Differences Between SBA and External Exams

8/13/2019 Differences Between SBA and External Exams

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Differences between SBA and external exams

School-based assessment (SBA) is assessment which is embedded in the teaching and learning process. Ithas a number of important characteristics which distinguish it from other forms of assessment:

It involves the teacher from the beginning to the end: from planning the assessment programme, toidentif ing and!or developing appropriate assessment tas"s right through to ma"ing the assessment

#udgments.

It allows for the collection of a number of samples of student performance over a period of time.

It can be adapted and modified b the teacher to match the teaching and learning goals of theparticular class and students being assessed.

It is carried out in ordinar classrooms, not a special e$amination hall.

It is conducted b the students% own teacher, not a stranger.

It involves students more activel in the assessment process, especiall if self and!or peerassessment is used in con#unction with teacher assessment.

It allows the teacher to give immediate and constructive feedbac" to students.

It stimulates continuous evaluation and ad#ustment of the teaching and learning programme.

It complements other forms of assessment, including e$ternal e$aminations.

To view Dr Peter Hill, Secretary General of the HKEAA, tal in!abo"t school#based assessment bein! introd"ced into Hon! Kon!schools$

Some people are concerned that school-based assessment is not as reliable or as fair as traditional end-of-course e$aminations which are set and mar"ed b e$ternal assessors, but in fact SBA has a number ofadvantages over e$ternal e$aminations. &able ' below summarises some of the advantages of SBAcompared with e$ternal e$aminations .

Table %& Advanta!es of SBA com'ared with external examinations

Point (haracteristics of SBA (haracteristics of Exams

Scope $tends the range and diversit ofassessment collection opportunities, tas"t pes and assessors

uch narrower range of assessmentopportunities: less diverse assessment*one e$am per ear

Authenticit Assessment done b students% ownteacher* less possibilit of cheating asteacher "nows student capabilities*

+emoves assessment entirel fromteaching and learning* stressful conditionsma lead to students not demonstrating
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assessments more li"el to be realistic real capacities

alidit Improves validit through assessingfactors that cannot be included in publice$am settings

imits validit b limiting scope ofassessment, e.g. difficult to assessinteraction s"ills in e$am environment

+eliabilit Improves reliabilit b having more thanone assessment b a teacher who isfamiliar with the student* allows formultiple opportunities for assessorreflection!standardisation

ven with double mar"ing, e$aminers% #udgments can be affected b variousfactors (tas" difficult , topic, interestlevel, tiredness, etc)* little opportunit forassessor reflection ! review

airness airness is achieved b followingcommonl -agreed processes, outcomesand standards* teacher assumptionsabout students and their oral languagelevels is made e$plicit throughcollaborative sharing and discussion withother teachers

airness can onl be achieved b treatingever one the same, i.e. setting the sametas" at the same time for all students.

eedbac" Students can receive constructive

feedbac" immediatel after theassessment has finished, henceimproving learning

&he onl feedbac" is usuall a grade at

the end of the course* no opportunities forinteraction with assessor* no chance toas" how to improve

/ositive washbac"( beneficial influenceon teaching andlearning )

0ngoing assessment encouragesstudents to wor" consistentl * providesimportant data for evaluation of teachingand assessment practices in general

$amination is purel summative, anddoes not serve an teaching-relatedpurpose* effects on teaching and learningma even be negative* ma encourageteaching to the test and a focus on e$amtechni1ue, rather than outcomes.

