ATAR Notes: Forum

VCE Stuff => Victorian Technical Score Discussion => Topic started by: Charmer on November 17, 2007, 01:35:59 pm

Title: How much do SACs REALLY count for?
Post by: Charmer on November 17, 2007, 01:35:59 pm
Sorry if there's already a thread on this: I couldn't find one :)

So how much do our SAC marks really affect our study score? For eg I've had straight A+ in literature all year but I don't think my exam was at that level...does a high SAC average count for anything in practice?

Thanks  :D
Title: Re: How much do SACs REALLY count for?
Post by: Odette on November 17, 2007, 01:51:04 pm
Quote from: "Charmer"
Sorry if there's already a thread on this: I couldn't find one :)

So how much do our SAC marks really affect our study score? For eg I've had straight A+ in literature all year but I don't think my exam was at that level...does a high SAC average count for anything in practice?

Thanks  :D


I think it would depend on how much the sacs are worth, as well as your ranking and exam performance... :)

Sorry i couldnt help you out much :(
Title: How much do SACs REALLY count for?
Post by: Charmer on November 17, 2007, 01:59:18 pm
That's ok! I always hear conflicting opinions. Some say they're really important, others think they don't count for much at all. Ranking sounds about right though :)
Title: How much do SACs REALLY count for?
Post by: azhtey on November 17, 2007, 02:22:12 pm
Unless ur aiming for mid to high 40s then i dont think they should worry you too much. I would still try my best in them though, thats for sure.
Title: How much do SACs REALLY count for?
Post by: Trigger_003 on November 22, 2007, 08:34:41 am
SACs are more for your ranking than anything else. IMO, they really matter in that respect. As all schools have different levels of difficulty in SACs, their results are more or less moderated in the attempt to make things fairer across the board. This process involves looking at the rankings of those within the school and how these reflect the exam scores achieved by the same group. In the majority of subjects which have a 50 SAC : 50 exam kind of weighting at least, it works something like this:

School A:
Tom gets 83% in his SACs (across the year), and is ranked #1 in his class. Scores 100% on the exam. VCAA sees that Tom's school was marked hard against VCAA's exam standard and scales his SAC results somewhere closer to 100%.

School B:
Ben gets 92% on SACs, ranked numero uno. Flunks the exam though, 84%, which happens to be ranked #3 exam result at the school.
Loz gets SACs: ranked #2 at 87%. Exam: 91% (#2)
Jane gets 65% on SACs, ranked #3. Really picks up before the exam and manages to pull a 95% on it (#1).

When results come out, all of them are awarded their result for their exam, however their SAC results are 'scaled' accordingly.
Ben: Exam - 84%. However, as he was top ranked in SACs, his SAC results are moderated according to the top EXAM result, regardless of the fact that he didn't actually achieve it. So his SACs go from 92% to ~95%.
Loz: Exam - 91%, SACs ~91%
Jane: Exam - 95%, SACs ~84%
If you wanna be schneaky, if you're ranked #1 at the end of the year, then you can help everyone else do as well as possible on the exam ;). Not sure how effective that is in practice haha.

Anyway as a rule of thumb, it's more or less #1 SAC scaled by #1 exam result (regardless of who scored it), #2 by #2, etc. etc. So maintaining a high ranking throughout the year can act as a type of insurance policy. Make sense? It's all detailed somewhere deep in the VCAA site if you can be bothered trying to find it :).
Title: How much do SACs REALLY count for?
Post by: Ahmad on November 22, 2007, 09:02:16 am
I agree with everything trigger said above.

Quote from: "Trigger_003"
If you wanna be schneaky, if you're ranked #1 at the end of the year, then you can help everyone else do as well as possible on the exam ;). Not sure how effective that is in practice haha.



I did this for english, my mate gunned the exam but he's ranked 2nd to me.  8)
Title: How much do SACs REALLY count for?
Post by: azhtey on November 22, 2007, 11:05:20 am
wooohooo my teacher said i have a very very good ranking for english sacs!!
Title: How much do SACs REALLY count for?
Post by: RD on November 22, 2007, 09:26:08 pm
Quote from: "azhtey"
I would still try my best in them though, thats for sure.

+1 def.
Title: How much do SACs REALLY count for?
Post by: squance on November 23, 2007, 12:54:20 pm
Hey..

Say there are like 5 Year 12 separate English classes in one school...

Is the ranking for just one class or do they combine all the people who do that study in that school into one big list??
Title: How much do SACs REALLY count for?
Post by: Nick on November 23, 2007, 02:00:00 pm
Quote from: "squance"
Hey..

Say there are like 5 Year 12 separate English classes in one school...

Is the ranking for just one class or do they combine all the people who do that study in that school into one big list??


