Exam results

And you've just done exactly the same as you're claiming the other poster did. That isn't even close to what he said. Doing exam preparation (which is the wording used) so someone is familiar with the format and wording of questions and "walking someone through an exam" is not the same thing.

 

Basically, the algorithm that was used was poorly constructed as it failed to take into account the individuality of the examination.

What they tried to do was to do two steps in one - the grade and standardisation. What they needed to do was to separate those as they usually would have done so that the grades per student were calculated and then the standardisation process was done.

I don't know why they made the algorithm the way they did but it was an error.

 

I would disagree. Earlier on in the academic year the focus will be on content mastery rather than any examination for the same reason you made in an earlier post - its necessary to teach the child to master the subject not to pass the exam!

If the focus is on how to pass the exam too early then they won't retain and be able to manipulate and repurpose the content.

 

Yer, not back in September but it was March when it was all getting a bit hairy scary.

I've no idea how long ago you wrote your GCSEs/A levels but it was only 12 years ago that I was in charge of two subjects for a national examination body and things have changed a lot since then so your experience may not be completely comparable.

 

So you are now splitting hairs to explain that trying hard is not the same as making an effort?

 

From what I'm aware the algorithm proposed a students grade but then also standardised all the grades of all students in a certain subject.

Ordinarily, the student would obtain a score which would be indicative of a grade and then there would be a process to work out the level of achievement for that particular year group and apply to to the set standard which might result in the grade boundaries moving up or down and therefore finalising the grade.

The algorithm they used did both those steps and therefore disproportionately moved some students up and some down by an amount that was much greater than it should have done.

Personally think it was a shame that they were offered help to try and improve it prior to being launched but the confidentiality agreement was far too over reaching for any organisation to want to sign it and agree to help.

 

Agree the NDA was so tight and constrictive that no academic organisation would have agreed to it. Makes you wonder why it was so restrictive.

 

A few people have said similar. Unfortunately I don't think there's anything to hide per sé it's just the nature of education and examinations bodies that are risk averse, bureaucratic and very skeptical of outsiders. They can't adjust/respond in an agile way as they're not setup in that way nor encouraged to behave like that. Most of the time that's a good thing but when something of the nature of a global pandemic pops up they can make themselves look a bit silly and out of touch.

 

And now BTEC results have been pulled even though exams weren’t missed, but because all the other work has been marked against the usual A-Level/GCSE standards so therefore now have been marked too harshly compared to the A-Levels

 

That's correct and is a fuller explanation of my first paragraph. The individual performance was overlooked because of a forced ranking but also because the ranking was on too micro a level it didn't allow for the usual wider aggregation of all the results which is where things tend to balance out because one school will perform better than usual one year and one will perform less well. Its that aggregation that was lost and is the bit that is taken into account in the second step of the process which some bodies call standardisation or 'grading'.

 

Here is what you said and I quote
SimonW said: ↑
If you think your kid working hard has anything to do with how well they do in comparison to others then you are massively deluded. You can have the most dedicated kid in the world who spends 5 hours a night revising and doing independent study and they will still most likely be beaten by someone who doesn't try in class, would rather be down the park either playing football or drinking etc etc. Working hard might edge you over to the next grade but it absolutely does not guarantee you do better than those who try less hard.

No mention of previous intellect there at all.