Diploma examinations program Social studies 30 information bulletin

32 Pages·1993·3.5 MB·English

by  Alberta. Student Evaluation Branch

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This document was written primarily for:
Students •
Teachers •
Administrators •
Parents
General Public
Others (Specify)
Distribution: Superintendents of Schools • S chool Principals and Teachers • T he Alberta Teachers’
Association • A lberta Education • G eneral Public upon Request
Copyright 1993, the Crown in Right of A lberta, as represented by the Minister of Education, Alberta
Education, Student Evaluation Branch, 11160 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, T5K 0L2. All rights
reserved. Additional copies may be obtained from the Student Evaluation Branch, 427-0010.
Contents
Page 1 Purpose of the Bulletin
Page 2 Important Dates in 1994
Administration of the Examination
Scoring of the Examination
Page 3 Information for Markers
Selection Criteria
Procedure for Recommendation
Page 4 Notes of Interest
The 1994 Diploma Examinations
Writing Time
Useful Documents
Inservices and Presentations
Page 6 Part A: Multiple Choice
Description and Examination Blueprint
Sample Question
Suggestions to Students for Answering Multiple-Choice
Questions
Part B: Written Response
Page 11
Description and Examination Blueprint
Sample Assignment
Scoring Criteria for 1994
Suggestions to Students for Writing the Essay
Social Studies 30 Standards
Page 23
Objectives of the Course
Standards
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Purpose of the Bulletin
The purpose of this bulletin is to provide students and teachers of
Social Studies 30 with information about the diploma examinations
scheduled for 1994. This bulletin includes descriptions of the Social
Studies 30 diploma examinations that will be administered in January,
June, and August of 1994; it outlines the objectives to be tested, and
provides the blueprints of both the multiple-choice and written-
response sections of the examinations and the scoring criteria that will
be applied by markers to student writing in 1994. We encourage
teachers to share the contents of this bulletin with students and to
review the scoring guides with them.
This bulletin also includes an explanation of the standards for Social
Studies 30. These descriptions of the acceptable standard and the
standard of excellence will give readers a g eneral impression of the
levels of achievement expected of students in Social Studies 30.
The information in this bulletin applies to the 1993-94 school term.
The bulletin will be updated in September 1994.
If y ou have questions or comments about the contents of this bulletin,
please contact:
Elana J. Scraba, Assistant Director Student Evaluation Branch
Humanities Diploma Examinations Alberta Education
Devonian Building, West Tower
Barry Jonas 11160 Jasper Avenue
Social Studies 30 Examination Manager Edmonton, Alberta T5K 0L2
Telephone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Teachers may also wish to refer to the document entitled General
Information Bulletin, Diploma Examinations Program (1993-94
School Year), which provides administrative information about the
diploma examinations for 1994. This publication is distributed to all
senior high school principals.
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Important Dates in 1994
Administration of the Examination
1994 Administrations
Wednesday, January 26 9:T0i0m-e1 1*: 30 a.m.
Thursday, June 23 9:00-11:30 a.m.
Tuesday, August 16 9:00-11:30 a.m.
* T he examination is designed for a w riting time of 2 1 /2 hours.
Students will have an additional 1/2 hour to complete the examination,
(see page 4).
Scoring of the Examination
1994 Administrations
Scoring Dates**
January
February 2 ( Group Leaders)
February 3 t o 6 ( Marking)
June
July 4 ( Group Leaders)
July 5 t o 9 ( Marking)
August August 19
• * S coring dates will be confirmed by telephone after markers have been
selected.
2
Information for Markers
Selection Criteria
Part B: Written Response is scored by Social Studies 30 teachers
selected from those who have been recommended as markers to the
Student Evaluation Branch by their superintendents. To qualify for
recommendation, a t eacher must have taught Social Studies 30 for
two or more years (or four semesters), be currently teaching Social
Studies 30, and have a P ermanent Professional Certificate.
Often, more teachers are recommended as markers by
superintendents than are required by the Student Evaluation Branch
for any one marking session. The following criteria are considered
when markers are selected for a p articular marking session:
•experience as a m arker (generally, first-time markers are
given priority)
•regional representation (by zone, jurisdiction, and school)
•student population (proportional representation)
•gender balance
Procedure for Recommendation
Teachers who wish to be recommended as markers for January
1994 should contact their superintendents before October 1,
1993. Teachers who wish to be recommended as markers for
June and August 1994 should contact their superintendents
before March 2, 1994.
3
Notes of Interest
The 1994 Diploma Examinations
The Social Studies 30 diploma examinations for 1994 will be based
on the Senior High Program of Studies for Social Studies 30, revised
May 1993.
The 1994 examinations will continue to use newly developed multiple-
choice question formats. These field-tested questions will focus
primarily on critical thinking skills applied to students’ knowledge of
social studies content. For example, such questions require students to
detect bias in a p iece of data, to recognize underlying assumptions, or to
