Mark Check is it worth it? (2 Viewers)

[4025808]

Do a mark check + raw mark data and then post up raw marks in a thread somewhere

 

[Randox]

Got 91 exam mark in Eco... No band 6 because of assessment mark of 87

 

[anomalousdecay]

Do a mark check + raw mark data and then post up raw marks in a thread somewhere

No cash

However, I can give estimates as to my raw marks.

 

[panda15]

So I just got my physics/chem results check/raw marks back.
Apparently a 63 in chem aligned to an 80, and 74 in physics aligned to an 83.
WHAT THE FUCK EVEN
Aligning for phys/chem was horrible this year

 

[RivalryofTroll]

So I just got my physics/chem results check/raw marks back.
Apparently a 63 in chem aligned to an 80, and 74 in physics aligned to an 83.
WHAT THE FUCK EVEN
Aligning for phys/chem was horrible this year

Holy... no wonder why I did so terribad in Physics (lucky it didn't count)

 

[obliviousninja]

Give me my raws back bos.

 

[AtlasX]

What is this process, can someone please explain it to me?

 

[SRK_102]

What is this process, can someone please explain it to me?

Here it goes,

Conducting assessment tasks to determine a student’s raw school assessment marks

For each course schools conduct an assessment program during Year 12 that follows Board’s requirements. This usually involves three to five assessment tasks. Each task contributes a certain amount to the total assessment mark. The tasks done towards the end of Year 12 are usually worth more than those done earlier in the course.

At the start of year 12 schools provide students with information about each task and the total assessment program. This includes the nature and requirements of each task, how much each task is worth when it will be sat and/or due and how it will be marked. After each task schools give students detailed feedback on how they performed and how they can improve.

At the end of the assessment program for a course schools combine the marks awarded for each task according to the stipulated weightings. The school then submits a single mark for each student in each course to the Board of Studies. The Board stores these marks until after the examinations are finalised.

Students are not told their submitted school assessment mark. This is because these marks need to be moderated so that the assessments from different schools are given a ‘state-wide currency’. This is sometimes referred to as ‘putting the assessments from every school on the same scale’. However, students are given a report that shows their position in their school group for each course they have studied based on their assessment mark. If a student feels that their position in any course does not agree with where they thought they would be placed they can ask the school to review their assessment. There are limits on the grounds for such reviews and for any subsequent appeal to the Board. For example, the marks awarded for any particular task are not part of this review process. Such matters must be raised at the time the tasks are handed back to the students.

Moderating students’ school assessment marks

As every student in the state studying a course sits for the same examination the examination marks have a state-wide currency. On the other hand, the school assessment marks only have a school-wide currency as each school is responsible for setting and marking the assessment tasks for their school alone. For this reason the assessment marks awarded by the schools must undergo a ‘moderation’ process so that they can be validly compared. Sometimes this is referred to as ‘putting the assessments from each school onto a common scale’.

The moderation of assessment marks is a statistical procedure that adjusts the assessment marks a school has awarded to its students for a course by using the examination marks awarded to those students. For each course the procedure adjusts the mean of the school assessments to be equal to the mean of the examination marks obtained by the group. It also sets the top school assessment mark to be equal to the top examination mark, and sets the bottom assessment mark to be equal to (or close to) the bottom examination mark. All other assessment marks are adjusted accordingly. In performing this adjustment the general shape of the distribution of assessment marks submitted by a school is maintained. As a result all assessment marks are converted into the same ‘currency’ as the examination marks. These marks are not released as they still need to be put through a further adjustment. Read more about how moderation works.

Aligning a student’s raw examination mark to the standards-based reporting scale

Since 2001 the achievements of students in an HSC course have been reported each year in relation to the same set of standards. This means that marks reported to students for a course in different years can be compared. It also means that it is possible to make judgements about the relative performances of cohorts of students over time.

As students sit for a different examination paper with different marking guidelines each year, a procedure is used to enable the raw examination marks awarded each year to be given meaning by aligning them to the standards and the reporting scale used by the Board of Studies.