They combine all the classes to form one unified ranking.  :wink:
Title: How much do SACs REALLY count for?
Post by: Trigger_003 on November 23, 2007, 05:52:10 pm
Yeah.
You'll find that the English teachers tend to cross-mark across the year level or at least try to establish a standard criteria to mark to, so I guess the mentality is that it reduces the amount of variation you could have from one teacher to another within the one school.
Title: How much do SACs REALLY count for?
Post by: Mystery on November 24, 2007, 11:43:12 am
HMm,

I'm curious:

If I gun the English exam(which I'm sure I did) and beat all the number one rank students in my school(as I did with the trial exams), with the rank 1 student having 95/100 for unit 3 & 93/100 for unit 4
 
but I have low "High" scores(86/100 unit 3, 86/100 unit 4)

then would I "steal" the number 1 student's SAC scores? Or would my SAC marks get moderated up, if so by how much approximately?

confusing :S
Title: How much do SACs REALLY count for?
Post by: bilgia on November 24, 2007, 12:53:51 pm
Quote from: "Mystery"
HMm,

I'm curious:

If I gun the English exam(which I'm sure I did) and beat all the number one rank students in my school(as I did with the trial exams), with the rank 1 student having 95/100 for unit 3 & 93/100 for unit 4
 
but I have low "High" scores(86/100 unit 3, 86/100 unit 4)

then would I "steal" the number 1 student's SAC scores? Or would my SAC marks get moderated up, if so by how much approximately?

confusing :S


i think you do get the #1 sac score...thats what ahmad was going on about
Title: How much do SACs REALLY count for?
Post by: Ahmad on November 24, 2007, 01:18:29 pm
Nah, if you're ranked n-th you get roughly the n-th exam mark as your moderated SAC mark. Remember: SAC ranking never changes, regardless of performance in exam. If someone is ranked higher, they will always receive a higher moderated SAC mark than you.
Title: How much do SACs REALLY count for?
Post by: principe on November 27, 2007, 11:45:34 pm
Does anyone know if the exam affects SAT marks, like folio marks for Media, for example.
Title: How much do SACs REALLY count for?
Post by: Trigger_003 on November 28, 2007, 07:17:20 am
Umm...
I've never taken any SAT subjects, and reading over VCAA's explanation didn't make it explicitly clear. In the second paragraph they do make the clear distinction between school-assessed and external assessments, lumping SATs quite clearly into the former. Yet SATs are actually marked externally by VCAA reps, aren't they? Interesting.

"Statistical moderation is a process for adjusting schools? assessments to the same standard" <- that'd imply SATs are included, as "There are two forms of school assessment ? coursework assessment and School-assessed Tasks."

Then they also say:
"The VCAA uses statistical moderation to ensure that the coursework assessments given by different schools are comparable throughout the State." I don't know about you - that makes me think it only covers SACs...
Sorry I couldn't give you a more definite answer.

http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vce/exams/statisticalmoderation/statmod.html
Title: How much do SACs REALLY count for?
Post by: principe on November 28, 2007, 02:54:26 pm
Hmmm ...
Because the exams do not cover any of the topics covered by SATs. At least not for media. I did Visual Communication last year and got A+(100%) for my SAT and a B for the exam. So I thought it wasn't affected.

Random folios are chosen from each school and are marked by VCAA reps. This determines whether the mark given by the teacher is fair. But I'm still unsure whether this is the final mark for the folio and if the exam affects it. I didn't get a statement of marks so I'm not sure if my folio mark was scaled down. However, my SAC marks throughout the year were consistently A+, (93%) and were changed to A on my results. Anyways yeah I have no idea. Thanks for the help.
Title: Re: How much do SACs REALLY count for?
Post by: golids on December 01, 2007, 03:53:28 pm
the whole system of SACS is bogus IMO, VCAA need a drastic revamp of the system i feel, too often good students are restricted to what study scores they will get due to teacher bias', especially in subjects with multiple teachers
Title: Re: How much do SACs REALLY count for?
Post by: bubblegum on July 18, 2008, 06:00:11 pm
if your exam grades are lower by a couple of grades they will scale u down. just stay positive and do your best on the exam and hope for the best.

ur sac results will change when it comes to the ranking and stuff (thats everyone) but just use it as an estimate for your performance.
Title: Re: How much do SACs REALLY count for?
Post by: costargh on July 18, 2008, 06:01:01 pm
Mao, take over
Title: Re: How much do SACs REALLY count for?
Post by: Mao on July 18, 2008, 06:10:09 pm
this thread has been inactive for

7 months, 17 days, 4 hours, 6 minutes, 43 seconds

until resurrection.

:P



the SAC gets moderated based on how your cohort performs on the exam. the moderation process will give a somewhat accurate reflection of what SAC score you should've received had it been homogenized with the state. so your class's SAC scores will overall correspond to your class's exam performance [overall]

this question has been asked [and answered] to death :P hehe
Title: Re: How much do SACs REALLY count for?
Post by: dcc on July 18, 2008, 06:15:38 pm
this thread has been inactive for

7 months, 17 days, 4 hours, 6 minutes, 43 seconds

until resurrection.

:P



the SAC gets moderated based on how your cohort performs on the exam. the moderation process will give a somewhat accurate reflection of what SAC score you should've received had it been homogenized with the state. so your class's SAC scores will overall correspond to your class's exam performance [overall]

this question has been asked [and answered] to death :P hehe

My school better not fuck up the methods rankings!
Title: Re: How much do SACs REALLY count for?
Post by: Rietie on July 18, 2008, 07:02:17 pm
if your exam grades are lower by a couple of grades they will scale u down. just stay positive and do your best on the exam and hope for the best.

ur sac results will change when it comes to the ranking and stuff (thats everyone) but just use it as an estimate for your performance.


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

Necromancer! Vampire! Zombie! Uh... phoenix?....hmm....
Title: Re: How much do SACs REALLY count for?
Post by: enwiabe on July 18, 2008, 11:55:26 pm
Mao, you are obsessed with necromancy. I'm starting to worry about you. :(
Title: Re: How much do SACs REALLY count for?
Post by: xox.happy1.xox on July 19, 2008, 12:07:04 pm
*Covers eyes*... I want to live... :P