§ Mr. WyattTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what reliability data are available for the end of Key Stage 2 tests; and for what reason they are not published. [121091]
§ Ms Estelle MorrisIt is unclear what reliability data are referred to in this question.
Test reliability relates to how a test question is answered by children or pupils and how consistently it is interpreted in the way anticipated. This aspect of the test question performance is dealt with by means of pre-testing the questions—a process which occurs twice during the life-cycle of a test question. The Government are satisfied that the quality control procedures for the test development and the marking process is thorough and rigorous. This was reflected in the findings of the Rose Review, an independent cross-party panel set up last year to consider the test development and assessment arrangements at Key Stage 2. The data are not published 346W as they form part of the overall process of judging how well a question performs—which takes into account other, judgmental factors.
Reliability in marking relates to the construction of the mark scheme and how markers interpret the answers to questions. Absolute reliability is achieved when any marker, trained in the use of a markscheme, marks a question and gives it the same mark as any other marker who may mark the same question. Marker training is intended to ensure that marker reliability is as high as possible. Data are collected from markers and analysed each year in relation to the degree of variation from absolute reliability which occurs. The data are used to manage the marking process and remove any markers which may not be performing satisfactorily. As the data relates to individual teachers, they remain confidential.
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority publish the findings from their annual evaluation of the test administration procedure.
§ Mr. WyattTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many end of Key Stage 2 English test papers were returned for a review of marking in each of the past four years. [121089]
§ Ms Estelle MorrisData are available only for the past three years:
- 1999: 4,974
- 1998: 4,095
- 1997: 1,881
Bearing in mind the cohort sizes of approximately 600,000 pupils, these figures represent a very small percentage.
§ Mr. WyattTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many end of Key Stage 2 English test papers were returned for a review of marking last year; and what proportion of these resulted in a change of National Curriculum level. [121088]
§ Ms Estelle MorrisIn 1999, 4,974 end of Key Stage 2 English papers were returned for a review of marking. This figure represents approximately 0.8 per cent. of the total number of English papers taken nationally.
45 per cent. of these reviews resulted in a change of National Curriculum level.