Age difference
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Age difference
My DD came home from school in tears today saying that she thought it was unfair that she got extra marks because she is one the youngest and that it is not fair on her friends who are older. She now has it in her head that even if she does pass it's because of the extra marks and not her ability. 
Somebody has obviously said this to her and they must have got that from their parents. I think this whole system is an outrageous way to treat young children.
I (kind of) understand standardisation in that she will be marked against children of her own age and not the older ones but how do you explain that to a 10yo.
And whilst I am on the subject, I believe age does matter and that scores should be standardised. My DS was well over 11 when he took the test and he passed with flying colours - you can not give enough points to compensate for maturity. He knew what he wanted and what he needed to do to get it.
Sorry, end of rant. Can't wait til next Friday then maybe we can all get back to reality.
Somebody has obviously said this to her and they must have got that from their parents. I think this whole system is an outrageous way to treat young children.
I (kind of) understand standardisation in that she will be marked against children of her own age and not the older ones but how do you explain that to a 10yo.
And whilst I am on the subject, I believe age does matter and that scores should be standardised. My DS was well over 11 when he took the test and he passed with flying colours - you can not give enough points to compensate for maturity. He knew what he wanted and what he needed to do to get it.
Sorry, end of rant. Can't wait til next Friday then maybe we can all get back to reality.
There are many misconceptions about the whole thing and even some teachers don't seem to understand it! My DS was one of the eldest and his teacher said that he would have up to 9 points 'taken off' every mistake (you can imagine my horror!) and would never achieve 140 (he did in 2 papers!). The standardisation will vary greatly from year to year. Both my eldest son and his youngest (Aug) friend got the same score. When we found out their raw scores, the youngest had made only a couple more mistakes in each paper and appeared to have had added only a few extra points per paper. Our teacher had implied that he could gain up to 9 points per question!!!
Hi
One point to make is that the standardisation is based on the actual test results, so if on average the younger children did just as well as the older ones then no marks would be modified, however as they always do worse then they are. This makes sure that on average all age groups do just
as well as each other.
Steve
One point to make is that the standardisation is based on the actual test results, so if on average the younger children did just as well as the older ones then no marks would be modified, however as they always do worse then they are. This makes sure that on average all age groups do just
as well as each other.
Steve
i think it is entirely fair that a child is only standardised against other children exactly the same age.
you are right it is others misunderstanding of the system that creates this 'get points added on' or 'lose points' nonsense. Unfortunately the system does not greatly inform people of the finer details leading to misconceptions.
you are right it is others misunderstanding of the system that creates this 'get points added on' or 'lose points' nonsense. Unfortunately the system does not greatly inform people of the finer details leading to misconceptions.
