Correction order for final exams remains unchanged
The correction sequence remains as it is now: first the own teacher checks the work of his exam students and then a colleague from another school. State Secretary Dekker of Education announced today that he is sticking to current practice.
Last year, Dekker suspended his decision to reverse the correction order. He did this on the condition that the second correction had to be carried out better and made agreements with the unions and employers' organizations. If things did not improve, Dekker would still implement his decision in the 2016/2017 school year.
That turns out not to be necessary. 'The good results give me the confidence that this upward trend can be continued with sustained efforts', Dekker writes in his letter to the House of Representatives.
Better check
Although there is now, according to Dekker, no reason to change the order, the State Secretary does want the exams to be checked even better in the future. He wants to get this in order for the next two years and until then he will stick to his decision.
Uit research by Cito it appears that the second correction was more complete in 2016 than in 2011. The first correctors are more positive about their colleagues. In 2011, 31 percent indicated that the second correction was complete, in 2016 it was 44 percent. Of the second correctors, 72 percent indicate that the exam work has been completed in full. In 2011 this was the case for 44 percent of the second correctors.
Nevertheless, the Cito researchers point to a contradictory picture. Although more teachers say that they have fully implemented the correction, the researchers also conclude that they did not spend more time on it in 2016 than in 2011 and that they experienced an equally high load. The Cito researchers do not think it very likely that the second correction in 2016 was better than in 2011. A possible explanation is that in 2011 the correction order was not yet in the spotlight. 'The reversal of the correction order was not yet in the air at that time. This may have made teachers more aware of the benefits of the current correction procedure, so that they now judge the completeness of the second correction more positively than then,' say the Cito researchers.
Support
Teachers indicate that they want more support from their school for grading, now they are overburdened and have a lack of time. Dekker is therefore entering into talks with the employers' organization VO-raad to give teachers time and space. The unions will also open the hotline again during the exams where teachers can report complaints or there will be a guide for schools.
