SOLO Improve an existing answer
Students re-work exemplars written at different levels of SOLO outcome so that the work represents an outcome at a higher level. The teacher asks students to identify the SOLO level of the work before challenging them to change the work so that it represent a deeper learning outcome. These SOLO levels can often be aligned to achievement levels in an external assessment system. Table 1 gives one example of criteria for one achievement standard from the National Certificate of Educational Achievemnt (NCEA)
Table: 1. Achievement criteria for NCEA achievement standard 90851
Achievement | Achievement with Merit | Achievement with Excellence |
Show understanding of significant aspects of unfamiliar written text(s) through close reading, using supporting evidence. | Show convincing understanding of significant aspects of unfamiliar written text(s) through close reading, using supporting evidence. | Show perceptive understanding of significant aspects of unfamiliar written text(s) through close reading, using supporting evidence. |
Source: New Zealand Qualifications website, [www.nzqa.nz/qualifications-standards/qualifications/ncea/ncea-subject-resources]
When these discriminators are unpacked in the standard - the link to SOLO outcomes is clear.
Show understanding involves students “making statements about significant aspects of written text(s) and explaining these statements in terms of the meanings and effect(s) created”. [Multistructural - description of effects and meanings created by the text/s]
Show convincing understanding involves “explaining how significant aspects of written text(s) work together to create meaning.” [Relational - linking of effects and meanings]
Show perceptive understanding involves “explaining how significant aspects of written text(s) communicate ideas about the text in relation to the writer’s purpose as well as wider contexts, such as human experience, society and the wider world.” [Extended abstract - extending the linked effects and meanings in new ways]
The HookED Describe ++ Map can be used to help students integrate their draft responses.
Examples