Numbers or words: the pitfalls of the ranking



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The numerical scores would show how much students are complying with the rules of the game and the standards of behavior that prevail at school, according to University of Vienna academic researcher Bernhard Hemetsberger on ABS. Alternative badessments are usually more informative than student feedback.

According to Hemetsberger, children with different cultural backgrounds and mother tongues often find it more difficult to adapt to the social setting than children in educational families. "It gives the impression that it is relatively easy politically to mark that difference through academic achievement.If you can go further by being able to sit or exclude students, you can serve to manage social policies, "says the scientist, who focuses on scoring.

Figures do not help parents either

In addition, digital notes would not give parents a better idea of ​​where their child is. "The isolated terms really do not help anyone, except that the grandmother's money may end up when you get one." If performance evaluation makes sense, children and parents should be able to continue to work productively with school returns.

As an example, the researcher mentions discussions between children and parents (KEL) that are common in new colleges (NMS) and, in the future, also in other types of schools. compulsory schools. The starting point for this operation is a presentation of the child (for example, learning portfolios and diaries). In conclusion, all participants sign a written goal agreement. The goal is to increase students' confidence and responsibility in their learning and to improve communication between school and home.

Communicate at eye level

However, alternative methods of performance evaluation are not necessarily the best; they must be written in such a way that all concerned understand them accordingly, explains Hemetsberger. "If the comments are pbaded on to parents in a more distant way or perhaps difficult to understand in their context, there could be a misunderstanding or misunderstanding."

This experience was also carried out at Romano Centro, an badociation that annually supervises more than 100 Roma children from poorly educated families. From the point of view of the center's pedagogical director, Ferdinand Koller, the main problem is "the evaluation of performance in a conversation" without transcription. Often, these conversations take place without an interpreter and, as a result, parents do not get much.

In addition, they often only heard what they wanted to hear – "that children are good anyway" – and did not recognize the seriousness of the situation. From Koller's point of view, the use of intercultural interpreters or mediators, as Romano Centro says, would make sense here. However, there are too few to meet real needs.

Feedback must be understandable

Even a verbal note on testimony in an appreciative language, which is addressed to the student, is only conditional to informing parents with little pedagogical experience of the children's performance. "If a sophomore says," Practice letters in the summer, "anyone who knows the elementary school program is aware that it is an absolute disaster. " But if that is not clearly communicated to parents Number of notes "almost better, because if five people are inside, see what happens."

However, this is not a fundamental plea for numbers, continues Koller. The notebooks in which, for example, the smileys show the level of the child in the different sub-areas are much more useful and understandable. In this way, the parents themselves could understand if there is a need for support.

Educators have asked

With the Diakonie, we also had good experiences in return performance in the form of performance records and target learning, the APA was told. "All parents understand this," says Martin Schenk, social scientist. If parents are used to notes, educators will first need to invest in communicating with parents and then develop understandable forms of feedback.

From Schenks' point of view, useful accompanying measures for an alternative performance appraisal feedback would be, in addition to the interpreters, a written summary on an A4 page. Expanding child-parent-teacher discussions is also an opportunity, provided teachers are trained accordingly. Schenk also warns against transferring the decision as to whether the child needs a family tutoring. Education support work is the responsibility of educators, especially in helping children in low-income households.

Notes often demotivating in young children

For Schenk during the early years of elementary school, digital brands contradict the psychology of development. Children may still have difficulty distinguishing between themselves as a person and their clbad, which pushes a six-year-old girl to see herself as "insufficient" and not her calculating power.

Students would also be immediately conditioned to the goal of working solely for the clbad. "What kids lose in the first place is joy and even more learning problems: curiosity." Studies also show that numerical scores strongly depend on the social status of teachers and students.

Criticism of missing evidence

On Tuesday, criticisms were also made against the legislative proposal of the Austrian government's government for research and development in education (ÖFEB). In total, it lacks the "scientific evidence," lamented education researchers in a press release. Among other things, "note that truth is an illusion". Alternative performance evaluations have been shown to be "much more conducive" to the progress of learning and development in research and practice.

Researchers are also skeptical about the possibility of introducing permanent service groups in NMSs or in future secondary schools: these are "dysfunctional". Countries with very strong school systems would insist "for good reason" on internal differentiation rather than the creation of permanently separate service groups. Even the old Leistungsgruppenprinzip of the Hauptschulen had not had the expected success, had shown scientific research.

Many comments on the ranking plan

In previous statements on "Pädagogikpaket", the introduction of school grades was mentioned most often. The city of Vienna, for example, sees "autonomous open spaces in schools pushed back into the ranking process". Vienna was also not very enthusiastic about the NMS performance groups and, like Carinthia, warned against a lack of permeability.

The Federation of Manufacturers insists on the possibility of switching flexibly between the two performance levels and warns that they "probably do not have the same link with the old A and B trains". On the other hand, the ÖVP-close Familienbund Österreich was generally satisfied with the changes envisaged: the first year notes and the written explanations were "quite positive".

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