Inspectorate: 'Calvin College testing is careless'
A lot went wrong when taking tests and exams at Calvijn College in Amsterdam. This is the conclusion of the Education Inspectorate in a study published today. This summer, 77 pre-vocational secondary education students were the victims of the problems surrounding the exam.
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The inspection took place from June 14 to July 9 research at secondary school for VMBO basic or framework. The conclusions show that there were significant 'shortcomings' in administering the exams.
PTA
For example, the inspectors conclude that the school has not complied with its own Testing and Completion Program (PTA). All schools make such a PTA containing agreements and rules regarding the school exams. The document states, for example, when the exams will be held, what the rules are for resits and how grades are determined. The inspection report shows that Calvin College did not actually administer all tests that were planned in the PTA. Parts were missing per subject and student.
Moreover, the school should have given tests a 'conclusive character' more often and kept the tests that were intended to be formative (without a mark) out of the PTA. In addition, the inspectors saw a lot of noise around the resit of tests. For example, it was not always clear when a student was allowed to resit and there was often no one central resit moment because teachers planned resits themselves.
Examinations
In addition, the school violated the legal rules of the final exam decision. As an example, the inspectorate gives the own rules that teachers used when a student cheats. A conversation with the parents then followed, but the cheating should actually be reported to the principal of the school. In addition, the grade administration also left a lot to be desired.
The Inspectorate also notes that the implementation of the exams is 'low down in the organisation'. The teachers and the sections are responsible. There was too little accountability, partly because there was a lot of turnover in the personnel team.
After these results, the school was given time to correct the errors and draw up a new PTA. Last summer, the exam candidates had already taken their central exam, so it shouldn't have been. They did not have to take these central exams again, but 180 school exams still had to be taken because the PTA was re-established. For each student, a schedule was made of the tests they still had to take. Calvin College reports that 68 of the 77 senior secondary vocational education students have obtained their diploma.
Attention
The umbrella school board of Zaam, under which Calvin College falls, is late a reaction know that they have also launched their own independent investigation. The school wanted to know how it got this far. Our own research has ensured that the school has made improvements. The school acknowledges the conclusions of the Education Inspectorate and as an explanation gives attention to a positive pedagogical climate. 'This unintentionally resulted in insufficient attention being paid to the examination process.' The board announces that it will 'manage' the processes more sharply.
