Research library

1. Findings from focus groups: is controlled assessment working?

   Authors: 

   Kate Tremain

   This paper reports on the findings of a focus group study designed to explore how teachers have responded to the introduction of controlled assessment. A total of three focus groups were convened....

   controlled assessment, teachers, validity, GCSE

2. Effective discrimination in mark schemes

   Authors: 

   Anne Pinot de Moira

   Effective assessment is often measured in terms of mark re-mark reliability: the extent to which the same mark would be awarded to a candidate by two different examiners or, alternatively, by the same examiner on two different occasions....

   mark scheme, partial credit model, disordered thresholds

3. Regulation and the qualifications market

   Authors: 

   Ben Jones

   The paper is in four main sections. “A theoretical framework from economics” introduces the conceptual framework of economics, in which the qualifications industry is seen as an operational market....

   regulation, qualifications, Ofqual, economics

4. An Item Response Theory approach to the maintenance of standards in public examinations in England

   Authors: 

   Christopher Wheadon

   Every year outcomes from public examinations in the UK rise: politicians congratulate pupils on their hard earned achievement; the media questions whether this achievement is real; those responsible for administrating the examinations defend their standards; various subject councils and employers ...

   item response theory, standards, assessment, A-level, GCSE, test equating

5. The effect of marker background and training on the quality of marking in GCSE English

   Authors: 

   Michelle Meadows and Lucy Billington

   Historically, in the UK, marker selection criteria for national examinations have been a matter of custom and practice. Only recently has empirical evidence of the effect of background on marking reliability begun to be gathered....

   marking reliability, English, selection criteria, accuracy, consistency

6. Numbering nested questions

   Authors: 

   Sofia Parkinson and Neil Stringer

   In line with the aim of simplifying and standardising the format of AQA‘s question papers, it has been proposed that all question papers should be numbered using a simple sequential system (i.e. 1, 2, 3… etc.)....

   AQA, question papers, numbering, GCSE, achievement

7. Teachers' estimates of candidates' grades: Curriculum 2000 Advanced Level Qualifications

   Authors: 

   Debra Dhillon

   In the UK, estimated grades have long been provided to higher education establishments as part of their entry procedures. Since 1994 they have also been routinely collected by awarding bodies to facilitate the grade‐awarding process....

   A-level, AS-level, accuracy, judgements, predicted grades, higher education

8. What makes marking reliable? Experiments with UK examinations

   Authors: 

   Jo-Anne Baird, Jackie Greatorex and John Bell

   Marking reliability is purported to be produced by having an effective community of practice. No experimental research has been identified which attempts to verify empirically the aspects of a community of practice that have been observed to produce marking reliability....

   marking, mark schemes, standardisation, examiners, reliability

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