as many of you will know, high school exams have been on for the last couple of weeks, with our teens going through the ritual torture that measures their learning over the year.
talking to a teacher in the last couple of days, i found out that (at least) one exam paper had some serious flaws. this was not something that was noticed by only one teacher, but by many. but it appears that NZQA has shut down the formal complaints process for teachers to raise issues about NCEA exams. there is now no mechanism to address major errors in exam papers.
i don't think exams are a particularly good way to assess learning, but an exam paper that has significant errors is not any kind of way to assess learning. surely there should be some way to deal with such a situation, instead of just letting students suffer because of poor work by someone else.
i'd be interested in hearing from other teachers if this is the case. a quick check of the website gives this diagram about the exam setting process, which stops at the "publish & distribute" stage.
this report on radio nz (morning report 1/12/10, 8.48am) states that NCEA exams have been problem-free this year. well that's hardly surprising, if there is no way to lodge a formal complaint!
10 comments:
The most digusting thing that ever happen to our education systemw as when sone jackass allowed students to answer in text language, I'm sure future employers loved that.
Speaking of the education system, I should worry about my own spelling and grammer.
actually, i have no problem with txt language. if students can get across the ideas & concepts they have learnt & understood during the year, they should be able to put those forward as best they can. some kids have difficulty with writing & reading, so there should be way more support for oral exams. the only time i think any kind of a deal should be made about spelling & grammar is if it's a test on spelling & grammar. yes, i think the latter should be tested & yes i'd like to see high literacy skills, but i don't think students sitting exams in subjects other than language should be penalised if that's where their weakness is. anything that helps young people feel positive about their abilities & motivates them to achieve more is a good thing.
I think a employer would have huge problems hiring school leavers who write in text speech.
depends on the job brett. there are heaps of jobs that don't require written work, and someone could have really strong skills in other areas that make them a valuable employee.
It's a bit mean to restrict someone only to those jobs that don't involve correspondence simply because they weren't encouraged to resist the habit of always using txtspk.
There is a difference between "weakness" and "habit".
Can you tell us more about the shutting down of the formal complaints process? Surely that would be an interesting news story?
you would think so! that's why i put the post up, as i hoped someone in the teaching profession could tell us more. i'm only reporting what i've heard & think it's pretty disturbing.
David Crystal (ie, a linguist who knows what he's talking about) doesn't think we have anything to fear: http://www.davidcrystal.com/DC_articles/Internet4.pdf
I'll go with the man who knows stuff.
I always knew the education system in new zealand had abandoned any formal attachment to democratic input, but to cut teachers from the "how we teach our kids" loop... stunning.
Having been in the first generation to undergo the torture of NCEA exams I have an unnatural hatred for the system, but at least the teachers were (/able to be) complaining along with us then.
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