&eacher and studentempowerment

&eachers and students become part ofthe assessment process* collaborationand sharing of e$pertise ta"e placewithin and across schools

&eachers pla little to no role inassessment of their students and have noopportunit to share their e$pertise or"nowledge of their students* studentstreated as numbers

/rofessionaldevelopment

Builds teacher assessment s"ills, whichcan be transferred to other areas of thecurriculum

&eachers have no opportunit to buildtheir assessment s"ills* get little or nofeedbac" on how to improve as teachers

School-based Assessment

)nternational 'ractice in school#based assessment

&he international trend in assessment in schools is towards school-based assessment, with man places li"e

2ong 3ong introducing a school-based assessment component into the formal e$amination s stem, or evendropping e$ternal e$aminations all together. Some e$amples of current international practice include:

A"stralia

School-based assessment has been established practice in Australia for over twent ears, with states li"eictoria including up to 456 or more school-based assessment in its final e$aminationprogramme, http:!!www.vcaa.vic.edu.au!vce!studies!english! nglishAS .doc . In 7ueensland where SBA wasintroduced in the '895s (Sadler '8 9) SBA is used for '556 of mar"s in secondar
http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vce/studies/english/EnglishASM.dochttp://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vce/studies/english/EnglishASM.dochttp://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vce/studies/english/EnglishASM.doc


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schools, http:!!www.1sa.1ld.edu.au! rs'';'

*ew +ealand

>ew ?ealand also has a long histor of school-based assessment in the senior secondarschool, http:[email protected]@!ncea!acrp!secondar !4!4.html , and has developed a wide variet ofteacher support material and associated researchstudies, http:[email protected]@!n@cer !research!research.htm

En!land

In ngland, school-based assessment has also been developing for a long time. &he Assessment +eformroup (see Appendi$ I: Cseful reading and web resources onassessment), http:!!arg.educ.cam.ac.u"!=I .pdf led b /aul Blac" and D lan Eiliam of 3ing%s =ollegeondon, has been a powerful influence for assessment for learning, with their wor" being widel promotedb the 2ong 3ong ducation and anpower Bureau.

Scotland

In Scotland similar wor" is being conducted b the Scottish Assessment is for Learning (AIf )group, http:!!www.ltscotland.org.u"!assess!inde$.asp . &heir pro#ect %Assessment is for earning% is beingsupported b the inistr of ducation in Scotland and again has involved man classrooms.

(anada

School-based assessment has been the standard mode of assessment in =anadian schools for man earswith teachers ta"ing responsibilit for all assessment processes and #udgments at the school-level, althoughthere is concern about use of e$ternall -developed tests in this process, http:!!www.cdnprincipals.org!=A/6


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In the SBA component, the teaching!learning and assessment aspects are ver closel lin"ed. As can beseen from igure < below, in the school-based assessment component assessment is continuous, integratednaturall into ever stage of the teaching-learning c cle, not #ust at the end.

Assessment includes the formal planned moments when students underta"e an assessment task . 2owever, italso includes the far more informal, even spontaneous moments when ou are monitoring studentgroupwor" and notice one student spea"ing more confidentl , or while ou are on the &+ and ou thin" ofa techni1ue to help students improve their spea"ing s"ills. School-based assessment can also easilincorporate self and peer assessment as well as teacher assessment. &he assessment c cle alsoincludes feedback and reporting.

To view Prof i- Ham'# yons tal in! abo"t the interrelationshi'between assessment, teachin! and learnin! in SBA$

Cnli"e most e$ternal e$ams, school-based assessment tas"s can be used for formative as wellas summative purposes.

Summative assessment refers to those more formal planned assessments at the end of a unit or term! earwhich are used primaril to evaluate student progress and!or grade students.

ormative assessment is usuall more informal and more fre1uent, involving the gathering of informationabout students and their language learning needs while the are still learning.

ormative assessment has two "e functions: informing and forming. In other words, formative assessmentshapes the decisions about what to do ne$t, b helping

the teacher to select what to teach the ne$t lesson, or even in the ne$t moment in the lesson* the students to understand what the have learnt and what the need to learn ne$t.
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achievements.

