Commencing the moderation process with the collaborative development of a rubric, discussions regarding the alignment of learning and assessment with the AC Science content and achievement sequence (ACARA, 2018, v.8.4) supported a move towards a shared understanding of what student work samples would demonstrate across the five point of the rubric. However, during the formal moderation meeting, differences persisted in terms of the details and resources to which individual participants attended, leading to different conclusions about the work samples (Hiokins). Those member whose focus was grounded in curriculum based achievement standards marked the samples lower than those who were wary about the demotivating affect of students receiving a low rubric grading, advocating for the recognition of effort (hipkins).