PSLE T score replaced by banding

[Showster]

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/parliament-psle-scoring-system-to-be-revamped-t-score-to-be-removed-from-2021

 

 

Parliament: PSLE scoring system to be revamped; T-score to be removed from 2021

 

Pupils and parents awaiting the PSLE 2012 results at Nanyang Primary School.PHOTO: ST FILE

PUBLISHED10 MIN AGOUPDATED2 MIN AGO

SINGAPORE - To encourage students to go beyond book smarts, the aggregate score for the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) will be replaced with wider scoring bands from 2021.

 

The new scoring system, which affects this year's Primary 1 pupils, will be similar to grading at O and A levels, said Acting Education Minister Ng Chee Meng (Schools) as he announced his ministry's plans on Friday during the Committee of Supply debate in Parliament.

 

PSLE grading will also no longer be based on how pupils do relative to their peers, as it is now, he explained, adding that the hope is that this will encourage students to focus on their own learning rather than competing to do better than their peers.

 

 

 

Mr Ng said: "Today, there is a deeply ingrained mind-set that the PSLE is a very high-stakes exam. Many perceive that a child's PSLE T-score at the age of 12 determines his or her success and pathway in life.

 

"The main issue to address is that the way we currently score the PSLE is too precise, and differentiates our students more finely than necessary. We should therefore, in time, move away from such fine distinctions, which are not meaningful, especially at that young age."

 

The Ministry of Education (MOE) will take the next few years to develop and test the new exam and secondary school posting systems, said Mr Ng. The posting system will still be a fair and transparent system based on academic merit, he added. More details will be revealed in the next two to three months.

 

The PSLE review was first announced by PM Lee Hsien Loong in 2013. It is meant to reduce the over-emphasis on academic results and allow students more time and space to develop holistically.

 

Mr Ng stressed the need for a paradigm shift towards holistic education.

 

He admitted that despite efforts to change, there is still a narrow emphasis on academics and paper qualifications. "This is deeply ingrained in out culture," he said, and even manifests in employer mind-sets. While MOE can take the lead in moving away from an excessive focus on academics, it will take parents and the community to come aboard, he added.

 

MOE will also review the Direct School Admission (DSA) scheme to recognise achievements and talents in specific areas , which was its original objective, instead of general academic ability.

 

Introduced in 2004, DSA was intended to promote holistic education by providing opportunities for students to be recognised for a more diverse range of achievements and talents, such as in sports and arts, when seeking admission to secondary schools.

 

The DSA has been criticised for turning into a channel for students to secure places in the most sought-after Integrated Programme schools whose students bypass the O levels. Some parents also send their children for DSA preparation classes and enrichment programmes to boost their chances of doing well in interviews and auditions.

[Lala81]

2021. then will affect my daughter...

[Ktglfc]

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/parliament-psle-scoring-system-to-be-revamped-t-score-to-be-removed-from-2021

 

 

Parliament: PSLE scoring system to be revamped; T-score to be removed from 2021

 

Pupils and parents awaiting the PSLE 2012 results at Nanyang Primary School.PHOTO: ST FILE

PUBLISHED10 MIN AGOUPDATED2 MIN AGO

SINGAPORE - To encourage students to go beyond book smarts, the aggregate score for the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) will be replaced with wider scoring bands from 2021.

 

The new scoring system, which affects this year's Primary 1 pupils, will be similar to grading at O and A levels, said Acting Education Minister Ng Chee Meng (Schools) as he announced his ministry's plans on Friday during the Committee of Supply debate in Parliament.

 

PSLE grading will also no longer be based on how pupils do relative to their peers, as it is now, he explained, adding that the hope is that this will encourage students to focus on their own learning rather than competing to do better than their peers.

 

 

 

Mr Ng said: "Today, there is a deeply ingrained mind-set that the PSLE is a very high-stakes exam. Many perceive that a child's PSLE T-score at the age of 12 determines his or her success and pathway in life.

 

"The main issue to address is that the way we currently score the PSLE is too precise, and differentiates our students more finely than necessary. We should therefore, in time, move away from such fine distinctions, which are not meaningful, especially at that young age."

 

The Ministry of Education (MOE) will take the next few years to develop and test the new exam and secondary school posting systems, said Mr Ng. The posting system will still be a fair and transparent system based on academic merit, he added. More details will be revealed in the next two to three months.

