Exams and reporting

20th July

Exams were completed before the mid term break for all classes from class 3 up, in all subjects.  I was lucky enough to have my classes sit their exams in the first 2 days, so there was plenty of time for finalization of results before the mid year break. 

Exam marking for Kheni Lower Secondary School was done by a process of “centre marking” in the main meeting room.  3-4 teachers are allocated to mark a paper, so questions are distributed amongst the markers.  This is a process that makes a lot of sense if there is more than one teacher teaching the same subject to the same grade, but I am not certain of its benefits for a one-teacher subject.  One of my more experienced BCF colleagues suggested that there is some evidence of very generous marking when the subject teacher marks all of the papers.  I am not convinced of its efficiency but was very pleased that students did follow my instructions (more or less) to raise queries with me if they thought they had unfairly marked for a question.  There was some remarking of questions for a good proportion of papers.

Report cards have been written by class teachers, based on results provided  by subject teachers.

I use the term reports loosely; they are more of a data card of results.

Each subject curriculum document specifies how the subject is to be assessed and the weight of the assessment.  In my case, the various forms of continuous assessment, including a portion representing classroom participation, comprised 20 marks towards the end of year mark, and the mid year exam similarly comprised 20 marks.  I assumed that these would be expressed as a percentage for the subject to give the mid year result, but no, they are expressed as a mark out of 40.  Other subjects may be expressed as a mark out of 50 for the mid year.  Dzonkha, the national language, and English are both represented by 2 marks.  Less than 40% is deemed a failure, but other grades are not used.

The term mark, which I refuse to call “average” is calculated by adding all the marks thus obtained by students and taking it as a percentage of the total possible marks for all subjects.  An interesting calculation.

Another interesting calculation was that of possible days attendance, since attendance is reported on the report card.  There was considerable consultation and debate and about a day and a half before reports needed to be finished, 3 of us decided on an agreed number, after much interpretation of attendance registers and discussions about whether attendance on significant days (ie, those which are largely celebratory and for which classes are cancelled) should be counted.  There were many different interpretations.  Then there was a suggestion that Saturdays should only be counted as half a day.  After many staff had made significant progress towards completion of report cards.

Students are then ranked based on the relative position in the class; the “toppers” announced formally at “results declaration” and students are given their report cards.  26 of the 32 of my home group are boarders.  Their parents will not see their mid term report cards. 

For anyone reading this blog who is heading to Bhutan as a BCF teacher, the following might be good questions to ask before commencing writing of the reports.

·    The dates for commencement and completion of report writing

·    The dates for submission of subject results to class teachers

·    Which spelling of student names should be used: that on the class lists; that on the enrolment lists or that used by students

·    Where dates of birth and enrolment numbers can be found

·    What is the procedure / policy for recording the results on the result cards: 

o   Should they be recorded to the nearest whole number or to one decimal place; or 2 decimal places?

o   Should they be represented as a mark out of a possible total

·    Is the mid year mark calculated in the same way in all schools?

·    What is the method for calculating the total attendance – is there any one person responsible for the calculation of total possible attendance days?

·    How is a failure to be signified on the report card?

·    Is there anything else I need to know to write the report cards to everyone’s satisfaction?

All in all, an interesting experience.