&he long-term goals of the SBA component are to improve oral language proficienc and promote e$tensivereading. Short-term goals ma include:

anguage enhancement goalseg. improving stress and intonation, e$tending vocabular range, developing more accuratepronunciation, building note-ta"ing s"ills

earning how to learn goalseg. developing self-assessment s"ills, helping students set achievable language learning goals,demonstrating how to record progress, encouraging independent reading choices

Social!affective goalseg. demonstrating cooperative learning, developing student confidence and self-esteem

=ognitive!general "nowledge goalseg. e$tending "nowledge of the world, deepening understanding of particular topics, developingstudent insights in human emotions

oo" bac" at the assessment criteria. >ote how some of these short-term goals (but not all) are reflected inthe descriptors. G&eaching to the testG would lead to the loss of man valuable opportunities to use the SBAcomponent to develop other important aspects of the nglish language and broader school curriculum.

)nte!ratin! SBA into the c"rric"l"m

&he SBA component is '46 of the summative assessment for 23= and valuable preparation for studentsfor the e$ternal 23= e$amination, especiall the reading and spea"ing papers. 2owever, it also supportsclassroom teaching and learning. &he SBA process should be lin"ed to and be a logical outcome of thenormal teaching programme, as teaching, learning and assessment should be complementar parts of the

whole educational e$perience (i.e. the SBA component is not a separate one-off activit that can betimetabled or prepared for as if it were a discrete element of the s llabus).

To view Dr (hris Davison tal in! abo"t inte!ratin! SBA into thec"rric"l"m$

Ehen the SBA is full integrated into the nglish curriculum, teaching c cles or units of wor" ma includeSBA-t pe tas"s and moc" assessments regularl . &he SBA tas" can also be integrated into reading or writinglessons. &his enables teachers to see how students use their oral language s"ills in different conte$ts, andshows teachers what each of their students can do.
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To view a !ro"' of teachers describin! how SBA needs to beincor'orated into the re!"lar En!lish 'ro!ramme$

To view /rs (hristina ee tal in! abo"t how to inte!rate SBA into theteachin! of the fo"r s ills$

0emember&It is important to balance preparing students to be able to do SBA and ma"ing sure students are taught allthe other aspects of the curriculum too.

Plannin! effective teachin! 1 learnin! activities

At the beginning of each ear it is useful to draw up a schedule of proposed teaching, learning andassessment activities H including plans for when the school-based assessments will be held, with whichstudents, and over what period, but also what needs to be taught and how. &hese schedules ma differ fromschool to school, or even from class to class.

Exam'le& Teachin!, learnin! and assessment sched"le, 2orm 3

Before schoolstarts Term % Term 4 Term 5 /ay1 6"ne

School sets upe$tensivereadingprogramme,bu s range ofsuitable te$ts

'. &eacher uses shortclass reader tomodel use oflogboo"s ande$tensive readings"ills


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. &eacher conducts

specific activities onusing!improvingintonation,dictionar and note-ta"ing s"ills

. Students choosefirst te$t

. &eacher listens to

sample ofassessments andgives whole-classfeedbac" on "eareas for

improvement

4. &eacher reviewshow to describe andcompare!contrast inwriting and orall

J. &eacher groupsstudents into threes,all haveread differentte$ts,teacher as"s themfind three mostsignificantsimilarities anddifferences betweentheir te$ts

9. Students audio orvideo tape theirdiscussion

. &eachers assesseseach group over awee", while othergroups are doingrelated reading andwriting tas"s e.g. aninvestigative pro#ecton comparing twocities in Asia

. Students tape each

other, do peerassessments andas"!answer 1uestionsfreel

4. &eachers assesseseach group over awee", while othergroups are doingrelated reading andwriting tas"s e.g. animaginative essa orletter to a friend abouttheir night at theAcadem Awards

J. eedbac" onassessment throughwhole classdiscussion!reviewing ofe$cerpts

To view /r 0ic y am tal in! abo"t the 'rocess of 'lannin! forteachin! and learnin!$

It is important that the teacher consider what needs to be taught to students based on both a needsanalysis , that is, an assessment of students% current language levels and learning needs, and a meansanalysis , that is, an assessment of what resources, including time, and materials, will be needed toimplement the programme.

