RECORDING OF MARKS IN PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS AND FEEDBACK GIVEN TO SCHOOLS

1. RECORDING OF MARKS IN PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS AND FEEDBACK GIVEN TO SCHOOLS Vyv Deacon August 2005 Western Cape Education Department Cape Town, South Africa vdeacon@pgwc.gov.za

2. Cape Town

3. Western Cape Education Department • 45 000 full-time Grade 12 candidates • Each candidate offers 6 subjects • Some subjects have 2 written papers

4. Requirements • Computer programme written • Specifications for each subject entered • Question choice entered to prevent wrong combinations being marked • Maximum mark for every question entered

5. Statistics required • Average percentage for each question for each paper for each subject calculated • Average for each school calculated • Average for each region • Number of candidates who answered each question

6. Schools are given: • Difference between their own average and provincial average for each question • Difference between their own average and provincial average for paper • Number of their own candidates who answered each question

7. What can schools do with this? • Principal can see which subjects are better and which worse than provincial average • Identify particular sections of the syllabus that were badly answered • Discuss with staff and identify sections of syllabus that require attention

8. Examiners are given: • Average mark for each question in the paper • Average mark for the paper as a whole • Number of candidates who answered each question

9. What can examiners do with this? • Compare degree of difficulty of each question – Bloom’s Taxonomy • If there was a choice for answering, can see whether the options gave same average • See which questions were answered by greater numbers of pupils • Limitation – may be subsections with different degrees of difficulty

10. Subject advisers at regional offices are given: • Deviations for each question for each paper for each school in their region • Averages for each question for all of the schools in their region – can then compare their region with provincial average

11. What can subject advisers at regional offices do with this? • Identify schools that are under-performing • Identify sections of syllabus that require intervention in particular schools • Identify schools that have excelled in these sections • Arrange workshops with particular schools on actual needs – can be led by teacher from schools that have excelled in that section

12. Example of statistics given to a school

13. Example of statistics given to an examiner

14. Graph Geography Paper 1

15. Example of statistics given to an examiner

16. Graph Mathematics Paper 2

17. Example of statistics given to a subject adviser in head office

18. Example of statistics given to subject adviser in regional office

19. Summary of feedback received from schools • All schools found the data to be useful and easy to use • Subject heads able to identify weaknesses in candidates’ answers • Most believe that there will be an improvement in their school’s results as a result of receiving these statistics