Grade gap shows up top pupils

[costargh]

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23486475-2862,00.html

Grade gap shows up top pupils
Jane Metlikovec
April 05, 2008 12:00am

VCE teachers may be bolstering school performance statistics by helping year 12s get top marks for class work, figures suggest.

A Herald Sun analysis of last year's VCE grades shows a big discrepancy between the number of students getting top grades in school-assessed coursework and those getting them for exams.

Authorities denied teachers were going easy on their students, blaming exam nerves for the big drop in top marks.

But in a snapshot of 27 VCE final-year subjects, the percentage of students getting A-plus in exams was always lower than those getting perfect class marks.

Almost one in four studio arts students received an A-plus for their class work, while just 5 per cent achieved the top mark in the end-of-year exam.

Physics students also struggled in exams, with almost one in four achieving A-plus for class work, but one in 10 getting the same result in exams.

The number of students with an A-plus average in English during the year dropped by more than half in the exam -- 17.5 per cent got an A-plus in class work compared with 7 per cent in the exam.

Adolescent psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg said while many bright students struggled with exam pressure, teachers at top schools were going easy on pupils.

"Kids at private schools, especially, are getting quite a bit of coaching going into the SACs (school-assessed coursework), with their teachers really driving into them exactly what they need to do to get a good mark," Dr Carr-Gregg said.

Exam pressure had a huge impact, he added.

"Kids just don't do exam pressure well, and many young people genuinely believe their life is not worth living if they do not get the best ENTER score."

The Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority said teachers were not boosting students' class marks to protect the reputation of their schools.

"At all levels of assessment, from early primary to university, results are higher for course work than examinations," VCAA spokesman Justin Shortal said.

"The pressures and conditions in an exam are different to those in doing coursework.

"The VCAA has rigorous checks on all coursework assessment to ensure it is all being marked fairly and consistently."

Education Department spokeswoman Jennene Rodgers said it had faith in VCE marking.

[jsimmo]

I saw this in the Herald Sun acouple weeks ago.. it made me laugh because it is really obvious how some VCE teachers try and give the best marks possible... (example: my business teacher gave nearly the whole class a High and I know for a fact that there were kids who didn't even finish it but they were still rewarded with a High.. we are talking about kids who failed General Maths in year 11 - it is not possible that they could of got a HIGH).. Studio Arts is the subject that gets the most % teacher A's (like 29% i think) but only 5% get an external A... lol

[Nick]

I'm not even the slightest bit surprised by that. Such a tedency was definitely shown at my school last year. There were so many students who achieved A's and A+'s for work that was not even close to that standard. I think it would happen in some form at most schools around the state. It's just an inevitable element of the VCE- schools will do what they can to uphold their status and academic credibility.

[Nick]

"The VCAA has rigorous checks on all coursework assessment to ensure it is all being marked fairly and consistently."


Pfft. Whatever.

[cara.mel]

I looked at that for 5s when it was in the paper and was like 'And that's why they adjust SAC marks, kthxbyewasteofarticle'

[psychlaw]

for our last SAC about 40 out of 60 got A's
and about 15 of those were A+'s

[Mao]

for our last SAC about 40 out of 60 got A's
and about 15 of those were A+'s

well, after scalings you should have a bell curve



VCAA statistical moderation is justice amongst injustice
if we gotten rid of SACs overall, it'll be a lot fairer (or SACs contribute less to our score)
there is an older thread by brendan/coblin somewhere about it

[RD]

I looked at that for 5s when it was in the paper and was like 'And that's why they adjust SAC marks, kthxbyewasteofarticle'

+1

[chid]

I feel that our school Spec SAC's are a fair bit easier than exam standard. It's possible to get a very good mark just by doing all the textbook questions and maybe a couple of questions from some other sources. At the moment it means that the spread of results does not really represent ability.

Is this a problem, perhaps for the higher achieving students or will it be corrected by the external exams?

[Eriny]

It is a waste of article, but I think lots of students go into exams being really very deluded in regard to what's required of them. SACs should be marked more harshly so that students really understand how hard they'll have to work in order to do well on the exam.

[droodles]

but they will have a confidence slump with bad SAC marks.

Well I guess thats the weaker students, persistant ones acknowledge their errors and press harder.

[costargh]

but they will have a confidence slump with bad SAC marks.

Well I guess thats the weaker students, persistant ones acknowledge their errors and press harder.

Everyone reacts differently to receiving a SAC mark. Some students thrive on receiving a top SAC mark while others need the "kick up the butt" from receiving a lower than expected SAC mark. I don't know if it has so much to do with the marking "standards" but I know for sure a lot of the time it has to do with how much students can weasel out of the teacher prior to the SAC and a lot of the time they are very generous with their hints.