KS3 Maths Completed

All the scripts were successfully marked a week or so ago, packed up in parcels, and returned to ETS after all the marks had been (tediously) recorded at the appropriate website. It took ages to record the marks because they didn't want just totals, they wanted every single mark for every single question. So 80 or so marks each for 450 candidates meant a long time sitting in front of the screen.


ETS had apologised for this and pointed out that markers were no longer required to fill in the marksheets and award the grades. We used to record the marks of each of the three papers and then the total mark. Towards the end of the marking period markers would be told the grade boundaries for each of the levels, and we would then translate the total mark into the corresponding grade and complete the marksheets ready for returning to the school with the scripts, while copies were sent to the Exam Board.


Obviously accuracy was all-important and great care had to be taken to avoid errors. Tricky when the marks needed for a grade 6, for instance, would differ depending on which Tier the candidate had taken, 4-6, 5-7 or 6-8. Any errors would be quickly spotted by the school and/or the candidate and the scripts returned to the board for re-consideration.


For this reason markers were required to carry out what was known as a "borderlining exercise" for any candidate who had just missed a higher grade by 1 or 2 marks. Usually the marking remained unaltered but occasionally an error was found, or a particularly harsh judgement was rescinded, and the candidate could be bumped up to the higher grade. Schools would seldom comment on errors in the candidate's favour, or would bother if the level awarded was unaltered, but would scrutinise very closely the scripts of candidates just below a grade boundary. Thus, borderlining revealed any error before the school found it and saved everyone the hassle of appeals.



This year the grades will have been awarded automatically, and sent to the schools with no borderlining having taken place. Nowadays all schools seem to be very conscious of their level of performance in public exams and their positions in the (so-called) league tables, and I would guess that, when the schools have looked carefully at the results this week, ETS will be flooded with appeals on behalf of candidates just below the grade levels. I hope they're ready for it.

I am now getting stuck in to my next load of marking. (Too many exams!) This is a Cambridge International A-Level paper. About 500 overseas candidates tackling the sort of paper we used set for A-Level Mathematics about thirty years ago in this country. Very few of our today's Maths A-Level candidates would fancy either the style or the content of this paper.

Team Leaders

In a previous post I suggested that team leaders were important people whom one should keep on the right side of. (Sorry ...... on the right side of whom one should keep ...)
Well it seems that I was wrong. Not that I have anything against my current team leader, I'm sure he's an excellent fellow. It's just that, apart from one email asking if I was ok, I haven't heard from him.

In previous years (I almost said "in the old days") after the standardisation meeting one sent 10 sets of scripts off to the team leader for checking. After a cheery phone call telling you how well you'd done and how few errors you had made, the scripts were returned with corrections, explanations and hints, and you were cleared to continue marking.
This year a standardisation exercise had to be completed online and a banner came up onscreen saying "you have successfully completed the standardisation and you may continue marking".
No "well done", no info. about any errors, careless, or of interpretation of the mark scheme. Just "carry on".

The next sample, in the old days, (whoops) had to be sent to the team leader when you were about a third of the way through the marking. Again, the feedback from the team leader could be very useful. Perhaps you were being particularly harsh, or lenient, over a certain question. Perhaps you were making an error of interpretation and had to go through all the scripts already marked and make alterations. In any event the personal contact was valuable.

It doesn't happen this year under ETS (Europe). (Actually I think they are also supplying my gas and electricity at ever more exhorbitant prices)
This year we have a procedure called "benchmarking", to be undergone online every time you have successfully submitted the complete sets of marks for 80 candidates. This causes a problem straight away because one doesn't mark complete sets. Each candidate sits 3 papers and it is much more convenient to mark batches of one paper before moving on to another. I have, in fact, marked all my quota of 450 or so Mental Tests already.
Incidentally, it takes longer to enter the marks for a Mental Test online, than it does to actually mark the paper. ETS have recognised this and have doubled our admin. payments, which is something out of the wreck.
Anyway, once you have finished the benchmarking exercise, up comes the banner again. "You have successfully completed the benchmarking, you may continue marking".
Again, no indication of the number or nature of any errors so you are none the wiser.

Still, back to the ever-diminishing piles of scripts. It would appear that, according to the emails currently flying around, there are still some markers who have yet to receive their scripts!
They have my sympathy .......... see you next year?