&eaching what is re1uired to be assessed is obviousl essential. 0ne boo" that will interest most studentscan be used as a class reader to introduce the range of s"ills re1uired for successful e$tensive reading andspea"ing and to model various SBA-li"e activities.
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Exam'le& Teachin!1learnin! activities "sin! a class reader

St ouis, a bo s onl I school, used Animal Farm as a class reader to get students interested in readingand practising various oral activities. Students were first as"ed to read the boo" at home and #ot down theirresponses in a reading log. &he were then given opportunities to spea" in front of the class on a simple andfamiliar topic in order to develop their confidence and provide opportunities for formative assessment .

&o view a document on suggested activities for using films and documentaries b theducation and anpower Bureau.

Selectin! a''ro'riate assessment tas s

&he process of selecting appropriate assessment tas"s should be underta"en collaborativel , ta"ing intoaccount students% bac"grounds, interest and s"ills as well as the school%s available resources.

0ne of the e$citing aspects of school-based assessment is the opportunities it gives to teachers to developtheir own assessment tas"s to suit their own teaching goals and their students% needs. It is li"el that thesame tas" would not wor" e1uall well with students of different abilities. SBA lets teachers modif tas"sand design new ones that will wor" for them and their class - whether the prefer something moretraditional or are "een to e$periment with new ideas and techni1ues.

To view Dr (hris Davison tal in! abo"t how st"dents can "se aran!e of assessment tas s$

rouping arrangements are a particularl important consideration. Initiall it ma be easiest for studentsand teachers to put students into friendship groupings.

To view st"dents tal in! abo"t the val"e of doin! !ro"' activitieswith friends$

2owever, teachers should also e$periment. Diversit can be a resource, not a problem. 2aving students withdifferent levels of oral language s"ills in the same class can create an authentic information gap or need tocommunicate. 2ighl structured assessment tas"s, including #igsaw activities which re1uire the transfer ofinformation, are better for such groupings than more open-ended tas"s which re1uire students to discuss orshare ideas without a clear focus.
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To view teachers tal in! abo"t how st"dents chose theirassessment tas s and how st"dents were !ro"'ed$

&hree of the most popular assessment tas"s amongst 2ong 3ong teachers and students include:

*ew *ei!hbo"rs

'. As" students to thin" of an interesting character from a stor !class reader that ou have taughtrecentl .

ame and gender of the neighbourb) Ehat does he!she loo" li"eKc) 2ow does he!she dress at homeKd) Ehat is his!her personalit Ke) 2ow does he!she treat his!her famil or people around him!herKf) Ehat is!are the ma#or event(s) in the stor that our character

ta"es part inKg) Do ou li"e this new neighbourK Eh ! Eh notKh) 2ow did ou spend our da with this new neighbourK Ehat did ou doKi) Ehat did ou learn from this new neighbourK

4.

J. or homewor", as" each student to write a description of an imaginar da he!she spent with Gthenew neighbourG.

9. +emind them to draw references from the boo". &he can%t turn their new neighbour into awonderful person, if the descriptions from the boo" prove otherwise.

. In the ne$t lesson, as" students to share what the wrote in small groups.

8. As" students to nominate the most interesting presentation among their group members.

'5. Invite a student from each group to share their presentation with the whole class.

(hoosin! a !ift for a character

'. ive a 1uic" summar of the stor and highlight the character ou have in mind.


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e$plain their choices with reference to the information the #ust read or viewed. ncourage studentsto as" for clarification, show agreement and disagreement during their discussion. &hen select thebest gift for the character as a group.

. Invite students from each group to describe their gift and e$plain their choice. 0n the da of theperformance, students can conduct peer evaluations using the guidelines and evaluation formprovided with the tas" description.

4. 0n the da of the performance, students can conduct peer evaluations using the guidelines andevaluation form provided with the tas" description.

*Please refer to the appendix of the recommended texts "Notes on copyright and end-user agreement"

A boo 1film 'romotion

'. &ell students that the have to prepare a boo"!film promotion for a boo"!film the haveread!viewed recentl . &he length of the promotion (at least < - minutes) will depend on theproficienc levels of the students.


