AIBU - teachers marking Art GCSEs?

[Frautandfrustrated]

OK so I'm sure that no teacher is going to want to deliberately undermark a student but what if there has been a clash since Day 1. Then I understand that the external moderators don't look at every student's work just a few. Result is student getting rubbish result, which could impact future college prospects just because teacher didn't like them.

As you say it’s extremely unlikely a teacher would under mark on purpose as pay these days is linked into performance management and the grades will be just as important to them as to the student (along the moral implications!) i don’t think I’ve seen it happen in all my years teaching.
We are now post coursework deadline mark input day so I imagine it is unlikely your child’s mark can be changed. I would ask for a meeting with the head of department to discuss your concerns ASAP

Coursework deadline mark day isn't until 30th May and external moderators haven't been in yet so all could change if teacher's marking found to be totally incompetent. I will be complaining as I also think it's a diabolical system that allows a student to see the result of their work whilst they are in the middle of sitting their exams!

The student won’t know their result immediately after the moderator has been in. Nor does the school know the results. They get them in August along with their other results.

I believe the moderator will either move the whole class’s work up or down. They won’t change one individual’s mark.

You can relax a little OP because the work will have also been internally moderated by another teacher before the external moderator comes in.
And a teacher won’t downmark a pupils work just because they ‘clash’ with a Pupil. All teachers prefer brilliant results over and above any personality clashes-the job depends on them.

No one would deliberately under mark and external moderators haven't even been in yet. At many schools moderation is also done by more than one teacher.

Teachers don't know which work the external moderator will look at. Therefore they can't mark down one student's work and show a moderator another student's.

Schools now have to have an internal appeals policy for coursework. Ask for a copy and then follow the process. Probably should be on the website too.

We've had a similar concern with a DT teacher.
DS thinks his plans etc have been undermarked compared with others. Waiting to see the results of his practical project.
The DT teacher has made it very obvious that he doesn't like DT.
Sadly DS has chosen DT for A level.

In September every teacher who was responsible for years 11/13 will be drilled as to the grades every student gained - the slightest dip from target/reported data during the course will be picked up on by SLT and we are drilled as to why targets were not met, why our data on predictions were not met basically we are put through hell if the moderator changes marks (both up and down) again we are given hell as to why our initial marks were incorrect

If we do not meet these targets, we don't gain any pay increase (and for academies pay could decrease) therefore no teacher would under mark on purpose as no matter how much of a personality clash a student perceives to be taking place it is not worth it.

DS thinks his plans etc have been undermarked compared with others there are very strict criteria for every component of coursework that has to be met and if even the smallest (what you/the student may think doesn't matter or will have little bearing) thing is missing or not as good it will bring the whole work down.

For example in the GCSE IT coursework there are several strict criteria for every aspect of the large project they have to complete - not list a source can bring it down from an A to a D even if the spreadsheet has very complex formula and the database contains related tables with complex queries

There's no point in moaning about giving the students their Art marks (not grades); that was a new rule brought in this year by the exam boards. Personally I found it to be a massive pain but there was nothing that could be done. Also this year the marks don't really mean anything to the students yet as there are no grade boundaries for the new GCSE Art course. They will be worked out on a curve once all the moderated marks are in. No one will find out their grades until August. The word on the street is that moderators will probably be bringing marks down rather than up to avoid the ridiculous grade inflation that had affected Art etc recently. We are an extremely high achieving art dept (if I may say so myself); usually we get all As and mostly A*s. During training we were warned continuously about putting marks in the top exceptional box. That would be 16+ in an assessment objective or over 60 out of 72 overall.

You can't dispute the marks but you can dispute the marking process. I teach in a bigger department, but as far as I remember you have to tick something to say you marked the work with another art teacher, so it has been moderated internally. It then gets moderated by the moderator as well. In fact, I'd say Art/ Photography etc marks are much more likely to be correct than some other subjects because it goes through so many levels of marking and moderation!

I also agree with the poster who pointed out that sometimes something that seems quite small to you actually makes a big difference to the marks for some assessment objectives. Did your son use descriptive language instead of analytical when discussing artists for AO1? Worked from too many second hand pictures from the internet instead of taking his own photos? You'd be surprised how much that sort of thing can drop the grade. Obviously we point this kind of thing out to students until we are blue in the face, but they don't always listen!
Apologies for any typos; my phone is acting the bollix.

Nothing to add really other than to echo what other posters have said.
One of my friends teaches a practical subject and has already had to deal with an irate parent adamant that their DC's work has been unfairly marked, again claims that 'Miss doesn't like me'. Bottom line is that the process gains marks in that topic, not just the final piece. Their portfolio was weaker, hadn't listened to advice (too busy claiming the teacher was being mean to them) and they didn't score as highly as they felt they should in relation to peers.

The folder had already been marked by the teacher and internally moderated but there is an option for an internal review. Parent requested that. No change.

At this time of year it's horrendously common for lots of miss/sir hates me to creep out.

When your daughter received her original provisional mark, she could have appealed it.

At our school the moderator looks at the order in which the students’ work has been marked, so they look at the top middle and bottom and make sure it is in line.

Trust me that teacher will want her to score as well as possible.

You can't dispute the marks but you can dispute the marking process

I think the appeals process goes beyond that now - the appeal can be that the marker/teacher has not applied the mark scheme correctly - which in effect is disputing the marks.

Just remember that the school and the department will be judged on results. No teacher will ever undermark any student because doing so will reflect on the teacher not the student. My ds is Head of Art and also an external moderator. Teachers will award every mark they can justify believe me.