[etni] Fw: yesterday's exams
- From: "Ask" <ask@xxxxxxxx>
- To: "Etni" <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2007 20:34:57 +0200
----- Original Message -----
From: "Esther Revivo" <estherrv@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: yesterday's exams
Hi folks! Don't we all deserve a few days off after going thru this rough
period wrought with stress, late nights, non-stop checking of "just one
more
matkonet Ha'morah , PLEASE?" As we and the math teachers know, we are
unsung
heroes for putting up with this pressure 3 times a year as opposed to
teachers of other subjects! We all deserve a "pat on the back," for a job
well-done!
About the exams, Ariella Kopels wrote:
"Although the exams were, for the most part, fair - (the glaring exception
is the C exam, which I found to be totally unreasonable in relation to the
targeted student population) the point that stands out most for me as a
Bagrut teacher is the the fact that these exams continue to vary in their
level of difficulty / predictability from year to year. Why are the exams
so
unpredictable? Why should there be such a difference in difficulty from
exam
to exam in the same module or from module to module when considering the
students tested? "
' Couldn't have said it better myself!! Ariella, before we get an answer to
that query, there will probably (hopefully) be peace with Syria :)
Yesterday's E was the easiest exam in that module ever given in my
opinion,
and as a result, my magen grades are going to wreck my pupils' final test
score. (Yeah, yeah, the NBA booklet writes that if you calculate by doing
X,Y, Z everything will work out fine. Well, doctors say " this won't hurt
a
bit" before giving shots to kids, too! :)
For most of my 4 pointers this isn't a major problem because they will get
their bagrut in any event having good grades in previous modules and the
oral exam. But what about all those "middling" kids somewhere between 4 and
5 pointers who through " blood, sweat and tears" might, just might be able
to succeed as a 5 pointers? THEIR low magen grade will lower their final
grade in such a way that instead of having a fantastic springboard from
which to advance further,they are totally frustrated! Two of my girls cried
hysterically last night to my principal begging him to change their magen
grades after the exam (which of course he refused to do!) The girls don't
blame me since they know I gave them more than they deserved according to
the matkonot -- previous bagrut exams; outside reading ; etc. But, in the
end it is so %$@^%@^@$# frustrating!!! Why can't the Ministry pull in 50
volunteers (who graduated the previous year) who can do the upcoming/
proposed exams as a pilot to see how they the tests compare with the
previous exams, from a testee's viewpoint? There are many young people in
Sherut Leumi; etc. that are studying for their
פסיכומטרי exam and would probably be happy to oblige.
I hope that some of the important honchos who run the English Dept. give
serious thought to solving this problem (unpredictability of test
difficulty) both in the same module, and between different modules. ( I
seem
to recall that in Moed A last summer, D was harder than E, and F !)
Esther Revivo, Ulpanat Tzvia Sedot Negev
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