[etni] nba
- From: "Sharon Tzur" <sharontzu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "etni" <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2003 21:58:46 +0200
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Dear Etniers:
At this point, I think it is a bit too late to be debating NBA yes or no,
tzvira yes or no. I also think that we have been given a lot of information
about the NBA - most of the questions about NBA have been answered - the
problems that remain have to do mainly with students who want to complete
one level and then go on to the next... it's possible that we'll get answers
to some of our questions in the coming months, and other things may only
become clearer as we implement the program. I also think that the English
Inspectorate has shown response to our feedback. Remember that the number of
projects was cut down from 3 to 2 (If I'm not mistaken), and the weight was
cut in half from what was originally planned. This was in response to
teacher feedback.
Right now, I think we should concentrate on two things:
One - We should continue to work to get compensation for the work we are
doing. I think we have to wait and see what specific instructions we'll get
from our unions. I really don't see how we will be able to totally "not
cooperate" (which I only heard about because I read Etni - we were not sent
a letter from the union with specific instructions)- once the Ministry
decides that a certain sheilon will not be offered to a certain class (=the
old bagrut to the class of 05) - then they have to take the new one... the
old one simply won't register for them. I imagine that the union will decide
on some specific half-way measures. We'll have to wait and see. Let's hope
that the unions come to an agreement with the Ministry of Education.
Two- We should try to think of ways to make the implementation as easy as
possible for ourselves and our students. Here, I have a few suggestions:
For one thing. I think we should be provided with a program to help us with
the grading. I've sent Judy an excel program I made up to help calculate the
grades for each module. It is similar to what was posted on Etni (by Bari?)
but it goes further, because it deals with each part of each exam...unseens,
listening, writing, etc, as well as with lit and projects. I don't want to
spread it around until I can have someone check it out. (I'd hate to be the
cause of 10,000 kids getting the wrong grade because of a mistake in one of
my formulas). I think that if teachers are given such a tool, it will solve
a lot of problems.
Secondly - teachers CAN move into tzvira gradually. Tzvira opens up a lot
of possibilities, but no one says we HAVE to make ALL the options available
to the Class of 05. Teachers who are insecure about the new system can
simply have their students take all 3 modules in 12th grade, - in which
case the NBA is not so very different from what we've been doing until now.
It would be a good idea to have the kids take one of the modules in the
winter of 12th grade - in order to make the exam in the summer shorter - but
that doesn't really require any great change in the way we're teaching.
If other teachers feel comfortable having a class do modules before 12th
grade this year - at the end of 11th grade (or even in 10th grade), that's
okay too, (they should demand g'mul from their schools) but since we are
just taking our first steps with modularity, teachers can slowly wade in -
they don't have to jump in. As for going from level to level, students who
completed one level will still have an easier time going on to the next
level after they graduate - so they will still be better off than they were
in the past. Over the next few years, as teachers become more familiar with
the new system, we can begin to open up the more creative combinations
available - both for classes, and hopefully, for individual students - who
might be able to finish one level and then join a class that is studying for
a higher level.
Someone asked about doing two oral exams in one Moed - Judy has made clear
that students can do all the test of one level in one day. That means that
you should NOT plan to have students do modules from different levels at
one sitting. At any rate, it makes sense for a student to finish a level (3,
or 4) at a given moed before going on to the next level (which he can begin
to do at the following moed). If you follow this advice - you won't have to
have a student do 2 oral exams at one moed, which I would not do even should
it turn out to be a possibility offered.
A lot of us are talking about having students do lower levels as
"insurance". I think that for now we should continue to encourage students
to be tested at the level that they are pretty certain of passing. The 4
pointers of '05 will be able to get a 5 point bagrut by just taking F as
graduates (without all the lit..). The only group I think the insurance
policy is really important for is your weakest 4 pointers - but for the
class of '05, you can have them take the 4 point exam (assuming you think
they have at least a chance of passing), and if they fail, they can do A and
B the winter after they graduate in order to complete their minimal Bagrut
certificate - if they were borderline 4 point students, they should be able
to pass the 3 point exam with no further preparation. In the future, we
should try to take such students to A and B in 11th grade so that they will
have their "insurance", but we don't have to do it with the first class of
the NBA. As for how to assess... I don't think the levels of the NBA are
that different than in the past. Perhaps the three point is slightly harder
and the four point slightly easier, but I think the rule of thumb is that a
student who could pass the 5 point old Bagrut should be able to pass the 5
point new Bagrut. Ditto for 4. (And as for 3 - the kids have nothing to lose
by trying).
Sample exams - Hopefully, practice books will be out soon. In the meantime,
old exams can still be used and adapted. Change fill-ins to more open ended
questions (or leave them as fill-ins but grade them differently - just
deduct 1/4 of the available points for grammar instead of deducting all the
points or half the points as was done for 5 and 4 pointers respectively in
the past.) The longer 4 point unseens from recent years can be used for the
unseen of "E". For B, you do need to come up with a more open ended writing
task - but that isn't really very difficult. I think the most difficult
adjustment is the unseens for C and D - but I know of at least one publisher
who has sent out flyers about practice books being available in January,
which will still be in plenty of time for the summer bagrut.
Projects - there are guidelines for projects but there is room for
flexibility. The projects don't have to be terribly ambitious the first time
around. Teachers can plan their projects in accordance with the resources
they have available. I've read quite a few ideas on ETNI about how to do
projects without internet. Remember, it isn't the research which is the main
thing. The main thing is for the students to read 3-4 sources on a topic and
then be able to write up what they learned from reading those sources. (My
advice for people with no internet is to choose a unit from a textbook at
the appropriate level which is topic based and use a unit or two as the
project topics. Bring in a few more articles on the topic/s... and allow the
students to add another article or even a non-text source, such as a movie.)
Your literature book can also be a source of an additional text.
As to the problem of students finishing English early and wandering around -
English is a high prestige subject and the student's grades and levels are
important for college entry. (today, English, together with other subjects,
can even replace the psychometric exam). I think that most of our students
(and their parents) will not want to stop learning English (or let their
kids stop learning English) in 10th or 11th grades. Improving their English
grade in high school will be far, far cheaper than taking externi courses,
or psychometric courses. Besides, many of our 3 pointers may not pass before
12 grade, and even if they do, many of them will probably want to go on to
begin the 4 point level. Many 4 pointers will want to pull up their grades
or even go for 5 points. And I know that I've told my 11th grade 5 pointers
that there is no point taking E in 11th grade since they'll probably get a
higher score if they wait until 12th grade. The exception - those with near
native competence who have always finished the Bagrut in 11th grade anyway.
Yours,
Sharon Tzur
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