Challenging Teacher's Controlled Assessment Mark GCSE

[Dancingdreamer]

Advice please on creative writing piece- sorry not sure what exactly called. Expected higher grade based on course work and previous exams. However got new teacher this year where clearly personality clash. Assessment marked down with comments that seem to relate to style eg "overly metaphorical" when had been taught to include metaphor, similes etc to get more marks!

Asked school for explanation but fobbed off with loads of technical data and nothing specific about reasons for marks. Refused a meeting to discuss. How can this be approached please?

I'm not quite sure I've understood your question clav but I'll try to answer. As far as I know exam markers aren't graded on a curve - so there aren't raw marks and grade boundaries, just set levels of accuracy, quality of annotation, and deadline efficiency that are equated to each letter grade. So I get an A in marking one year to the next because I'm consistently accurate, annotate the papers clearly and relevantly, and meet my deadlines. It wouldn't matter if every other marker got an A that year or if every other marker got a C.

Markers graded A or B are automatically given an invite to mark next year. Markers who have been graded at a C will have to do further training and if they are cleared to mark they will have to send more scripts than usual to their team leader for checking. Markers graded at a D are not used again.

Markers who are going to be graded at a C or D aren't just left to it and those kids get dodgy marks. They'll have their stuff sampled, have their team leader on the phone advising them, have marks adjusted (so if they are consistently under marking by about five marks per paper, all papers get shifted up by five). If they are really not able to get reliable marks from a marker the exam board will take all the papers away and they'll beredistributed to other markers.

My comment was rather 'tongue in cheek' but thank you for your answer (fingers crossed my own dcs don't get many B or C grade exam markers when the time comes).

I have just googled 'internal appeals policy for controlled assessments' and of course pages and pages of internal appeals policies from schools across the land came up - they are a requirement under the code of practice. Titchy is right that the grounds for appeal can only relate to the procedure used in arriving at internal assessment decisions and not to the actual marks although standardisation and consistency of marking is mentioned in the JCQ's suggested template. The op should check the policy at her dc's school as several schools state they will discuss/explain to the student/carer how marks were arrived at.

I am concerned at pieceofpurplesky's comment that, "the school probably doesn't have an appeals policy for CA", and other teachers involved in CAs who haven't referred the op to such a policy even if to simply explain what the grounds for appeal are. It's this sort of vague, flippant response that perhaps the op is unhappy with. Her theories of a personality clash aside, I would be upset if my own dc had been consistently receiving A/A* grades in coursework and previous exams only to receive a B grade for similar work in an important assessment. I am amazed that pieceofpurplesky hasn't come across a query as to assessment marks in 16 years at her school. Why was the op refused a meeting with the HOD to discuss the matter?

Like I said Clav, even if they did it would all be checked anyway. I see it from both sides because, as a teacher, I don't want my classes being badly marked. Partly because of the shit storm it creates for me in terms of my performance management if the kids don't achieve, but mostly because I've spent two years with those kids and I (usually) bloody love 'em and want them to be fairly and accurately rewarded for their work. I'm not claiming there are never problems, but it's rare. And if we think it's not the right mark we get it remarked so that it is.

I don't think the OP is coming back!

I hope she does come back - I would like to know the outcome - of course it is still Easter hols.

Firstly Cav it was not a similar piece
of writing. In English as has been pointed out the assessments are all very different - someone may achieve an A* in an extended reading piece may not get one in a narrative piece. It is a different skillset.
The English department did get back to the OP and tell her that they have moderated and standardised the piece and the mark is correct.
In 16 years I have never had a parent question a CA mark - they have asked why low and what they can do about it, but not been accusatory about why precious did no achieve a high grade.
This is indicative of the biggest problems schools face today - that parents look to blame teachers when their child does not achieve.
I am not flippant Cav. I am a dedicated, hardworking and motivated teacher who strives to get all of her pupils to succeed. There are many policies in schools that teachers do not have time to read - people are employed for this job, teachers to teach, mark, plan and inspire. Even if the OP appealed the policy has no doubt been adhered to and the grade will still not change.
This is what you don't seem to get - the piece has been moderated by fully trained, qualified and professional people who want the best grades for their pupil. If it warranted a higher grade it would have been given one - both you and the OP are Coming at it from the wrong angle - which should be 'what can I so to help my son get a better grade with his next CA?"

