Mocks correction

Bobtheman

Im just curious. Do most schools insist on the teachers correcting them?

We don't.

For those who send them out externally - what do you think of the standard of correction?

And lastly do you think they have value?

Alex86Eire

We've always corrected our own scripts except the English ones. They get sent away. I've 90 to correct this year so not ideal. We aren't DEIS or ETB.

Bobtheman

Can teachers object to correcting them?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118735797#Comment_118735797

Why are the English ones sent away and not the others?

Bobtheman

Probably because at honours level LC you are 15-20A4 pages per student

Treppen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118735825#Comment_118735825

I would say no.

Random sample

We send out leaving cert and mark our own junior certs. Works well.

I’ve never had an issue with the quality of marking, but some of the marking schemes have errors in them which the marker follows, not their fault.

They definitely have value for me. It’s a chance to assess where you are at, what needs more work, not make the big mistakes in June (spending too long on a question, doing the wrong number of questions etc).

Its also two weeks out of normal routine for teachers. Breaks the year up a bit.

gaiscioch

Generally speaking, we can send out JC but not Leaving Cert. It's a pain but it has sense to it: the LC teachers are usually more experienced than the examiners whom the Mock companies recruit. Still, it would be nice to get an outside perspective on your students' performance prior to the LC.

daretodream

Are most mock grades usually lower than actual grades in June? Mine are slowly returning with just an 05 in Maths, a H4 in Home Ec (this doesn't include our project for 20%, so this should be more??) and a H3 in Irish. I need an 04 in Maths so game over if this doesn't improve for me.

Random sample

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118753198#Comment_118753198

The real exams are better written and stress tested, so won’t have some of the errors/misunderstandings you’ll get in the mocks. You will also learn from the mistakes you have made in the mocks, so you will improve your grade that way. You will be more disciplined in your timekeeping, and for the year that’s in it, more clear about which questions to answer than you may have been in the mocks. All of that, together with the colossal amount of study you are going to do between now and June will bring you up at least a grade in every subject.

daretodream

Sound advice. Finger's x'd.

spurious

I corrected some JC mock papers in a subject which has gone to common level.

Following the marking scheme supplied, the grades were WAY down on 'normal' results.

I think the lack of choice badly affected some candidates.

TheValeyard

I disagree with teachers correcting their own mocks on principle. We have enough corrections to be doing without adding more work for free.

RealJohn

It’s part of the job. You don’t send any other school exams out. Why would the mocks be different on principle? There are reasons you might do it differently but the principle of the thing isn’t one of them.

TheValeyard

Because it's always been sent away. JC anyway. I would refuse to correct them. It's a change in work practice. I'm already up to my eyes in paperwork and reports. The principle is definitely one of them. If management wants to correct them, they can do it.

RealJohn

Maybe it’s always been sent away in your school. It’s not in many schools, so that argument doesn’t really stand up. Just because some schools have it easier than others at a particular point in time doesn’t mean that they can’t be expected to do what others are expected to do.

Treppen

I think sending them out is an "extra". Going back to the "principle" , the principle of education is that you are responsible for your own class, if they don't want to, or can't afford, external mox correctors, then it's up to you.

Getting an alternative view on their exams is akin to getting a speaker on a certain aspect of your course in to the school and charging the students for it. An extra. But not a necessity.

The notion of "we don't have time to be correcting their mocks" is a bit ott. Irrespective of legacy issues in the school.

At the end of the day, you are supposed to know the course just as well as any other teacher, if you want to sell the "another perspective" thing to students and they are happy to pay then so be it.

Personally I'm more than happy to stand over any mocks exams I've corrected, and willing to justify the meeting scheme.

I appreciate though that some teachers have an onerous task with multiple classes to correct, but thems the breaks, you don't farm out homework either!

TheValeyard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118785939#Comment_118785939

Of course it stands up. It's work that was not now forced by management to be done. It's simple, your workload has increased. It's never been part of my contract, never stated I had to correct them and it was never policy before now. I am not getting paid for this week, in fact I am loosing class prep time since I would be bogged down with these corrections.

TheValeyard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118786279#Comment_118786279

Thems the breaks??? Why would fellow teachers be play with forcing more work on other teachers? It makes zero sense. If management wants mocks either pay their own staff or send them away.

Treppen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118789073#Comment_118789073

Not sure about the "management want mocks". It's kind of standard practice in every school to run your class through a paper before the June exam.

Are there teachers who don't engage in mock exams?

Random sample

Management in our place didn’t want mocks this year… felt it would take from teaching and learning. All teachers wanted them.

Bobtheman

I dont agree with teachers being forced to correct mocks. I think you could argue its not part of your contract

However there is a lot of give and take in schools so it depends on each school.

Personally I think they are of dubious value. Unless you have corrected at JC or LC then how accurate can they be? The correcting.

Im sure in academic schools they have value but in disadvantaged schools I doubt it.

Many kids don't do homework. Don't really study. The mocks don't make any difference to this.

Treppen

I don't get the view of "being forced to correct mocks".

If students can afford it and you think it would be educationally good for them then ,OK.

But if a student can't afford it then just do it like you correct their normal homework. This isn't like extra curricular, if you are prepping students for LC exams then this is part of the package. How can anyone prep students for Leaving Cert and then not bother with Mocks?

Unless you have corrected at JC or LC then how accurate can they be? The correcting.

If you are a qualified teacher you have to know what's what in the leaving cert, whether or not you've corrected. If you're feeling inadequate then it's incumbent on you to engage with your subject association, their CPD is 100000% better than the JCT lark.

Bobtheman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118798631#Comment_118798631

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118798631#Comment_118798631

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118798631#Comment_118798631

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118798631#Comment_118798631

I wanted to delete this too would not let me

Bobtheman

Tried deleting

Bobtheman

If a school has a proper homework policy and is pushing kids academically then fine do the mocks.

However a lot of schools like the one I work in doesn't do either. Absentism is rife. A huge amount of kids don't really give a **** about education. Even with Deis status etc.

Telling a teacher to engage in a subject organisation etc is not going to transform the situation.

Ireland is a deeply unequal society that chronically underfunds its education system. But we have to put up with this fantasy that teachers can heal the wounds of society etc

Treppen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118799249#Comment_118799249

I appreciate that for some students it's constant fire fighting and getting through the class is the most pressing issue.

But if they're sitting the Leaving then they should be sitting mocks no?

Bobtheman

Im not sure for some weaker students it helps at all. They don't suddenly get motivated even if they do poorly.

But i suppose you can't only give them to students who are working

Treppen

Ya shur lookit in a few years time Leaving Cycle students will be too occupied with CBAs and ATs to be worried about mocks.

TheValeyard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118808065#Comment_118808065

Ah fcuk don't say that. CBA are bad enough as it is.