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Students should be encouraged to "eep copies of the records of their own assessments and regularl reviewtheir progress to monitor and evaluate their own strengths and to identif areas for improvement. Studentscan "eep their assessments on their own audiocassette or / pla er, or on a =D-+0 , or even a D D.&he can also include an practice SBA wor" (including an practice or %moc"% SBA tas"s the do outsideclass, for e$ample with a group of friends). &hese personal spea"ing samples can be used for students tolisten to!watch b themselves and underta"e some self-evaluation. &he can also be used with classmates,b ta"ing turns to show!pla their own oral language samples and inviting classmates to give comments ontheir performance in the "e domains of pronunciation, deliver , communication strategies, vocabular ,language correctness and variet , ideas and organisation.

or students, this is important because it is necessar to be familiar with what the are striving toaccomplish in order to earn the highest score the can. A good wa to achieve this familiarit is throughpeer assessment of the moc" SBA activities, where students are given the opportunit to assess fellowstudents% performances on SBA-st le tas"s using the SBA criteria.

To view /r 0ic y am tal in! abo"t the val"e of 'eer eval"ation$

&o view the evaluation form given to the students at eung She" =hee =ollege for peer evaluation.

Ens"rin! valid, reliable and fair assessment

School-based assessment is inherentl more valid and reliable than e$ternal assessment (see Section '.')because it aims to assess authentic oral language use in low-stress conditions with multiple assessmenttas"s.

&he SBA component is not and cannot be treated li"e an e$ternal e$am in which te$ts and tas"s are totallstandardised and all conte$tual variables controlled* to attempt to do so would be to negate the verrationale for SBA. &o be effective, schools and teachers must be granted a certain degree of trust andautonom in the design, implementation and specific timing of the assessment tas"s.

To view /rs (hristina ee tal in! abo"t how the assessment 'rocessdevelo's tr"stworthiness$

2owever there are several "e things the teachers (and schools) can do to enhance their trust!orthiness ,including:

nsure students understand how and when the will be assessed

nsure the assessment criteria and process are made e$plicit and transparent to students (andparents)

nsure students have the opportunit to demonstrate their best
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nsure the scoring is balanced and fair

nsure the standardisation process is collaborative and interactive

nsure that sufficient records are "ept for accountabilit purposesnsuring valid, reliable and fair assessment

Ens"re st"dents "nderstand how and when they will be assessed

&wo "inds of preparation are necessar for the SBA:

/reparation for the task type and text typei.e. the teaching and learning activities that help to improve the students% reading and spea"ings"ills, specificall independent reading and viewing, active participation in group discussion, andeffective s"ills for ma"ing a presentation to an audience.

&he tas" t pes used in the SBA are not li"e the things students are as"ed to do on /aper , so the ma benew to students, and need to be practised* the te$t t pes - complete boo"s, even if simplified, and completefiction and non-fiction films in nglishMare probabl not ones most 2ong 3ong students have used before,and the need to be taught how to read longer te$ts and how to watch films criticall .

To view a teacher at Kin!7s (olle!e describe how to decide whetherst"dents sho"ld be enco"ra!ed to read1view the boo or the f ilm versionof Gladiator $

Students should be given the opportunit to become comfortable with the demands of an individualpresentation or an oral interaction. &eachers will find that this comfort level is necessar for students toproduce high 1ualit , authentic language that is not forced or memorised - as is often the case whenstudents are not familiar with this t pe of activit . In order to establish this level of comfort for the actualSBA, all practice should mirror the assessment conditions (see andator Assessment =onditions) as closelas possible.

&he goal of these %moc" SBAs% should be to establish genuine interaction between the participants. &heparticipants should be responding to and e$panding upon the ideas of others, not simpl waiting for theirturn to ma"e their ne$t point. &eachers should ma"e this clear through the advice the give students duringpreparation, as well as through the feedbac" the give afterwards. Also, the e$perience students gain fromdoing similarl structured activities based on different material is invaluable.

