Examiners and those responsible for internal assessment follow a similar process, and in many cases use the same criteria and grading scales. Consistency of application and of approach come from training and from moderation; these sessions review the appropriate evaluation criteria and descriptors, samples of student writing, marks or grades assigned to the pieces and reasons for those marks. Participants "trial mark" student writing, which is then compared to the actual marks awarded.
Talking about the not-so-smart among us is challenging. How to be neutral and descriptive without being pejorative? How to say a potentially bad or thing in a nice way? How to tell a parent that his/her pride and joy is not ... um ... not-so-smart? Join us as we review common expressions which can be used, and those which should be avoided, for those who are not intellectually-blessed.
What is "writing"? Why teach writing and when and how? How to evaluate writing? If you have questions, we can help. Keep reading.
What is "speaking"? Why teach speaking and when and how? How to evaluate speaking? If you have questions, we can help. Keep reading.
Groupwork is one of the most effective teaching and learning tools, and is of course an integral part of life beyond school in all contexts. Accordingly, evaluating a student's groupwork performance should be a part of his/her oral performance profile.
Pairwork is likely the most effective teaching and learning tools, and is of course an integral part of life beyond school in all contexts. Accordingly, evaluating a student's Pairwork performance should be a part of his/her oral performance profile.
Several universities in Chile have international and US accreditation through the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), however many of the academics and administrators involved with both accreditation and re-accreditation are unfamiliar with the English of accreditation and with the MSCHE process. This Advanced English series reviews MSCHE publications, using them as prompts for advanced language development.*
Schools can be run, led, administered and governed and the differences are not always clear. In small schools, one person may perform all these functions, while in large schools and school corporations, several people may be responsible for all or even for each. While these functions are interesting to review, the English involved is both general and specialised. These Advanced English sessions develop and extend the English of, for and about school administration.
An Open Study is a student-selected and student-directed piece of writing where s/he applies the Response and Analysis tools and techniques acquired and developed in class to literary and non-literary texts. Students select the texts and areas for discussion, while also producing a piece truly representative of the student's competencies and suitable for summative evaluation.
Over the course of a year or a programme or a cycle, students amass a significant quantity of written work, some of which shows progress and development, some achievement. These are of course not the same, and a focus on the latter harms the former. Portfolio assessment means the student selects pieces from his/her annual, programme or cycle corpus against defined criteria and the selection as a whole is then assessed, being both representative as will as summative.
