Teacher Ethics in Summative Assessment

Transcription

1 Teacher Ethics in Summative Assessment Survey of teachers views of methods of maximising results Conducted 2014 Designed by Ofqual but conducted by Pye Tait 548 responses (out of 200K+ secondary school teachers) 92% actively teaching 44% teachers, 34% Heads of Department They were asked Whether they had first-hand experience of a range activities within the last academic year (including student activities, teacher activities and school activities) UNREPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE WARNING How acceptable they considered each of those to be from 1 not at all acceptable to 10 completely acceptable E.g. Becoming markers to gain insight into the examination system Focusing efforts on borderline C students Providing wording of sections of coursework to students 1

2 But what kind of water are we in? Teachers methods ordered by perceived acceptability Teachers methods ordered by experience Median Becoming markers to gain insight into the examination system Question spotting what might come up on an exam and tailoring teaching accordingly Targeting enquires about results to pupils just below key grade boundaries Changing teaching midway through a course in response to changes in policy Not covering all of the specification content so as to focus on those areas most likely to be examined Switching to what they believe to be easier exam boards Focusing efforts on borderline C students Giving students the benefit of the doubt in awarding marks when assessing coursework or controlled assessment Considering school league table performance in choosing which qualifications to offer Entering students into exams early to give them more than one examination opportunity Having students use revision guides as opposed to text books Encouraging students to memorise mark schemes Encouraging students to rote learn answers to likely exam questions Giving students writing frames to use in their controlled assessment Teachers giving students hints during controlled assessment Providing wording of sections of coursework to students Opening exam papers before the specified time % Focusing efforts on borderline C students Question spotting what might come up on an exam and tailoring their teaching accordingly Targeting enquires about results to those pupils just below key grade boundaries Becoming markers to gain insight into the examination system Giving students the benefit of the doubt in awarding marks when assessing coursework or controlled assessment Considering school league table performance in choosing which qualifications to offer Changing their teaching midway through a course in response to changes in policy Giving students writing frames to use in their controlled assessment Switching to what they believe to be easier exam boards Entering students into exams early to give them more than one examination opportunity Teachers giving students hints during controlled assessment Encouraging students to rote learn answers to likely exam questions Having students use revision guides as opposed to text books Not covering all of the specification content so as to focus on those areas most likely to be examined Encouraging students to memorise mark schemes Providing wording of sections of coursework to students Opening exam papers before the specified time <

3 School methods ordered by perceived acceptability School methods ordered by experience Schools working together to share and understand performance data Borderline students being hot housed with additional classes/support Students being double entered for key qualifications e.g. for more than one exam board s GCSE specification or for GCSE and IGCSE Student qualification choices being steered to those they will perform well in, rather than those they enjoy or those that would aid future employment Students being removed from the school roll so as to avoid their results contributing to measures of school performance Schools finding ways to pick and choose the pupils they take in Median Borderline students being hot housed with additional classes/support Student qualification choices being steered to those they will perform well in, rather than those they enjoy or those that would aid future employment Students being double entered for key qualifications e.g. for more than one exam board s GCSE specification or for GCSE and IGCSE Schools working together to share and understand performance data Students being removed from the school roll so as to avoid their results contributing to measures of school performance % Schools finding ways to pick and choose the pupils they take in 40% described experience of at least one additional method of maximising controlled assessment results marks, corrections, feedback and guidance to enable students to draft and re-draft sentence starters, quotes, detailed writing frames, essay structures and help sheets Teachers (required to document feedback) doing so verbally or using post it notes Teachers repeating controlled assessment tasks with the class or using an almost identical task before the real thing Teachers focusing help on less able but crediting the student in full I can get a very weak student an A grade by breaking the rules, as I do, yet the poor Head of Department down the road doing controlled assessments in near exam conditions is lucky to get any work out of the student for an E grade. The current system works very well for us as long as we ignore any rules for limited, medium and high control in controlled assessments. We ensure that every student always meets their target grade, whatever it takes. 3

4 This year, we made much more use of writing frames and doing a 'similar' assignment to the one students had to do by way of preparation. This followed from discussions with other Head of Departments at LEA meetings last year on how to get through these controlled assessments as fast as possible with the minimum amount of stress and time for teachers. Students can look at past years' A / A* controlled assessments for the same task at any time as we have them in the classroom. (The tasks remain 'live' for years). 21% described experience of at least one additional method of maximising coursework results Teachers re-drafting, completing and writing the coursework themselves students with previous years stock of highly graded coursework Teachers dictating or typing coursework on the computer for students extensive guidance, coaching, corrections and enabling re-drafts with detailed feedback given to students Teachers writing sections for the students, and/or providing them with detailed writing frames, sentence starters and detailed guides A teacher having difficulties with the level of students ability to do coursework was told she would have to do it herself. Students have their IGCSE coursework written for them by their teacher. The expectation from the school is that 'all students' will have A/B grade coursework folders, despite only a sixth of students in the school being A/B grade students. Staff are expected to 'intervene' with each student until their coursework is of this grade. Students are given too much support during the completion of coursework. This is a massive issue that I have experienced in 4-5 of the schools/colleges I have worked in. This ranges from providing them with specific examples of good work, letting them copy others work, allowing students to work together to plan work and when it gets to the end of the year students being stood over by the teacher and told what to write. Teachers send marks off for coursework in A level Health and Social Care when the students haven't even given the coursework in by the deadline then making sure the coursework, when it has been given in, is adapted to fit the mark awarded. 4

5 13% described experience of at least one additional method of maximising exam or oral results Teachers giving pointers to questions, reading questions out for students, answering questions about exam tasks, providing students with hints about the right solution Teachers offering strategic advice on timing and which questions to focus on first Teachers invigilating their own subjects or being in the hall for exams Teachers giving students oral questions, rote learning answers, or giving them more time to prepare than allowed by the exam boards A teacher was told to go into the exam hall to help students even though the teacher did not want to go in. Most teachers for that subject were in the hall whilst other teachers were used to cover their lessons. I was told to target only things that would definitely come up on an exam paper and teaching was focused solely on how many marks each area was given. This meant lack of cohesive teaching and students were taught only what was required on the test not what would move their knowledge of the subject on. Conclusions? On the day before the actual speaking exam my Head of Faculty unexpectedly appeared in my classroom to provide my pupils with a final list of unexpected questions for them to prepare. The pupils were asked to choose a question out of the list provided I was supposed to ask the chosen question to my pupils. 5