College head attacks variation in marks

Press, 25 July 1985, Page 32

College head attacks variation in marks

PA Auckland A college head of English has criticised variations of up to 11 per cent in “raw” and scaled marks in School Certificate examinations. Avondale College’s head of English, Mr Barry Gough, said he asked some of the 300 fifth form English students with marks ranging from 31 per cent to 95 per cent to ask for the return of papers from this year’s examination — the first year that students could apply for the return of marked papers under the Official Information Act.

He found differences in raw and scaled marks of up to 11 per cent. Mr Gough said many students who got a near pass in the examination were scaled down to achieve the 50 per cent pass rate necessarj' in the nationwide exam. One student got a raw score of 49 per cent, but the official mark was scaled down to 38 per cent. Another whose raw score was 68, was not scaled either way, but a student whose raw score was 67Va was scaled up to 73.

Shona Hearn, a Post Primary Teachers’ Association member and a member of the Ministerial Committee of Inquiry into curriculum, assessment and qualifications in Form 5 to 7. said that while it was horrifying to think of the injustices done in School Certificate scaling, other questions also needed to be answered. Discussion papers would raise questions such as what 15 and 16-year-olds should be learning, how they should be assessed, and if it was important to compare students with their competitors. ♦- (