Otokonolo. yes, I agree there can be a problem for a few that may be sick, or have another genuine problem on the day.

There are a couple of ways that this can be handled, but no account should be taken of nerves, or other such problems. This is one of the things we should be testing for.

The best way, I think, to handle a "on the day" problem, is to write 2 similar papers for each exam. Have a panel select the hardest, & then use easier one for the main exam. The second exam could then be offered to those genuine cases a fortnight later. Not perfect, but much better than the core skils test, teachers pet marking, & an OP generated on others ability, as used today.

Mate, your second argument is totally wrong.

With an external exam, all kids have to study the whole curriculum, which is not the case now.

With the exam set from the 2 years of 11 & 12, it will test what the kid learned of the whole course, & how much they retained. This is a true test of the result of 2 years schooling.

Currently, they study a segment of a subject, for a week or two, perhaps have a minor test, submit one of mums assignments, then never look at that segment again. For those kids, unlucky enough to not have mum [or their tutor] do their asignments, all this system tests is how good the kid is at rewriting what came up when they googled the subject.

If you want to use assignments, as part of the test system, they must be written in class, with no computers, unannounced, & a couple of weeks, or more, after the segment was finished.

The results may be a bit dismal, & a pass mark may have to be below 50%, but we would then know how much the kids had retained. Of course, we would also start to get a much better handel on the ability of each teacher, so unlikely to be popular.

My late father was an Inspector of Secondary Schools in Queensland in the sixties and early seventies. External examinations were phased out during this period and later Inspectors. In Queensland now there are NO external examinations and NO Inspectors. How does one then evaluate the performance of teachers and students today? Or perhaps that does not really matter?

Hasbeen,

I like your proposals about assignments. Especially the idea that they should have no notice, and should be completed a while after the unit has been completed. That would not only raise the stakes of the learning, but it would also hammer home the importance of retention.

As for external exams, I am actually a big fan. I was just throwing those arguments to you because they are the common ones that are thrown at me, and I can sort of see the validity of them. A third argument takes into account regional differences - in English and the Humanities in particular, what is relevant to students on the Gold Coast may be quite detached from what is relevant to students where I am, in Townsville. With Palm Island on our doorstep, the concepts of aid, poverty and development (part of the Geography program) would be taught very differently in Townsville and in Brisbane. Some people see this as an argument against external exams - I see it as an argument FOR such tests. While the teaching may differ, the end result must be the same. If it is not, then a Brisbane student and a Townsville student of Geography are not actually completing the same subject, despite what their QCE may say. An external exam, suitably constructed, would ensure parity across the state.

The same goes for English - while text selections may differ to account for regional differences, the basic content must be the same; external exams would help to enforce this.

I liked the article. I am now looking forward to the blanket testing of recently introduced curriculum items that have taken a great deal of primary school time...to see if they are worthy of taking up as much of the school time as they do. They include....Languages Other Than English, Instrumental Music, Drug Education, Choral Music, Road Safety, Environmental Education, Computer Skills, Learnings from Excursions, Sporting Prowess, Practicing for Third-party Tests and some from the list below.
Harold Boles once listed, in alphabetical order, some social concerns that High Schools need to face:- Abortion,aggression, birth control, communication, compulsory school attendance, conservation, consumerism, crime, discipline, drug abuse, ecology, economic policy, equalization of opportunity, euthanasia, family customs, farm prices, foreign relations, government controls, heterosexuality and Homosexuality, housing, inflation, intelligence tests, justice under the law, knowledge explosion, land use, law and order, marriage and divorce, media use and abuse, minorities treatment, open housing, penal reform, political ethics, pollution, pornography & obscenity, poverty, power differentials, privacy of individuals, quality of products, quotas, racial integration, religious training, respect for others, separation of church and state, sex discrimination, sexual mores, social responsibility, terrorism, urbanization, vandalism, venereal disease, violence, welfare, xenophobia, youth rebellion.
Filip

Des Griffin recommends league tables because, "Such a reform would bring us into line with Britain and the United States."

When the OECD compared 57 countries in 2006, Finland came first in reading and Australia came second. Second out of 57 countries! England and the United States did not come in the first 15. Why would Griffin recommend that we come into line with them?

David1946

The old saying is that you cannot control what you don't measure.

In the countries that do well, such as Finland the performance in each school is measured and used to improve. They just don't publish the results.

The smug complacency that in Aus we are doing well therefore we don't need to improve is misplaced. Considering that about 50% of the schools are independent, and they produce the best results, it would indicate that the public schools record is any thing but OK.

The teachers' union don't want anything to disturb their cosy promotion by seniority scam.