Fiasco explained – a little
I WOULD like to write in support of algorithms. They do a fine job. In fact they do precisely what they are told to do.
Not withstanding the enigmatic languages in which they are written and the illogicality of asserting that a = a + 1, a mathematical impossibility if ever there was one, they beaver away in just about every piece of electrical kit we come across, waiting on every click, press of a key, flip of a switch to service whims without a murmur of complaint.
So where did this rogue algorithm in our education jungle spring from? Could there be a clandestine laboratory tucked away in a secretive country which had a genetic algorithm malfunction while exploring some multidimensional space and inadvertently released this mutant into Ofqual’s computer? Mr Williamson hasn’t blamed this on Huawei yet, but give him time for he is looking to pin this on anyone but himself.
When the blue screen of grading doom was full in their faces why did they go live before the problem was spotted? They in this case are the commissioners, the designers, the coders and the testers. It is as if we could not conceive of such an unlikely event, that it might as well have been a once in a hundred years pandemic. The question is not who was asleep at the wheel but why were they all asleep?
The algorithm does not discriminate between ethnicity, wealth, status, social standing, age or any other non-academic features. It is cold and calculating. What it was asked to do by the commissioners was to use historical data, assume the near future will not be much different from the recent past, minimise grade inflation and favour teacher assessed grades when the cohort was small.
It is the last bit which led to the furore and cries of foul. In UCAS End of Cycle Report 2019 chapter 8 there is the sentence “On average, 18 year UK students studying A levels are predicted 2.35 A level grades above their achieved grades.” Historical data shows that teacher assessed grades are between 41%-49% high and between 7%-11% low when compared with the examination results.
I have no idea which is the better measure of the students’ abilities. However had the public been alerted to the discrepancy we could have avoided the PR disaster.
Fortunately there is no singing at The Last Night of the Proms this year, for wider still and wider have thy blunders been set. Pandemic, examinations, what are the chances of a hat-trick when the oven-ready deal doesn’t make it to the table in January?
Tony Taylor, via email TALKING IS SO VITAL
POLICE forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland recorded over 7,000 sexual offences against children aged four to eight during 2018/19.
This illustrates how important the NSPCC’s Talk PANTS campaign is, as it gives adults advice on how to talk to kids in an age appropriate way about sexual abuse.
With our campaign, we teach young children that: Privates are private; Always remember your body belongs to you; No means no; Talk about secrets that upset you; and Speak up, someone can help.
Although the new curriculum was originally planned for mandatory roll-out from September, it has been delayed to ensure schools can embed it correctly by the summer-term of 2021.
Until this new curriculum is rolled out, there has never been a better timeto Talk PANTS.
Helen Westerman, NSPCC