GSAT scoring rubric unclear

Andrena McMayo,  Guest Columnist

I write in respect of the communication-task aspect of the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT). I am now what is popularly referred to as a GSAT mom, as my daughter is now preparing for the March 2014 exams.

Other issues aside, one of the biggest grey areas for me in helping to prepare my child is the grading mechanism of communication task. Although there is much published material on the topics to be tested and practice tests, I have been unable to find a single, credible source on the scoring rubric used to mark communication task.

Whereas all other GSAT testing areas are based on multiple-choice assessments (one right answer per question), communication task scoring is based on the markers' evaluations. Anecdotally speaking, teachers will tell you that communication task is often the GSAT wild card - results simply cannot be reasonably gauged and there always seems to be a greater element of surprise with communication task than other subject areas.

To test this, I once took one of my daughter's written papers to three different markers (two of whom are official GSAT markers) and received three different grades.

Scoring rubrics are simply standards which are used to communicate expectations of quality around a task, thereby removing the subjectivity and achieving some amount of consistency in the criteria for grading. Because scoring rubrics seek to quantify otherwise- qualitative criteria, they make the process more accurate and fair, foster greater system-wide understanding and indicate a way to proceed with subsequent learning/teaching.

When criteria are public, a scoring rubric allows all stakeholders - markers, teachers, parents, administrators and students alike - to evaluate criteria, which can be complex and subjective. A scoring rubric also provides a basis for self-evaluation, reflection and peer review

Johnson GSAT Survey

Just today, I saw the Johnson Survey research on GSAT that was published in The Gleaner. I found it somewhat curious that the national composition average was 9 out of a possible 12, or 75 per cent, compared with a language arts average of 63 per cent. It reiterated to me, that I simply do not understand what is being assessed in composition writing.

How can students who perform at a level of 63 per cent in language score higher in composition writing? Isn't this counterintuitive? Writing is, generally speaking, a more advanced form of language, and if children are underperforming at things like grammar, how can their scores in composition writing (communication task) be higher? Unless, of course, the language arts exam is too advanced for that age group, while composition is more appropriate (which lends itself to another problem which I will not attempt to tackle in this letter).

I admittedly am not an educator and, therefore, make no judgements. I am simply a parent seeking to understand and be provided with some amount of clarity, hopefully from someone in the Ministry of Education, or similar authority, on the criteria for evaluating the communication-task (composition writing) aspect of GSAT.

Andrena McMayo is a banker. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and aramsamugh@gmail.com.