[etni] [FWD: Bagrut exams]

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 -------- Original Message --------
 Subject: Bagrut exams
 From: "Andrew Wilson" <andrew_israel@xxxxxxxxxxx>
 
 Dear Etniers, Having promised myself I wouldn't answer any of the responses to 
my original message regarding
the testing of intelligence in the new Bagrut, I'm afraid I can't help 
myself... so here goes.   

1. First of all, I am truly sorry if my comments were perceived as complaints. 
Far from it. My aim was only for
us to ask ourselves if we hadn't overstepped the mark a little in our 
enthusiasm. I am sure we are headed in
the right direction.   

2. Regarding what we should expect a student to be able to extract from an 
English text is obviously open to
discussion. I have to admit that my main problem is with module E, which apart 
from being the first paper for 5
points is also the final paper for our 4 pointers. These are the students whose 
reading skills (and, I still
maintain, intelligence) are really being put to the test in Module E. What 
would be so very wrong in having a
more student-friendly, down-to earth test here? That way, the four-pointers 
might not lose too much
self-confidence, and our five-pointers can start off with a good feeling. In 
the case of the latter, many will
now be doing this module at the end of 11th grade - a year earlier than their 
predecessors - and we could
therefore avoid the angst which many of our current 11th grade 5 pointers now 
feel with regard to next year's
Baguyot.    

3. I am also worried about the explanation I may have to give to students who 
have studied at 4 point level but
cannot pass the new test (or at least pass it with a good grade) because of the 
'reading athletics' involved.
What do you say to a student who says "I understood the text but I didn't 
understand the questions/couldn't
find the answers". If the questions are straight-forward, then I can give him a 
very logical explanation. But
with questions that are so ambiguous or sophisticated? Many will say that this 
is our job as English teachers,
yet can anyone give hard and fast rules as to how to answer the questions in 
the Bagrut the students have just
done, and say with their hands on their hearts that these techniques will be 
good for all future Bagruyot?    

Once again, I'd like to stress that I am not complaining, nor (like everyone 
else on the list, I'm sure) am I
afraid of hard work and taking the bull by the horns. In my opinion, we have to 
think of our students who have
(hopefully) worked hard all these years and who deserve to have their English 
assessed in the fairest way
possible.  

 Andrew Wilson

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