/reparation for the e$act assessment tas" for the purpose of reporting an SBA mar".

Students must "now before the begin an actual SBA tas" e$actl what it will be. or e$ample, ma be agroup of students have read a particular boo", but have not et been told e$actl which tas" the will haveto do. &elling them the e$act tas" can be dela ed until a few da s or even one da before the SBA ta"esplace, depending on the comple$it of the specific preparation the tas" will involve. Dela ing the information

about the e$act assessment tas" prevents over-rehearsal and memorisation of speeches!scripts, both ofwhich lead to lower SBA scores.
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To view /r 0ic y am tal in! abo"t his class assessment sched"le$

To view the teachers7 comments re!ardin! 're'arin! for theassessment tas s$

Nou can loo" at the =ase Studies in Section 4. See how three different schools helped their studentsunderstand e$actl what is involved in, for e$ample, thin"ing about what life would be li"e if a characterfrom the boo" moved ne$t door to them. &he teachers prepared students for the tas" t pe* this preparationcan be applied to a wide range of boo"s and films which contain memorable characters or real people. &hepreparation also re1uires teachers to help students use their imagination and e$press their creativit innglish, to add reasons for their suggestions, to listen to each other and agree!disagree or compromise, andman other valuable spea"ing s"ills.


Ens"re the assessment criteria and 'rocess are made ex'licit and trans'arent to st"dents 8and 'arents9

&eachers should ensure students have read and understood the Assessment =riteria and have e$tensivee$perience using them for self and peer assessment in informal situations before conducting a plannedassessment activit . &eachers should also have used these criteria for informal assessment and teachingpurposes before the conduct an formal assessments so that the are ver familiar with the criteria and theassessment process.

To view Dr Penny /cKay, :"eensland ;niversity of Technolo!y,A"stralia, tal in! abo"t the '"r'oses of assessment criteria$

A good wa to achieve familiarit with the assessment criteria is through the moc" SBA activities, wherestudents are given the opportunit to assess fellow students% performances on SBA-st le tas"s using theSBA criteria. Students could also be as"ed to monitor their own oral nglish development and begin toassess it for themselves.

Schools should also ma"e sure parents understand that the assessment criteria are a valuable source offeedbac", not simpl a score.


Ens"re st"dents have the o''ort"nity to demonstrate their best

or students, it is necessar to be familiar with what the are striving to accomplish in order to earn the
http://mms//wmedia.hkedcity.net/archive/05/SBA_platform/hku/Mr_Lam_1_preparation.wmvhttp://mms//wmedia.hkedcity.net/archive/05/SBA_platform/hku/Mr_Lam_1_preparation.wmvhttp://mms//wmedia.hkedcity.net/archive/05/SBA_platform/hku/YLL_Feedback.wmvhttp://mms//wmedia.hkedcity.net/archive/05/SBA_platform/hku/YLL_Feedback.wmvhttp://mms//wmedia.hkedcity.net/archive/05/SBA_platform/hku/Penny_Mckay_1.wmvhttp://mms//wmedia.hkedcity.net/archive/05/SBA_platform/hku/Mr_Lam_1_preparation.wmvhttp://mms//wmedia.hkedcity.net/archive/05/SBA_platform/hku/YLL_Feedback.wmvhttp://mms//wmedia.hkedcity.net/archive/05/SBA_platform/hku/Penny_Mckay_1.wmv


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highest score the can - to show what she or he can do. If students are involved in choosing their own te$tsand even their own assessment tas"s, this will enhance confidence. &his will be particularl important in thecase of students who are ver sh or lac" self-esteem, or whose oral s"ills are ver wea".

During the formal assessment tas" the teacher-assessor ma interact individuall with a student at an timeb as"ing specific 1uestion(s) (see Appendi$ I ramewor" of uiding 7uestions) to:

clarif and!or encourage the student to e$tend ideas. help prompt and!or scaffold the student%s oral interaction.

probe the range and depth of the student%s oral language s"ills.

authenticate the student%s wor" (ie. ensure it is the student%s own).