 

The PSLE review was first announced by PM Lee Hsien Loong in 2013. It is meant to reduce the over-emphasis on academic results and allow students more time and space to develop holistically.

 

Mr Ng stressed the need for a paradigm shift towards holistic education.

 

He admitted that despite efforts to change, there is still a narrow emphasis on academics and paper qualifications. "This is deeply ingrained in out culture," he said, and even manifests in employer mind-sets. While MOE can take the lead in moving away from an excessive focus on academics, it will take parents and the community to come aboard, he added.

 

MOE will also review the Direct School Admission (DSA) scheme to recognise achievements and talents in specific areas , which was its original objective, instead of general academic ability.

 

Introduced in 2004, DSA was intended to promote holistic education by providing opportunities for students to be recognised for a more diverse range of achievements and talents, such as in sports and arts, when seeking admission to secondary schools.

 

The DSA has been criticised for turning into a channel for students to secure places in the most sought-after Integrated Programme schools whose students bypass the O levels. Some parents also send their children for DSA preparation classes and enrichment programmes to boost their chances of doing well in interviews and auditions.

 

My eldest and 2nd won't be affected.

Only the youngest will be affected...

 

Anyway... I suddenly remembered that "All schools are good schools" ...

Hopefully by 2021, the statement can come true :)

[Neost]

May I suggest  the following

 

1. All our ang mo schools as "Raffles (name of constituency)" 

2. All our Chinese schools as "Hwa Chong (nam of constituency)"

 

Like that everybody is raffles and hwa chong. So, don't need to fight until skull crack. Everybody happy and song song...

[Newbie26]

Five more years from now

 

A lot of changes can happend within this period.

 

Probably about time to change to a less stressful system

 

The big challenge is to set the criteria to differentiate the groups with identical grades

 

Likely the hidden raw scores will still be used.

 

Good for those who are only weak in 1 subject or very good in all subjects but not oustanding

 

bec A grading means no difference bet 99 and 90 marks

 

 

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/parliament-psle-scoring-system-to-be-revamped-t-score-to-be-removed-from-2021


Parliament: PSLE scoring system to be revamped; T-score to be removed from 2021

Pupils and parents awaiting the PSLE 2012 results at Nanyang Primary School.PHOTO: ST FILE
PUBLISHED10 MIN AGOUPDATED2 MIN AGO
SINGAPORE - To encourage students to go beyond book smarts, the aggregate score for the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) will be replaced with wider scoring bands from 2021.

The new scoring system, which affects this year's Primary 1 pupils, will be similar to grading at O and A levels, said Acting Education Minister Ng Chee Meng (Schools) as he announced his ministry's plans on Friday during the Committee of Supply debate in Parliament.

PSLE grading will also no longer be based on how pupils do relative to their peers, as it is now, he explained, adding that the hope is that this will encourage students to focus on their own learning rather than competing to do better than their peers.



Mr Ng said: "Today, there is a deeply ingrained mind-set that the PSLE is a very high-stakes exam. Many perceive that a child's PSLE T-score at the age of 12 determines his or her success and pathway in life.

"The main issue to address is that the way we currently score the PSLE is too precise, and differentiates our students more finely than necessary. We should therefore, in time, move away from such fine distinctions, which are not meaningful, especially at that young age."

The Ministry of Education (MOE) will take the next few years to develop and test the new exam and secondary school posting systems, said Mr Ng. The posting system will still be a fair and transparent system based on academic merit, he added. More details will be revealed in the next two to three months.

The PSLE review was first announced by PM Lee Hsien Loong in 2013. It is meant to reduce the over-emphasis on academic results and allow students more time and space to develop holistically.

Mr Ng stressed the need for a paradigm shift towards holistic education.

He admitted that despite efforts to change, there is still a narrow emphasis on academics and paper qualifications. "This is deeply ingrained in out culture," he said, and even manifests in employer mind-sets. While MOE can take the lead in moving away from an excessive focus on academics, it will take parents and the community to come aboard, he added.

MOE will also review the Direct School Admission (DSA) scheme to recognise achievements and talents in specific areas , which was its original objective, instead of general academic ability.

Introduced in 2004, DSA was intended to promote holistic education by providing opportunities for students to be recognised for a more diverse range of achievements and talents, such as in sports and arts, when seeking admission to secondary schools.

The DSA has been criticised for turning into a channel for students to secure places in the most sought-after Integrated Programme schools whose students bypass the O levels. Some parents also send their children for DSA preparation classes and enrichment programmes to boost their chances of doing well in interviews and auditions.

