Exams cancelled

[noblegiraffe]

Alternative arrangements will be made.

How stressful to announce that with no details about what will happen.

I’d agree if we weren’t back in lockdown but as we are, it would be unfair to factor in those who isolated without also factoring those students disproportionately affected by lockdown.

Unfortunately there is no way of measuring who is disproportionately affected by lockdown and therefore no way of compensating for it. How many times students have had to isolate since September can be measured and should be compensated for as their peers were still in school so is demonstrably a disadvantage.

The current Ofqual proposals will not mitigate for pupils not coping with lockdown either.

Unfortunately there is no way of measuring who is disproportionately affected by lockdown and therefore no way of compensating for it.

The number of Year 11s & 13s with EHCPs is measurable. As a group they will be disproportionately affected whether for mental and/or physical reasons.

While many children will have had no work or learning while isolating, some would have. Many schools, mainly independents, had online platforms set up from September to deal with that situation. So even within isolating students there will be disparity, with those at private schools more likely to be at advantage (again).

Have not read it all. But we had in school exams at the end of summer and just before Christmas. Both were actual past papers and as such we have a fairly good idea where students are in Economics, business and maths.

To introduce coursework would be a nightmare.

For Economics and Business one approach couple be a massive online self marking multiple choice quiz followed by a couple of essays which are teacher marked

To clarify, I mean that Year 11s & 13s will be disproportionately affected during lockdown (although of course they’re at a disadvantage generally).

I know, Stormer, but how do you measure how affected one student is versus another when it comes to mental health? Is a student with an EHCP more affected by lockdown than the student with ASD but no EHCP who falls apart when their routine disappears? I don’t think it’s something that can be quantified. Any system will never be fair to all students.

And I know students who are isolating may have had differing provision from their school but again that can’t be quantified but the days they weren’t in school while their peers were can.

I would prefer some form of exam for my subject. As a sole teacher of an A level subject, I just don't have the range of data to make an effective prediction at present and any form of coursework assessment would be to open to plagiarism if done at home.
For the 2020 cohort, when we went into lockdown, I had exam results from year 12 and full mock results plus a selection of end of topic results, assessed essays in timed conditions etc to make my predictions on. I was fairly confident in my CAG's and felt they were a fair representation of their ability.

This year for year 13 I have test results from last January (when they were in year 12) and 1 full paper sat in November in the classroom and that is not enough.
We were just about to do mocks when we went back into lockdown. Although I know my students well, I definitely am not confident making predictions for them and any prediction would definitely be too subjective. I know there are students who do well in each of the homeworks but not so well in exams because they don't fully have the understanding and others, whose homework is not so good but will probably pull it out of the bag in an exam.

noble The level of being affected can’t be measured but it must be a fact that on the whole, as a group, those with EHCPs will have been adversely affected. It’s obviously unfair on those with ASD who were badly affected and don’t have an EHCP, but to discount the matter group because of the former would be unfair; there’s EHCPs and an assessment procedure for a reason, and for roughly quantifiable reasons. (And we all know how fair and quick the EHCP process is ha ha ha ha ha).

There’s a group of kids who should get it who don’t fall into either of our categories if taking isolating as a separate specific term: those children having to shield.

God I would love it if they just assessed Economics with a giant multiple choice. We'd actually find out how much theory the students knew for once and it would remove the stress of finishing essays at a stroke. And they could use software that already exists to randomise question selection and response order to cover non-simultaneous exams.

But that would be too easy and not involve us marking and moderating a billion essays so...

I did a suggestion in Twitter of a giant Kahoot, which made me and my kids laugh.

I agree with Noblegiraffe on the issue. Those with ASD are adversely affected but so are so many other students for multiple reasons and there is no way of quantifying who is affected most.
Most of the students with EHCP's in my school are actually are attending school making them possibly less affected by those still at home. They are so many variables affecting students including dealing with grief, anxiety and depression and many other factors, I had some who had several isolations last time and some who had none. I would have no way of quantifying that fairly.

TheFallenMadonna maybe Quizlet on the space invaders setting!

I must say many things about 2020-1 have been incredibly rubbish but there has been a small compensation of getting to play with software and finally get away from bits of paper. I discovered free online card sorting sites meant for website testing last week.

The exams vs coursework debate is interesting.
I liked the spec I first taught with a mix of both.... but coursework had a terrible habit of taking too much time as kids brought draft 4589733 which their tutor had obviously done.
Controlled assessment should have fixed that - and I liked that spec because there were some interesting options. But some schools broke the rules which meant that those students were unfairly advantaged.
I loved the creative writing a level. It got binned because it was 60% coursework - and Gove thought we might be writing it for them. I'm not as good a writer as many of those students.
I liked moderating the AQA igcse because that work was very often genuinely engaged with.
I don't dislike the current spec although I don't like that students turn up to A level unable to carry out their own independent writing and research because they've never done coursework.
What I do think, though, is that it's really not okay to turn something that's 100% terminal and externally marked into something else on a whim. It's confusing enough as it is - and the people the students rely on to know because that's our job - are floundering too.
My dad asked me this morning what a mini assessment is. I said it's probably just going to be A5 instead of A4. It's as good a guess as any.

