[etni] comments on summer 06

From: Sharon Tzur <sharontzu5@xxxxxxx>
Subject: comments on summer 06

A few of my comments on the recent Bagrut

I disagree with all those who wrote that E was too hard 
or unfair. I thought it was challenging (no more than last 
winter in my opinion - last summer was too easy to my mind). 
I thought the questions were fair. It's not true that our 
work all year was wasted - all year we work on building 
vocabulary skills, reading skills, dictionary skills, etc. 
and that is what was tested. The KIDS may think that what 
they do all year is wasted, but we know better.

I think the level is similar to the work we've been doing 
this year, including More Module E (ECB) and Success in D 
and E (ECB).

My 5 pointers came out feeling the test was fair. The 4 
pointers - well, half of them simply can't cope with the 
level of the E unseen - after all, your weak 4 pointers, 
kids who end up with 65 or 70 in the 4 point exam, 
probably do okay on C and D but can't make a passing grade 
in E. 

Same is true in 3 point Math - the weak 3 point students do 
well in the first two modules and get scores of 14 or 18 
(out of 100) or even less on the last module!! 
A psychological problem of the module testing which I think 
the creators hadn't thought of.

The word "encompass" does not appear in the newest version 
of the Oxford Eng Eng Hebrew - and this is a good opportunity 
to say that the new version is inferior to the old and a lot 
of words and phrases are missing from it. The test is supposed 
to be checked with the approved dictionaries, so this word 
should have been changed.

It is true that the essay topic in D and G was not really an 
opinion essay.

We were unable to reach Matech Bechinot on the day of the exam. 
This is the first time as far as I can remember that this 
happened and it is a big problem! Did anyone else have this experience?

Note on the accuracy and reliability of the exam - Yes, there 
is a problem, but given that each module only has one unseen 
with a relatively small number of questions, we can't expect 
the same accuracy and reliability that we had with the old exam. 
The question is, is today's 4 point exam (with its 3 modules) 
or 5 point exam (with its 3 modules) more or less reliable than 
the old 4 or 5 point exam. Obviously, the reliability of each 
independent module will be lower than that of the old overall exam.

I strongly disagree with teachers who think that putting some 
sort of set material back in the exam will increase motivation. 
Students take lessons in Literature, History, etc. far less 
seriously than English. Many do nothing all  year, wait for the 
Mikud, and then just learn the material on their own. I also am 
against a Literature unseen. Even in Hebrew this is not a requirement 
(except for Literature majors). I don't think it is fair to 
demand that students do a Literature unseen in their second 
language - and for those of you concerned about reliability 
and accuracy in testing - those would be practically 
impossible to achieve!



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