderation of Continuous Assessment (CASS)
1. Introduction
The aim of internal assessment is twofold: to offer learners an alternative
chance to demonstrate their competence and to assess those skills that
cannot be assessed through traditional examinations. However, problems
regarding its reliability continue to dog continuous assessment. As a result,
Umalusi has built into the statistical moderation of continuous assessment
a tolerance range that would enhance confidence in the scores that
accrue from this.
The Senior Certificate Examination consists of two components: one
external and the other internal. Internal Assessment, or Continuous Assessment
(CASS), constitutes 25% of the final mark for the Senior Certificate
Examination. The written external examination, on the other hand, makes up
75% of the final mark. Marks for these components are presented separately,
but are combined to form the final mark for certification purposes. Umalusi
has the responsibility to ensure that scores presented for the purposes of
continuous assessment are relatively reliable. For this reason, Umalusi subjects
this component to its quality assurance regime.
This chapter will outline the scope of Umalusi’s moderation of continuous
assessment, proceed to discuss the approach to moderation of continuous
assessment and then table the salient findings from this exercise.
Furthermore, the chapter will highlight the strengths within assessment
Internal assessment is set, marked and graded at site level. This makes it
absolutely necessary for Umalusi to put in place measures to
standardize internal assessment. In order to standardize internal assessment,
Umalusi sets down directives. These directives include defining the
composition of internal assessment, the respective responsibilities of key role
players, presentation of internal assessment as well as moderation
bodies with regard to their implementation of continuous assessment. It
will also identify problem areas and suggest solutions.
2. Purpose of this chapter
The purpose of this chapter:
procedures. The moderation procedures in place at Umalusi and how they
are deployed to the quality assurance of continuous assessment are discussed
in detail later in this chapter.
• To report on the quality and standard of continuous assessment within
assessment bodies.
21