"What I do think, though, is that it's really not okay to turn something that's 100% terminal and externally marked into something else on a whim."

Yes, exactly that.

I notice the narrative now appears to be proving students are capable of accessing the next stage they wish to enter be it education or employment. Whereas, that was never how end of school assessment was framed previously.

If that's what they want though, fine but it would be easier to issue kids with a leavers certificate to say they've reached a required standard of education. And maybe keep the exams for those who want or need to show higher achievement in chosen subjects.

When I did GCSE English lit back in the Dark Ages it was 100% coursework. You chose your best 10 essays from the two years and they formed the basis of your grade.

I wonder if they could do something like this? I don't like the idea of the assessment being back loaded - I know that's what happens with exams, but I think if the kids were in college until March and produced some good work, then they should be able to use that as well as work produced now or last term.

You choose your best work so you are shown in your best light. Not sure how it would work for sciences and I still think they should have exams for Maths and Eng lang GCSE.

If that's what they want though, fine but it would be easier to issue kids with a leavers certificate to say they've reached a required standard of education. And maybe keep the exams for those who want or need to show higher achievement in chosen subjects

I've wondered about this too - just a pass/fail. It makes it difficult for universities though doesn't it - I guess they really would have to go on GCSE results to know if people are probably capable of the course they've chosen or not.

It could work for GCSE though - a 16+ leavers certificate (maybe they could keep it and do away with GCSEs!)

I quite like the idea of grade bands if exams don't go ahead.
I'd be 99% confident placing students in a band of 789,456 or 123 for each subject. Then it's not a grade that is given, more a "you fall into this ability range". This could form some kind of leavers certificate maybe? It would also be enough for sixth forms and colleges.

For maths I'd hugely prefer an externally marked exam. The current proposals seem bonkers. I don't think every subject needs to be treated the same. Exams in maths and coursework/moderation for others would be OK.

The level of being affected can’t be measured but it must be a fact that on the whole, as a group, those with EHCPs will have been adversely affected

Exam considerations often apply to students with EHCPS. I'd assume any internal assessment to also abide by those.

Like noble said, there is no way to quantify or adjust for disadvantage. At least an EHCP may get you something.

Ofqual suggested the banded certificate idea last time and the government rejected it. It's the government who are obsessed with the kids getting grades.

@HercwasanEnemyofEducation

I quite like the idea of grade bands if exams don't go ahead. I'd be 99% confident placing students in a band of 789,456 or 123 for each subject. Then it's not a grade that is given, more a "you fall into this ability range". This could form some kind of leavers certificate maybe? It would also be enough for sixth forms and colleges.

For maths I'd hugely prefer an externally marked exam. The current proposals seem bonkers. I don't think every subject needs to be treated the same. Exams in maths and coursework/moderation for others would be OK.

I agree. Perhaps refine so you could have 876 and 765 for example, with the idea that the student is working in that range, and the middle grade is perhaps the most likely.

Or a two-range grade i.e. 9/8 or 7/8, with the first grade being the most likely and the second grade giving the range.

Most teachers who have taught for at least a couple of years could make a judgement like this don't you think? Given what they have seen students achieve compared to the school peers and nationally.

It enables the grades to reflect what students are capable of, but maybe were not able to achieve for all the reasons listed earlier (covid impact, lack of SEND support, anxiety, bereavement etc).

Lots of fine tuning needed, moderation, support for NQT/RQTs etc, but perhaps a way to reduce the inherent unfairness in all the suggestions made thus far?

Or a two-range grade i.e. 9/8 or 7/8, with the first grade being the most likely and the second grade giving the range.

I think a lot of the "grade inflation" seen last summer came from the borderline students (rightly) being given the benefit of the doubt. Giving a two grade range would be great for those students because it clearly shows which "side" of the grade they are on.

@redsquirrelfan

If that's what they want though, fine but it would be easier to issue kids with a leavers certificate to say they've reached a required standard of education. And maybe keep the exams for those who want or need to show higher achievement in chosen subjects

I've wondered about this too - just a pass/fail. It makes it difficult for universities though doesn't it - I guess they really would have to go on GCSE results to know if people are probably capable of the course they've chosen or not.

It could work for GCSE though - a 16+ leavers certificate (maybe they could keep it and do away with GCSEs!)

Ah, yes, I was thinking of GCSE.

Agree that they should keep this for post 16 too. I grew to hate GCSEs when Dd was doing them.

noblegiraffe
Ofqual suggested the banded certificate idea last time and the government rejected it. It's the government who are obsessed with the kids getting grades.

I hope not!

Well, we have had school saying engagement levels may impact their entry to sixth form

Well, we have had school saying engagement levels may impact their entry to sixth form

What's the problem with this?

The problem is as mentioned above, some children may not be 'engaging' due to ASD, etc.