Hi all am back - sorry was working this weekend.

Firstly the school has not confirmed that piece been internally moderated. Reply been very vague on this matter.

Secondly whilst not done this exact controlled assessment, DC has done number of practice pieces and all been graded A* or A despite being in second group (large school so still considered top students). Never been told that style was wrong etc otherwise would have adjusted work.

Maybe didn't perform well but as no previous reason to believe would get B the result is a shock. Would be able to accept but school just been so obstructive about giving proper feedback.

This is a different teacher now marking and my honest opinion is that there is a difference in opinion about style rather than content. Had the former teacher marked this am sure we wouldn't be having this discussion. (Shame went on mat leave!) Of course we are not discussing maths where there is right or wrong answer!

Still on Easter hols here so will see what happens on return.

They may not have had a chance to internally moderate yet, depending on how long ago the piece of work was done. They may be intending to do so when school is back after the Spring holiday.

I am quite certain that as you have complained about the grade, the work will be scrutinised quite thoroughly to ensure the school hasn't made a mistake.

I think it's important that you make sure that you and your child know what is needed for the remaining assessments, assuming that the mark for the CA doesn't change. Is it possible for him to get an A* still, and what does he need to get in the remaining assessments etc.

You also need to remember it could be the previous teacher who was a generous marker, perhaps to build confidence. However if this is an actual CA the Mark scheme has to be rigorously applied. If your DS is in Y11 now is not the time to obsess about1% if he is Y10 the school will be focused on the Y11s at the moment and it might be worth waiting until the GCSEs are over.

I was going to bow out of this thread - the op has returned and can speak for herself but then I read Feellikescrooge's post;

" You also need to remember it could be the previous teacher who was a generous marker, perhaps to build confidence."

How can you possibly write this observation in a positive way as a Year 11 teacher (English?) and an AQA moderator? I have already suggested this as a likely explanation but surely it's up to the HOD to check that teaching and marking is consistent across the year groups especially in Years 10 and 11? I asked up thread whether work was moderated throughout the year and not just for crucial assessments but I didn't get a reply.

You also suggest that the op wait until after the GCSEs are over if her child is in Y10 - if she does have a valid reason for internal appeal (perhaps because the work wasn't moderated for some reason) then she will certainly be out of time to make any appeal.

I am losing confidence in teachers/exam markers and moderators by the day!

Clavinova, I think it is possible that the previous teacher may have been slightly more generous. To be honest, it's impossible to know this, so speculating is fairly pointless. Teachers should be marking to within a tolerance range of each other, but not necessarily identically.

It's very likely that work is monitored by the HoD or other Key Stage coordinators, this is very common, particularly with Year 10 and 11 work and also when you have a new teacher in the dept. Typically this might be done in dept meetings, or in other meetings after school or possibly on INSET days. As people have already said, it is not in the school's interest to have inaccurate marking, as this can bring the whole cohort's marking down when the sample is externally moderated. For English, a core subject, this woudl be a disaster. The school really doesn't want that to happen.

I think what Feellikescrooge meant about "waiting till the GCSEs are over" is that if the OPs child is in Year 10, waiting until after this year's Y11s have done their GCSEs i.e. the latter part of June and July this year. I don't think she's suggesting that the OP wait until after her child's GCSEs are done!

If the OPs child is in Year 11, then time is a factor as the deadline for submitting marks for CA work to the exam boards is May 15th.

Moderation in my school is done the first couple of days back in September followed by a day when the new Year 11s meet their tutors and are given targets based on moderated work. They go up, they go down. The ops son may find his overall mark A/A* anyway as all are added together. Clav what you are losing faith with is the fact that teachers don't agree with how you think they should do things. If you think you could do so much better try it! It may open your eyes a tad

The point is that the OP was focused on the difference between the marks her son got for class work from one teacher and the CA from another. We do not know the criteria the class work was marked on but we do know for the CA. As a moderator I am confident to comment on the marking of CA but class work is often marked according to the WILF/success criteria of the lesson.

If the DS is in Y 10 the OP will find it far easier to discuss this mid June when the HOD can give her more time. I personally would not cancel a 2 hr revision session for 20+ pupils to discuss the CA of a Y10. Sorry if you don't like it but that is the reality of secondary schools as is the fact I could have stayed at home today but instead ran holiday revision workshops for pupils.