 

[Enye]

My eldest and 2nd won't be affected.

Only the youngest will be affected...

 

Anyway... I suddenly remembered that "All schools are good schools" ...

Hopefully by 2021, the statement can come true :)

 

same same....you also 3 kids ah?

 

[Watwheels]

After so many years PSLE has more or less taken root to what it is today. No matter how they trim here or slash there the psle plant will not move away from where its roots are. The final exam still exist.

 

Anyway keeping students and parents in the dark about the score might make things worse. Like ppl would say, "the suspense can kill". Or they delay the outcome when the posting of secondary school is released dan they know whether they did well or not depending on what school they are posted to? I think it's cruel either way.

Edited April 8, 2016 by Watwheels

[Lala81]

i dunno.

 

How to distinguish admission criteria, say School B has this one last space. And the candidates both have 2A, 2B.

Last time easy, higher PSLE score gets it. Now ?

How they distinguish? Then look at CCA?

 

[Tonyng]

Banding reduces differentiation of students.

 

Schools, resource limited, rely more on other predictors - sports, trained skills, branding of primary schools, parent-bought achievements.

 

All of which folds into 1 thing - kids with more money will get ahead with more coaching.

 

Making the rich-poor divide even more stark.

 

The people who sold these changes are elite well paid people or will be seeking second careers in the cottage industry as new opportunities open up.

 

[Fcw75]

My eldest and 2nd won't be affected.

Only the youngest will be affected...

 

Anyway... I suddenly remembered that "All schools are good schools" ...

Hopefully by 2021, the statement can come true :)

 

All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.

 

All schools are good school but some schools are more good than others?

[Tohto]

Nothing to do with me anymore..

[Enye]

i dunno.

 

How to distinguish admission criteria, say School B has this one last space. And the candidates both have 2A, 2B.

Last time easy, higher PSLE score gets it. Now ?

How they distinguish? Then look at CCA?

 

parents' connections

 

[Tohto]

All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.

 

All schools are good school but some schools are more good than others?

 

But but but, our cheng hu said all school are the same leh.....

[Kusje]

i dunno.

 

How to distinguish admission criteria, say School B has this one last space. And the candidates both have 2A, 2B.

Last time easy, higher PSLE score gets it. Now ?

How they distinguish? Then look at CCA?

 

How does a JC do it? Probably the same lor.

[Lala81]

Banding reduces differentiation of students.

 

Schools, resource limited, rely more on other predictors - sports, trained skills, branding of primary schools, parent-bought achievements.

 

All of which folds into 1 thing - kids with more money will get ahead with more coaching.

 

Making the rich-poor divide even more stark.

 

The people who sold these changes are elite well paid people or will be seeking second careers in the cottage industry as new opportunities open up.

 

 

I agree with you. That's the danger with this system.

How does a JC do it? Probably the same lor.

 

Yeah look at CCA lor. What else can you look at.

 

And also the brand name of the primary school becomes even more important.

parents' connections

 

 

parents connection is in proxy to getting into a branded primary school now 

 

   

[Watwheels]

Banding reduces differentiation of students.

 

Schools, resource limited, rely more on other predictors - sports, trained skills, branding of primary schools, parent-bought achievements.

 

All of which folds into 1 thing - kids with more money will get ahead with more coaching.

 

Making the rich-poor divide even more stark.

 

The people who sold these changes are elite well paid people or will be seeking second careers in the cottage industry as new opportunities open up.

 

 

I thought this is already happening?

 

For children whose parents are more affluent and more connected to the leaders of SIngapore get even further ahead.

 

Anyway whether what banding what scoring connections will make the ultimate difference. To the elites they have nothing to worry.

Edited April 8, 2016 by Watwheels

[2824]

i dunno.

 

How to distinguish admission criteria, say School B has this one last space. And the candidates both have 2A, 2B.

Last time easy, higher PSLE score gets it. Now ?

How they distinguish? Then look at CCA?

 

They should just ballot lor. 

P1 also ballot, HDB also ballot 

[Watwheels]

i dunno.

 

How to distinguish admission criteria, say School B has this one last space. And the candidates both have 2A, 2B.

Last time easy, higher PSLE score gets it. Now ?

How they distinguish? Then look at CCA?

 

That's where the priorities will come in. Alumni, parents who are ex-students, staying within 1km, etc etc.