§ Mr. WyattTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what inter-marker reliability data are available for end of Key Stage 2 English tests. [124896]
§ Jacqui SmithExternal Marking Agencies collect data about relative marking performance of markers engaged in marking each subject at each key stage.
Two types of data are collected.
Judgmental data about the general marking performance of markers together with information about how well they have managed the marking process and adhered to administrative procedures and deadlines.
The variation in marking standards between the team leaders and the markers who report to them is measured. This is known as the absolute mark difference (AMD) criterion. This measurement is taken at more than one stage during the marking process—twice for all markers and three times for some markers. The values for each marker are compared with pre-determined bands of marking acceptability and a judgment is made about any corrective action which may be required or, in some cases, the requirement to stop a marker from carrying out any further marking. (In cases where markers are stopped, all scripts from the marker's allocation are re-marked by an approved marker.)
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, who are responsible for the development and administration of the National Curriculum on behalf of the Secretary of State, collect the AMD data from all external marking agencies to enable the monitoring of marking variation year-on-year and to establish whether or not the pre-determined bands of marking acceptability require adjustment in future years.
§ Mr. WyattTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many schools returned end of Key Stage 2 English test papers for a review of marking last year. [124893]
§ Jacqui SmithLast year 2,210 schools returned end of Key Stage 2 English test papers for a review of marking. In 1999, 16,364 schools with 629,000 pupils nationally took part in the end of Key Stage 2 tests.
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§ Mr. WyattTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many Key Stage 2 English markers were removed last year on grounds of unsatisfactory performance. [124895]
§ Jacqui SmithThere were 45 Key Stage 2 English markers removed last year on grounds of unsatisfactory performance. This represents 2.2 per cent. of the total markers involved in marking the end of Key Stage 2 English tests nationally.
§ Mr. WyattTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the correlation between the year-on-year increase in the number of end of Key Stage 2 English test papers returned for a review of marking and exam marking standards. [124895]
§ Jacqui SmithThe Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, responsible for the development and administration of the National Curriculum on behalf of the Secretary of State, has not established any direct relationship between the number of review requests received and the information which it has available concerning marking standards. As the percentage of review requests is very small, less than 1 per cent., it would not be statistically valid to attempt to draw any conclusions from the data which are available.