Title: Actual Models in Different Contexts
1Actual Models in Different Contexts
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4What is tiering?
- Tiering refers to the provision of more than
one level of question papers to students. One
difficulty inherent in all single-level structure
is that they may discourage a student from
developing a center of interest among a large
number of subjects. So it may be desirable to
introduce more than one tier of examinations to
students. For the ease of discussion, we shall
concentrate on cases in which an additional level
of examination is introduced. In reality,
multi-level structures may be used, depending on
the availability of resources and degree of
acceptance by the general public at large.
5The Basic Proficiency Tests
- Tests in Chinese, English and Mathematics at S3
level. - Offered to the general public
- Taken on an optional basis
6Candidature for Basic Proficiency Tests
- The Chairman of the School Examinations
Board said that the small candidature was mainly
due to the failure of Government to give formal
recognition to the tests. He pointed out that
schools and students would not take the tests
seriously as they were aware that the BPT
qualifications would not serve any practical
purpose. A member opined that the BPT
qualifications would have little value for
employment purposes and that the tests should be
abolished with immediate effect.
7Special Papers
- Special papers (commonly known as S levels)
provide a means of extending intellectually able
students by offering them the opportunity to
demonstrate and be assessed on more complex
intellectual skills and to have their
achievements recognized. Discussions indicate
that the majority of the able young people who
take special papers find them a rewarding
experience. Many teachers also find it highly
rewarding to teach these courses to small groups
of able young people.
8Concerns
- Nevertheless, special papers have been
declining rapidly in popularity. Numbers of
students sitting them have fallen from 17 400 in
1989 to 9 500 in 1994. The fall has been
particularly steep in Mathematics, where the
take-up is less than a third of its previous
level. Reasons for this general decline include
the following - Some centers are reluctant to encourage
specialization and prefer to offer breadth rather
than depth. - Some centers (particularly in the further
education sector, where special papers do not
carry funding units) find it difficult to provide
extra tuition for small numbers of pupils in
individual subjects. - A lack of credit given to special papers by
institutions of higher education, who see
achievement as measuring the strength of the
teaching institution as much as that of the
pupil. - Some feeling among universities that at this
stage students might benefit more from other
forms of development.
9The Use of Graded Tests
- Offers tests at different levels of difficulty
10Examples
- ABRSM Tests
- Language tests
11Two Tests, Two Scales
- Serves practical purposes
- Provides progression
- Dependent on demand
12Tailored Syllabus
- Refraction of light
- Laws of refraction
- Path of a ray being refracted at a boundary
- Definition of refractive index of a medium n
sin i / sin r - Application of Snells law to solve problems
involving refraction at a boundary between vacuum
(or air) and another medium - Total internal reflection
- Conditions for total internal reflection
- Problem solving involving total internal
reflection and critical angle at a boundary
between vacuum (or air) and another medium
13The Use of the Tailored Curriculum in Mathematics
14Core-competence Approach
- Performance on the core part graded separately
- Two grades provided
15Core-competence Approach
- The grade on the core part serves the
certification purpose - The grade on the whole subject serves the
selection purpose
16 The AS Model
AS
Paper 1
AL
Paper 2
17-
- AS candidature still small compared with the
main AL subject.
18One Test, One Scale
- Not always possible to divide a syllabus into
different parts - Content may be over fragmented
- Special methods needed to aggregate scores in
subparts
19Syllabus A and Syllabus B
- Two different syllabuses offered
- A linkage is made with effect from 1997
20Syllabus A and Syllabus B
- Since then the candidature jumps rapidly
21Differentiated Paper Approach
- In this option, students are required to sit
two papers from the three offered with one of the
papers being a common paper undertaken by all
students. This common paper would span the range
of difficulty in the subject except for the
extremes of the difficulty scale. It would not
include questions which are so difficult that
only the most able students could successfully
answer the question. It would not include
questions that were easy enough that all students
would answer them correctly. - There is a second paper which is designed
with a range of difficulty to challenge the most
able students undertaking the subject. The third
paper will have a limited range of difficulty and
focused on the likely achievements of the less
able students. This paper is likely to offer
little challenge to the more able students. - Once the choice has been made, it will have
implications for the grades attained. Examination
boards usually set limits on the attainment of
students if they take the lower tier examination.
22Differentiated Papers
- Practised in GCSE examinations
23Addition of an Extra Paper
- Mathematics
- Additional Mathematics
24Candidature for the subject of Mathematics and
Additional Mathematics in the HKCEE
25Two Levels, One Scale
- Equating techniques required (horizontal /
vertical equating) - Levels of attainment at bottom end not recognized
- No unified design
26Tiering Conditions for Success
- Forward looking
- Flexible arrangements
- Financially viable
27 28What can we do next?
- The formative use of summative assessment
- The summative use of formative assessment
- Adopt tiering methods as appropriate
29The Formative Use of Summative Assessment
30The Summative Use of Formative Assessment
- Use SBA marks for summative assessment
- But for reliable assessment, as required for
summative purposes, there must be certain
conditions on the use of this information,
specifically that - It is reviewed strictly against the criteria
of what students are expected to achieve at
certain ages / stages. The criteria are applied
holistically, using judgements as to the best
fit. There is some way of ensuring that the
judgements of one teacher are comparable with
those of other teachers. - Harlen James
31Tiering
- Two Tests / Two Scales
- E.g. HKDSE Mathematics
- One Test / One Scale
- E.g. HKDSE Combined Science
- Two Tests / One Scale
- E.g. HKDSE English Language
32-
- A progressive society counts individual
variations as precious since it finds in them the
means of its own growth. - John Dewey (1916)
- Democracy and Education