Honestly, I don't know where to begin...

CultureSucksDownWords says, "speculating is fairly pointless..." then in the very next sentence she says, "It's very likely that work is monitored by the HoD..." Followed immediately by "Typically" and "Possibly" etc.

Feellikescrooge (the Yr11 teacher and AQA moderator who should know better and read her post again) speculates that the previous teacher could be "a generous marker, perhaps to build confidence". pieceofpurplesky speculated that there probably wasn't an internal appeals policy when all schools are required to have one. On the other hand she was quite certain that the work had been moderated and nothing could be done to change the marks even though the op had already stated that she wasn't confident that the work had in fact been moderated. Now pieceofpurplesky says Yr10 work isn't moderated in her school until September and the assessment might be upgraded to an A/A* anyway!

The op hasn't said whether her child is in Yr10 or Yr11 but she was quite clear that the response from the school was vague and inconsistent and she was refused a meeting to discuss the matter and yet she was accused of being precious etc.

HermiaDream "What? The current y10 have plenty of time - their marks will not be submitted for another 12 months!" Whether the op's child is in Yr10 or Yr11 the school's internal appeals policy will have a time limit for lodging the appeal - 7 days, 14 days etc. after the marks have been given to the student or by the 7th May for example. If the op has grounds for appeal she will be out of time for that particular assessment if she waits too long.This is why policies should be read before speculating and bad advice given!

For AQA the date for submission is May 7th.

Well the OP talks about coursework ( doesn't exist unless doing IGCSE) and previous exams( no creative writing) so we are commenting in the dark. However it is entirely possible for class work to be marked on part of the CA criteria. I do it myself. The WILF is about text cohesion and so that is what I mark the final written piece on. That is how pupils break down the strands for the different bands. If the OP was writing about the marks for other CA well it would not be uncommon for a pupil who is excellent at analysis to be less able to write creatively. As a moderator this is what you find, individual pupils can get an A* on Spoken Language yet a B on Creative writing. In general the entire folder will even out at a grade that reflects the pupil's ability.

Personally Clavinova you need to re read your posts, they smack of a personal agenda.

I think the op said that creative writing was her child's strongest area hence the surprise mark.

No personal agenda except perhaps common sense.

Clavinova... I meant it was fairly pointless to speculate on whether the previous teacher was marking generously or not. No one could judge this unless they had access to the previous and current teacher's marking, of similar assignments. So the only people able to actually comment on that are the HoD or similar within the school. That's all I meant. You seem to have expanded this to apply to the rest of my post.

As regards the rest of my previous post, I am an experienced teacher/subject leader of GCSE subjects in state secondary schools, so therefore I am not speculating about what is likely/typically/possibly - I am talking about my own experience of these matters.

I'm curious as to how you know so much about controlled assessments and internal appeals procedures? Are you a teacher or an exams officer? Do you work in a school in an admin role?

I must be honest that I was not aware that schools should have a formal internal appeals procedure for controlled assessments - this is something that the school's Exams Officer would deal with, and probably wouldn't be something general staff would be aware of until/if they had a query from a parent that became a formal appeal. I have never had a formal complaint from a parent about controlled assessment work, it is quite unusual in my experience. Although, I would have communicated in much more detail with a parent than seems to have happened here.

Controlled Assessment grades are only final after they have been sent off to the exam board (usually by May 15th of the relevant Year 11 academic year), the mark may then be adjusted by the exam board if the school's marking is found to be inconsistent/too high/too low. Up until the school sends the marks off to the exam board, the marks are in the control of the school and could be adjusted as a result of internal moderation or a re-mark of a specific CA piece if it was felt an error had been made. Exactly when schools do their internal moderation is entirely up to them.

I would repeat my advice that if the OP is keen to pursue this, that a detailed email to the HoD/HoY/Head asking specific questions is the way to go. The OP should ask about the internal appeals procedure as well, and ask for this to be applied.

I sort of think common sense would imply that firstly you need to ask to see the piece in contention and, I would provide this as a HOD, an example of a A and A* piece from the same cohort. Obviously all grades are speculative until August.

Whilst this is an unique experience for the OP it is a common query for schools and there will be some sort of protocol the OP can follow. I would suggest contacting the Head of Year when term starts.
However if the Op's DS is Y10 I would accept there might be a wait to mid June.