Peer Assessment in Year 13

[TongueBiter]

Does this happen at your DC's 6th form?

I'm concerned as Dd2 says everyone peer assesses "kindly" ie gives higher grades than it would get if it were marked by a teacher. Teacher has hardly marked anything it seems just offloads to students about her mother suffering from dementia and the thieving carer, and how much marking she has for other years

I have read the literature etc on peer assessment and it's benefits but in year 13 I really feel the students would benefit more from an accurate and professional grading from the teacher.

[Philoslothy]

My Year 13 students used peer assessment but they would also have an essay back from me every fortnight. Peer assessment is a useful took to get students to understand what the examiner is looking for, but it does not replace teacher assessment.

[TongueBiter]

Yes, I've been looking at more research literature this evening, and I don't deny it is a useful exercise. But when peers are marking her answers as As and high Bs nine days out of ten, then she's scraping a low B and a C when Mrs X marks, it's giving mixed messages. It's unreasonable to expect a 17 year old to be able to mark with the same grasp of exactly what is expected as a teacher would do. Can, for example, a grade C student recognise, grasp and mark grade A standard work?

[Philoslothy]

I think they can do it to a simplified level. I tend not to get them to peer assess to a grade to be honest for the exact reason that you have given.

I would give them a simplifies version of the markscheme and ask them to look for certain skills/ scholars or pieces of information. Sometimes they will do that before I mark it which will speed up my marking but also train the students to look for and therefore include certain things in an essay.