determine relationships among concepts or facts. The 1994 examinations
will continue to emphasize comprehension and skill questions that
require application of knowledge.
The written-response section of the examination will require students to
write one complete and unified essay about an issue related to the content
of the Social Studies 30 program.
There will not be a d iploma examination for Social Studies 33 in the
1993-94 school year.
Writing Time An additional half-hour will be available to students writing the 1994
Social Studies 30 diploma examinations. There are no changes to the
examination requirements or blueprints. As before, each examination
consists of 70 multiple-choice questions and a w ritten-response
assignment. It is expected that 2 1 /2 hours is adequate; however, the
extra half hour is available for those students who need it.
The additional time is the result of teachers’ suggestions that some
students need more time to be able to check answers and to proof and
edit writing. It is to be hoped that the extra time will be helpful to those
students who are writing in a l anguage other than their mother tongue,
and/or those who read slowly.
Useful Documents After each January and June administration of the Social Studies 30
diploma examination, copies of the Examiners ’ R eport for that particular
administration are sent to teachers in all senior high schools in Alberta.
The report contains provincial results along with comments about student
performance on Parts A a nd B o f the exam.
A d etailed blueprint of Part A, classifying all multiple-choice questions
by reporting category, is included. This is a p articularly important piece
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of information for teachers who wish to interpret the results of students in
their school as an ongoing form of program evaluation. Sample
questions from the exam, accompanied by commentary, are also
included.
Each year copies of a d ocument entitled Annual Report, Diploma
Examinations Program, are sent to each superintendent and senior high
school principal in Alberta. The report contains information about the
results achieved by students who wrote diploma examinations in the
school year. It also contains special studies on topics of interest. The
first annual report (1989-90 school year) contains a study comparing
achievement in various diploma examination courses; the second (1990-
9 1 school year) contains a study comparing the achievement of students
who repeat diploma examination courses and re-write diploma
examinations with their achievement the first time and with the
achievement of students who write only once. The third report (1991-92
school year) contains a study on participation rates in diploma
examination course. Each of these special studies will be of interest to
teachers who are involved in interpreting the diploma examination results
of their students.
A S amples of Students’ Writing document for Social Studies 30 was
distributed to schools in March 1992. Based on papers from the June 1991
examination administration, this document focuses on examples and
discussions of student writing that received scores of “3” Satisfactory and
“5” Excellent, and includes a summary section of conclusions and
suggestions. Please note that the scoring criteria in the Samples of
Students’ Writing document have been revised for 1994.
Inservices and Presentations
On a l imited basis and subject to budget constraints. Student Evaluation
Branch staff is available to provide inservices or presentations related to
diploma examinations or the interpretation of diploma examination
results. Please call Elana Scraba at 427-0010 for information.
Rescores a s tudent may request a r escoring if he or she believes that the mark
received is not appropriate. However, before applying for a r escoring, it
is important to check with the principal to find out the distribution of
marks in the examination. The multiple-choice score is not likely to
change, but the written-response score could change to some degree.
Remember that the rescored mark will be the final mark whether it
increases or decreases.
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Part A: Multiple Choice
Description and Examination Blueprint
Questions are based on the generalizations, key understandings,
concepts, and related facts from Topic A a nd Topic B o f the
Program of Studies.
The multiple-choice section of the examination requires students to
recall information and then go beyond simple recall to apply then-
knowledge and thinking skills. Students must demonstrate that they
understand social studies concepts; that they understand historical,
political, and economic relationships; and that they can interpret and
evaluate social studies information and ideas.
The multiple-choice questions require students to demonstrate
knowledge and comprehension of social studies content and to apply
social studies process skills to that knowledge base. Nearly all
question types require both recall of knowledge and application of
process skills; some questions are relatively straightforward and
others are quite complex. The level of difficulty varies from
question to question, as does the mix of knowledge and skill required
to answer each question.
Part A: Multiple Choice has a v alue of 70 marks, one mark for each
multiple-choice question. Each question is classified in two ways:
according to the curricular content area (topic) being tested and
according to the knowledge and skill objectives required to answer
the question. The examination blueprint that follows illustrates the
distribution of questions according to these classifications.
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