Redpill wrote: » I thought it was quite strange that the judge mentioned that Belvedere's grades were inflated from previous years and that they were right to be downgraded but also ruled that historical data should have no impact on results...seems like a contradiction to me?
Even if Mr Sherry had shown an unfairness, the State was still entitled to argue its decisions on the final model were in the public interest, he held.
rainbowtrout wrote: » But they didn't say they were removing topics from the paper. They said they were giving more choice, i.e. if you were asked to answer 8/10 questions on a paper, now you might only be asked to answer seven.
Wombatman wrote: » The whole point being you can eliminate some material. For example in English you could leave out another poet or in physics maybe leave out electricity. Right now, without the information, you may be covering something in class or revising something that you won't need. Wasting time and effort essentially, from a points accumulation perspective.
rainbowtrout wrote: » You can already do that, and students have always done it without altered papers. Also, it is supposed to be an examination of their knowledge of the course. If people are still complaining even with extra choice coming in the next few weeks, might as well just hand them the papers now and tell them to practice it for June, H1s for everyone. Physics, the example that was given already has a huge choice and teachers regularly leave out whole sections of the course in a normal year. Normally there are four mandatory experiments and they have to answer on three of them. This year there will be five. My guess is from the five different sections of the course to ensure fairness. If a student really wanted to, they could ditch two sections and just study the experiments for three, and narrow the list of experiments down from 24 to about 9. How much more help do they need?
Str8outtaWuhan wrote: » Hugs, cuddles, some mindfulness and a reassurance that this is a utopia we live in , without pain or fear and all their dreams really do come true :rolleyes:
Wombatman wrote: » Students are training for the big match, yet they don't know what the parameters of the game are. That's the issue. I don't think I can spell it out in a simpler way. It is self evident that, the sooner the fine details are published, the better. Time lost studying something superfluous is time, that could be spent studying something pertinent. It's not like teachers never whine about the lack of clarity. They spent the last two months whinging about being kept in the dark by Norma.
Str8outtaWuhan wrote: » I don't know many players playing in a big match would say "Hmmm, you know what? I think you should determine the score of the match based upon the scores we made during the training sessions" :rolleyes:
rainbowtrout wrote: » They do know the parameters. There is a syllabus. That's the parameters. And until January they were preparing to be examined based on that syllabus. The notion that they'll do worse because they could potentially waste time on a topic that they won't have to be examined on is nuts. They'll spend plenty of time revising topics that won't come up at all, despite the choice on the paper, and they'll revise topics also that do come up on the paper and they choose not to answer that question. That is the nature of choice on the exam. How much more do you want it dumbed down?
Wombatman wrote: » Every year students know what form the exam will take. They prepare in that context. Right now the students don't know what form the exam will take. I can't dumb this point down any more. The department are making the changes, not the students. If you resent the approach they have taken due to the pandemic, take it up with the department. The students have to work with what they get. The simple point is, it would help everyone to know the paper changes ASAP. Do you agree with this????
rainbowtrout wrote: » I don't resent it, you seem to though. They've already told you the format of the paper last September. It's not cutting out material, it's providing more choice. You'll know exactly how many questions they'll have to answer in 3 weeks time. It'll probably be one or two less than what they currently have to answer. So they'll be in a better position than they are now. They will survive without knowing this information for another 3 weeks.
maude6868 wrote: » Examples of tests that may be administered are written, oral, aural or practical tests.
Barbeapapa wrote: » My 6th year student-in-residence has been advised across the subjects at school NOT to go for predictive grades as they will be downgraded. (It is a Deis community school with no other for 40 miles, not very well run but some excellent teachers, so not a top grade school which would have been burned last year and would have abilities across the board as there is no other choice for secondary school in the area.) I am surprised at this as I read further back on this thread that students might be advised to just focus on the few subjects they might be able to push Up a grade (and if they wanted the experience of an exam, etc). Sound advice, i thought, which I passed on. I am wondering if this would be a common view from teachers at this point? It's hard to know how else to get advice (other than gate crashing here) this year.
maude6868 wrote: » Response from JMB regarding query about assessing Leaving Certs. We were of the opinion only 3 assessments could be given. We can assess away as normal. Teachers are advised to maintain the approach they would normally adopt at this time of the year regarding assignments, homework, assessment and feedback. It is advisable to maintain the modes of assessment that are familiar to students. When extra assessment is deemed necessary, for the estimated marks process, over and above the assessment normally conducted by a subject teacher in class, the test should be no more than one lesson in duration (maximum one hour) and a maximum of three class tests may be administered up to 14 May 2021. Examples of tests that may be administered are written, oral, aural or practical tests.
Treppen wrote: » Or how about, let teachers use their professional judgement.
am_zarathustra wrote: » Historical data won't be included in the standardizing. Any downgrades would be based on the curve and then JC grades of the whole cohort. So if they are a good year, with good JC results they shouldn't have more downgrades than any school. I'm in a DEIS school, first good year last year really in a long time but equally were good at JC so a few downgrades but not even the 20% that would be expected from the national averages. I'd be recommending, in whatever way I can, that picking a few, between 3 and 5 is about right for sitting the exams. I'd be giving the same advice to family members.
The Portal will re-open in late April or early May so you can review your choices.
Wombatman wrote: » The SEC’s Candidate Portal is expected to open in the week of 8 March 2021 to allow students to make their choices. Students will have approximately one week in which to do this. Right now I would be advising any student to choose both in everything, if anyway unsure, and then to drop subjects as they go. There will be three options. NOBODY in a school should be picking "Exam Only".
km79 wrote: » Norma said it will be opening for initial phase next weds 10th March and closing less than a week later on the 16th .
am_zarathustra wrote: » And then open again in April...........
km79 wrote: » Thursday 4th March 6pm “ Before using the Candidate Portal for the first time, candidates will be asked to create their own account and will need their examination number for this process. A matrix of Leaving Certificate candidate entries, showing the subject and level selections for each candidate, has issued to schools this week together with a set of self-adhesive labels, showing each Candidate’s Name, Date of Birth and Examination Number. When you receive this mailing, you are asked to; o Distributethelabelstoeachcandidate o Usethelevelselectiononthematrixtoconsiderwhetherthecandidateisenteredat the correct level and engage with candidates as required o Checkwhetheranycandidateintheschoolinnotonthematrixorwhetherany candidate appears on the matrix who has left the school. Such changes must be notified by email to entries@examinations.ie no later than Monday 8 March 2021.” Are they for real ? So tomorrow ? What happens if a student isn’t in ?