&he 1uestions should be used fle$ibl to ensure that students have the opportunit to show the full range oftheir responses, hence achieving the most valid GtrueG #udgment of students% abilit . &hat is, the guiding1uestions are not designed to be a set of standardised 1uestions with the same 1uestions as"ed of allstudents.

To view Dr (hris Davison tal in! abo"t how to "se the 2ramewor of!"idin!


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To view /rs (hristina ee tal in! abo"t fairness in the SBA 'rocess$

&eachers should record their #udgment of the student%s oral language level in each of the four main domainsdirectl onto the student%s Assessment +ecord. &he should then convert their #udgments to a total scoreout of < . &he Assessment +ecord is then signed b the student and the teacher to certif that the oral te$tproduced is the student%s own wor" and complies with all mandatory conditions .


Ens"re the standardisation 'rocess is collaborative and interactive

&he assessment tas"s are designed as formal moments in the teaching programme at which the teacher canstand bac" and reflect on their implicit or e$plicit assumptions about individual students% capacities, comparethose assumptions with careful anal sis of e$amples of students% real performance, and then sub#ect their

#udgments to e$plicit scrutin and challenge or confirmation b others. In other words, the SBA componentdoes not assume that the class teacher is totall ob#ective and!or has no preconceived ideas or assumptionsabout a student%s level. &o the contrar , it see"s to ma"e such assumptions e$plicit and open to discussionwith fellow teachers.

&his process starts b teachers in each school sharing ideas about all aspects of the assessment process,including

discussing ideas for new tas"s and wa s to adapt!modif tas"s for their own conte$t tal"ing about problems and finding wa s to solve them

loo"ing at!listening to recordings of students in each other%s classes doing presentations and holding

group discussions

helping each other review students% scores

discussing problematic cases and areas of concern

evaluating how each give feedbac" to students

All of these professional activities help teachers improve on their teaching, and prepare for carr ing out SBAevents with their class(es).

To view /rs (hristina ee tal in! abo"t how the teachers at each yearlevel need to wor as a "nit$

At the end of S and S4 each group of teachers wor"ing at the same form level should meet together more
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formall with a sample of recordings of students from ever class carr ing out SBA tas"s. Although onl a -hour meeting, this interaction develops trustworthiness b providing teachers with the opportunit to

share #udgments and understanding of what it means to achieve a level < in /ronunciation, level in =ommunication Strategies, etc.

identif an areas where the ma not be loo"ing at tas"s or performances in 1uite the same wa

tal" through issues collegiall until the can resolve an misunderstandings

appl their revised understanding to more sample recordings of students doing SBA tas"s

satisf themselves the all have a similar perception of what (for e$ample) Gsome errors of soundclustersG or Gappropriate but simple and formulaic turn-ta"ing strategiesG or Gcan present somerelevant ideas se1uentiall with some lin"sG loo s li e when their own students are doing it.

It is not necessar to have complete consensus* that is, teachers do not all need to agree to give identicalmar"s* some variation within the range is to be e$pected. &rustworthiness comes more from the process ofsee"ing agreement, #ustif ing options and so on than from absolute agreement.

To view Prof Dylan .iliam tal in! abo"t the need for teachers to sharetheir ="d!ments with collea!"es$

&he more school-based assessment becomes part of the climate of the school, the less teachers need to betal"ing through what a means or what a 4 means etc. because the will graduall internalise and sharethose "inds of standards. &his within-the-school understanding and consensus-building grows over time asthe principles and standards of this assessment become familiar to ever one, and as all teachers learn totrust themselves and their colleagues to conduct the s stem carefull and honestl . &his is not GanothermeetingG intruding into teachers% time: it is fundamental to the larger-scale trustworthiness of the SBA* andit is a rich form of professional development from which man teachers gain tremendous personal benefit.