Teams of specially trained teachers (referred to as ‘judges’) follow a rigorous, multi-stage procedure to identify what raw examination mark each year they believe corresponds to the borderline between each of the standards. The standards are referred to as ‘performance bands’.

A critical part of the procedure is to have judges use the ‘standards packages’ published on the Board of Studies website to develop a clear understanding of the knowledge, skills and understanding typically possessed by students who are at the borderlines between the performance bands for a course. The procedure then involves the judges first working independently, then working collaboratively, to determine the marks they think students at each borderline would obtain for each question on that year’s examination. During the procedure the judges look at special statistical reports and samples of student responses to check and refine their initial decisions. At the end of the procedure each judge’s borderline cut-off marks for each question are added up to produce the judge’s recommended borderline cut-off mark. The average of the cut-off marks from all members of the team becomes the team’s recommended borderline cut-off mark.

Very specific information is provided to the judges to assist them in applying the procedure. Other information that would prejudice the procedure is withheld. This withheld information includes knowledge of the borderline cut-off marks from previous years and certain statistical data that would indicate the raw distribution of marks achieved by students in examination questions.

Once the judges have submitted their recommended cut-off marks the HSC Consultative Committee undertakes a thorough review of the work of each team and their application of the procedure. The committee then determines whether the procedure has been applied correctly and considers any other factors that may have affected the marking procedures. Finally, the committee then determines the final borderline cut-off marks that will be used.

The following simple mathematical technique is then used to align the raw examination marks to the reporting scale.

The mark that is the borderline between Band 5 and Band 6 is adjusted to 90,
the mark that is the borderline between Band 4 and Band 5 is adjusted to 80,
the mark that is the borderline between Band 3 and Band 4 is adjusted to 70,
the mark that is the borderline between Band 2 and Band 3 is adjusted to 60,
the mark that is the borderline between Band 1 and Band 2 is adjusted to 50.
A mark of 100 stays at 100 and a mark of 0 stays at 0.

This means that 90 is the lowest mark to receive a Band 6. Students who receive a mark on or above the borderline between Band 5 and Band 6 will receive an examination mark somewhere between 90 and 100, using a technique referred to as interpolation. Similarly, students who obtain raw marks between the Band 2/Band 3 and the Band 3/Band 4 borderlines receive examination marks between 60 and 69.

By looking at the descriptions of the standard of achievement associated with each band (summarised on the reporting scale), students, teachers and the public can see the level of knowledge, skills and understanding typically achieved by students who have obtained each band. More detail on the things students who have obtained each band know and can do may be seen by looking at the student work samples (examination questions and responses) in the standards packages published on the Board of Studies website.

A student who has received one of the higher marks in the band has a relatively stronger grasp of the knowledge and skills required to be in that band. A student with a mark towards the bottom of the band typically has the knowledge and skills required of that band, but to a lesser degree.

Aligning a student’s moderated assessment mark to the standards-based reporting scale

After the raw examination marks are aligned to the reporting scale in the manner described above, exactly the same adjustments are made to the moderated assessment marks. That is, the borderlines between the bands determined through the standards-setting procedure become the borderlines for the moderated assessment marks. It is appropriate to apply the borderlines from the examination to the moderated school assessment marks because both sets of marks are in the same currency.

In this way the assessment marks reported to students for each course are related to the same set of standards established for the examination marks in that course.

Calculating a student’s HSC Mark

The HSC mark a student receives for each course, which is reported alongside the examination mark and the assessment mark, is simply the average of the examination mark and the assessment mark. Decimal places are not reported; half-marks are rounded up to the nearest whole number.

The HSC mark determines the performance band that a student is awarded for each course.

 

[RealiseNothing]

So I just got my physics/chem results check/raw marks back.
Apparently a 63 in chem aligned to an 80, and 74 in physics aligned to an 83.
WHAT THE FUCK EVEN
Aligning for phys/chem was horrible this year

Strong aligning, the tests didn't seem that hard.