what is a spelling and grammar waiver?

juneg · 14-10-2012 9:22pm #1

Hi, just wondering if any secondary teachers here have experience of a spelling and grammar waiver?

how does it work in reality? Is it much of an advantage to the student?
thanks

evolving_doors · 14-10-2012 9:57pm

you'd be surprised how much of a relief it can be to some students to get it... not really looked on as giving anyone an advantage!!
Seems as if students in our school won't find out if they're getting one till may next year a month before the exams.. that gives them 4 weeks to appeal... now that's crackers if you ask me..

byhookorbycrook · 14-10-2012 10:52pm

It is usually granted to children with dyslexia. AFAIK for Juior Cert. if the child has been assessed the school can grant it, but the DES has to grant it for the Leaving.The actual "cert" then has a footnote to mention that a wiaver was in place.

TheDriver · 15-10-2012 7:45am

remember the case a few years back where the kid didn't use his waiver yet they still put it on his cert and he took SEC to court and won if I recall correctly......

byhookorbycrook · 15-10-2012 3:32pm

Driver, I thought he lost it after?

TheDriver · 15-10-2012 4:55pm

maybe? I just remember the ruling where I thought it he got the waiver removed from the cert because he never actually used it?

byhookorbycrook · 15-10-2012 6:34pm

"Currently, if a student has been granted reasonable accommodations which impact on the assessment of their exam, the grades obtained by a candidate will be accompanied by an explanatory note, such as: “all parts of the examination in this subject were assessed except spelling and written punctuation elements.”
The explanatory note has been the subject of an ongoing legal challenge over recent years. In 2006 the Equality Authority ruled that the annotation of certificates was discriminatory. However, the Dept. of Education appealed this decision in the Circuit Court in 2007 and won. The case was referred to the High Court who upheld the decision of the Circuit Court. This means that unfortunately, as things stand, annotation of certificates will continue."

http://www.dyslexia.ie/information/information-for-parents/exam-accommodations/

jane smith · 23-05-2014 4:50pm

i just received my waiver on wednesday ... does anyone know if i would really help me in my other languages such as french and irish ?

allprops · 24-05-2014 10:51am

Yes. It applies to all languages.

spurious · 24-05-2014 1:54pm

The eventual grade in the exam results sheet will have an asterisk beside it to indicate there was a waiver.

juneg · 24-05-2014 5:25pm

spurious wrote: »

The eventual grade in the exam results sheet will have an asterisk beside it to indicate there was a waiver.

Does that affect the points value of the subject at LC level please?

Claregirl5 · 24-05-2014 5:30pm

juneg wrote: »

Does that affect the points value of the subject at LC level please?

No, it doesn't.

implausible · 24-05-2014 10:40pm

jane smith wrote: »

i just received my waiver on wednesday ... does anyone know if i would really help me in my other languages such as french and irish ?

Whatever marks are usually applied to spelling and grammar are ignored and a calculation is done the end to compensate. For example, in LC English, the composition on paper 1 would be marked for Purpose (30%), Coherence (30%) and Language (30%) and the examiner ignores the 10% for Mechanics, so the essay is marked out of 90. The same happens for all other sections. Each paper is then really marked out of 180 instead of 200 and the examiner divides the score for each paper score by 9 and adds it on, so the candidate ends up with a mark that is equivalent to a paper that has been marked for spelling and grammar.

The OP asked if it was an advantage. I'll quote a colleague of mine who explains to students who don't want to accept help that: "it's not extra help, it just levels the playing pitch."

what is a spelling and grammar waiver?

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