New content for 2013 11+ test

[mystery]

That is a good point. In bucks, do children have to gain an overall pass in the new test, or do they have to gain a pass in each of the three subjects individually too?

[Marylou]

It's an overall pass. (I hope! )

[Okanagan]

In bucks, do children have to gain an overall pass in the new test, or do they have to gain a pass in each of the three subjects individually too?

From the Bucks CC FAQ: http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/assets/conten ... 110313.doc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;‎

What will the qualifying or pass mark be?
The 11+ tests do not have a pass mark. There is a qualifying score for admission to grammar school and that will remain at an age-standardised score of 121. Each pupil will have a single standardised score arrived at by aggregating their performance across all six sections of the two tests. (NB: a pupil’s score will not be an average of their scores on the tests, it will be a total.)

Of course how they standardise to get that 121 qualifying score isn't so transparent. It ought in theory to be based on the actual average and standard deviation of the scores achieved in the test. But using the usual way of working out educational standardised scores 121 would only select just over 8% - which is far less than the number of grammar places Bucks have to offer. Having to achieve a qualifying score on a single result rather than a best of two is already giving one less bite at the cherry than has previously been the case, and the Bucks parents are used to the old system which used to produce a disproportionate number of high scores, not actually corresponding to what would be expected from a true normal distribution (in 2013 about 32.9% were awarded the qualifying mark of 121, compared to the 8.1% which would be the statistical expectation). So calculating a true standardised score according to the actual mean/standard deviation raw score data (which is not how it's been done in Bucks up to now) would probably mean that either a lot more places would be available to be offered via review/appeal - which rather defeats the object of having a new test - or as I suspect that they will manipulate the calculation of the standardised scores so that they get about the right number of 121 plus candidates. It would still mean that those who performed best got the highest scores, and vice versa, but would give the required (i.e. politically acceptable) number achieving the Bucks "qualifying score".

[Okanagan]

It's also not clear yet what weighting will be given to each of the 3 subject areas when calculating the total. In Birmingham 50% of the marks are English (called VR) and 50% from a combination of numerical reasoning and NVR. In Warwickshire it is 33% each for English/VR, numerical reasoning, and NVR. Obviously the CEM style maths questions take longer than the typical English/VR questions do, with the NVR falling somewhere in the middle. So it probably wouldn't be reasonable to just work on a simple 1 mark per question as there will usually be more English/VR questions. If they're coming up with a single combined score I'd expect the marks from the different sections to carry some form of weighting. But what that will be we don't know yet. From the FAQ: The exact weighting of the three elements will be decided after thorough trialling.

[Marylou]

Apologies for using the "p" word instead of the "q" word!

I've got the impression, somehow, that there would be more emphasis on English and Maths, with NVR accounting for a lower proportion of the marks. However, I confess that I have no idea where I got that from. According to the FAQ (which I've just checked), "The exact weighting of the three elements will be decided after thorough trialling." So it probably hasn't even been decided yet.

Edited to add - sorry Okanagan - didn't realise you had also quoted from the FAQs!

[mystery]

The Bexley parental information seems to say that the weighting there will be 50% verbal, 25% numerical, 25% non-verbal. Maybe every authority / school is agreeing a different weighting with them? I can see the logic of the Bexley weightings as numerical and non-verbal skills will all contribute to maths ability - so really Bexley is saying that verbal and maths skills are equally important to them.

[GoreCottage]

Hi Gorecottage, thanks for posting that. Did you mean for the comprehension that there was a passage to read and then some multiple choice questions? And were NVR diagram questions just the usual kind of thing? Did your daughter feel that any of it was terribly novel compared with the real 11plus she sat in the Autumn Term of year 6?

Just musing in general now. The maths question you mentioned was more level 5 than level 4 material, so I'm wondering in Kent where we have superselectives if we should be prepared for level 6 material. Does speed / distance / time get a mention in year 5 of the now archived national numeracy framework?

I do hope these test papers done in year 6 now are not the ones that will be used in Bucks in September ... it doesn't seem very fair if some schools know quite a bit about them and others don't. It doesn't look as though the children were asked to sign the Official Secrets Act at the start of the test!

Hi again - the whole paper was multiple choice. The NVR diagrams were similar to ones she had encountered previously in school CATS tests and which we have never prepared her for. She did not feel that there was any technique in the test that was new to her. She had done all previously, either at school, 11+ tutoring or word puzzles.
Re your last point, it was made clear to us in the letter home that neither the test or any question from it would be used in the September test. Indeed there is no guarantee at all that any of the question types in the trial will turn up in September at all though I would have thought there is a good chance that they are an indicator.
Schools are strictly not allowed to coach for the 11+ so it won't help whether they know what's in the test or not. If the trial is anything to go by, it will help any child to perform well in the test if schools continue largely with what they are doing - encouraging reading for understanding and widening of vocabulary, solving problems with numeracy.

[GoreCottage]

On the timing thing - are you saying she found it more time pressured than the old GL Assessment papers? Is that because it truly is, or because in Bucks one was able to get to the point where you didn't have to read the question to answer it?!

Yes, she found she could not finish the maths section and one other in the time available - in fact she was way off. Difficult to comment on why. Until the two weeks before her own 11+ she wasn't finishing a paper in time.

[patricia]

Current year 5 children are finding the "content" of the CEM test hard.

Year 5 children ...

"rarely" complete comprehension exercises.

even more "rarely" complete NVR - perhaps once a year if their school tests CATs

and even more "rarely" complete any form of CLOZE - some schools may use a cloze paper to test reading ages. - once a year.

Maths - Primary schools teach a subject for example decimals/fractions, children understand the concept at the time, receive good marks at the time - but then they do not see that topic for several weeks/months . Can those same children remember WITHOUT PROMPTING OR REMINDING - the answer is sadly "rarely." Put those decimal/fractions into a word problem and that well and truly throws them. (I am describing top set children from high achieving primaries)

A tutor or teacher will not be with the child in the test to give gentle reminders, they need an absolute instant recall of all year 5 maths.

My understanding is that the year 6 children found the CEM practice test content hard, probably due to the above reasons. In addition the timings were tight with children not being able to finish sections before they had to move on.

Patricia

[mystery]

Thanks Patricia. I know you are beavering away putting your own materials together but do you have any suggestions for ready made stuff that includes at a good enough standard:

- multiple choice comprehension exercises

- multiple choice Cloze exercises

- NVR which is varied enough to prepare children for CEM surprises?

Also, do you know please what the question and answer sheet is likely to look like in Bucks? Does the question sheet detail all the possible answers A, B, C, D, E and the answer sheet just have 5 boxes A to E for the child to place a pencil mark in the correct box.

Or is it one of those horrible mix-ups like GL assessment seemed to be with answers printed on the answer sheet as well as the boxes to tick off?