To view Dr Penny /cKay tal in! abo"t the '"r'oses and benefits ofthe standardisation 'rocess and how it sho"ld be cond"cted$

After the school-based standardisation, the SBA coordinator ma then ta"e a sample of video!audio-

recordings and Assessment +ecords to an inter-school meeting with other SBA coordinators, chaired b agroup coordinator. &he purpose of this meeting is for professional sharing of different schools% assessmentprocesses and student samples in order to help teachers in ver different schools better interpret thestandards. &he standardisation process used at the school level can be repeated with SBA coordinators froma number of schools. &hese meetings are also an opportunit to share ideas for new tas"s, raise problemsand find out if an one else has encountered them and how the have solved them.

Scores need not be changed as a result of these inter-school meetings, but SBA coordinators will be as"edto report bac" to the team in their own school. If it is apparent that a particular school%s scores are mar"edlhigher or lower as a whole than those from the other schools as a whole, the school team ma wish to
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review their scores.


Ensure that sufficient records are kept for accountability purposes

In SBA a range of student samples of oral language are collected and sub#ected to s stematic and criticalscrutin in order to verif the individual teacher%s #udgments of individual students% standards. Although it isnot necessar to "eep video or audio-records of ever assessment of ever student, schools will need toretain as much relevant evidence of students% progress and performance as possible to address an formalcomplaints and 1ueries.

&hree "inds of records of the assessment process are to be "ept in the school:

&he Assessment ecords (a brief written assessment sheet for each student for each assessmentactivit )

&he #lass ecords (a cumulative class record of all mar"s to be reported and a statement ofcompliance with SBA assessment conditions signed b the class teacher, the SBA coordinator andthe /rincipal)

Audio or video recordings of a range of sample oral assessments

Providin!


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eedbac" should be constructive and specific, i.e. related to the assessment criteria. It is better to describethe strengths and wea"nesses of the performances first, and the wa s to improve, before giving the mar"s.If mar"s are given first, students (and parents) are much less li"el to listen closel to the descriptions. Ifstudents can also as" 1uestions about specific aspects of their progress after each planned SBA assessmentactivit , the will understand more clearl how to improve their oral language s"ills.

Eval"atin! the 'rocess

It is also important that teachers meet regularl to evaluate their plans and achievements in SBA, and toma"e ad#ustments if necessar . ach SBA coordinator could ta"e responsibilit for storing a collection of SBAsample recordings from ever assessment round* "eeping these for -4 ears and loo"ing at or listening tosome older ones each ear to help teachers see the are ma"ing progress in improving the general standardof spo"en nglish in their school. &eachers should also monitor and evaluate the effect, or !ashback , of theSBA on their teaching and on student learning more generall , so that the can ma"e ad#ustments andimprovements as SBA is implemented.

Glossary of key words

Authentication Ensuring that work produced by students is their own work and not the result of

memorisation of others words or plagiarism.

Authenticity The degree to which assessment materials and assessment conditions succeedin

replicating those in the target use situation.

Autobiography An account of a persons life written, composed or produced by that person.

Biography An account of a person s life written, composed, or produced by another.

!ollaboration To work together, to cooperate.

!onte"t The part of a te"t or statement that surrounds a particular word or passage anddetermines

its meaning.


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!riteria #singular $ criterion% Guidelines, descriptions, or principles by which studentresponses,

products, or performances are &udged. 'hen we assess language, the criteria are the keyaspects of

language that matter in the assessment.

!riteria(based assessment The assessment of a student s achie)ements in relation tospecified

criteria.

!ritical !haracterised by careful, e"act e)aluation and &udgment* used nowadays toemphasise the

e"ploratory and socially(aware nature of a form of en+uiry #e.g. critical reflection%.

escriptors -tatements that describe the performance e"pected at each le)el of each domainon the

Assessment !riteria.

omain n assessment, this refers to an area of knowledge or skill or the set of tasks about

which

we want to know more, and which is therefore the target of the assessment, e.g. pronunciation,or

grammar.

E"tensi)e reading /eading

Documents

Differences Between SBA and External Exams