By Caroline Schelle
Thousands of Victorian students could lose marks on their VCE exams if “anomalies” are found in results linked to the leaking of exam questions on practice tests.
Education Minister Ben Carroll announced an existing grade-check tool would be used to ensure students were graded fairly and an independent panel would oversee the process.
Carroll said the process would identify any student who performed significantly above expected levels.
It comes after Victoria Curriculum and Assessment Authority boss Kylie White resigned following revelations some VCE exam questions had been published online ahead of the tests in “hidden” parts of sample assessments.
Carroll said results would be investigated to identify if students had gained advantage from the early publication of the exam questions. “If questions have been identified, then if any student has [been given] an unfair advantage, adjustments will be made to student marks,” he said.
The minister did not rule out students losing marks if they were found to have gained an advantage on certain questions that were released ahead of the exams.
Victoria Curriculum and Assessment Authority boss Kylie White has resigned effective immediately. Credit: Nine
“There are a range of options that are on the table as part of our robust process we put in place, one is invalidating that question, taking marks off or indeed awarding all students the full marks for that question,” he said.
He also confirmed nearly half of VCE exams were affected in the breach.
Carroll said that in a few cases, only one to two multiple choice questions were published and there were no cases where the full exams were published.
Former VCAA boss John Firth would lead the expert panel to implement the process to look at exam results.
“There [is] other data available to us to make sure that we can, case by case, subject by subject, look at the students marks and make sure no student has been disadvantaged or advantaged by access to the previously published material,” Firth said.
However, he said he didn’t want to pre-empt docking marks.
“If, say, a multiple choice question worth one mark performed inconsistently with the rest of the paper, then you could take that mark off or ignore that question,” he said.
Firth said the panel had access to “high quality, reliable data”, such as students’ results in other exams, how they compared to other students and their performance on other questions contained in affected exams.
Education Minister Ben Carroll apologised to VCE students for the impact the debacle had on them.Credit: Justin McManus
“We’re not shooting in the dark here. There is plenty of evidence and plenty of material available for us to analyse.”
Carroll said White had resigned as chief executive at the weekend. Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership chief Dr Marcia Devlin will replace her in an interim capacity.
The opposition education spokeswoman Jess Wilson said the minister was complicit in a cover-up, after revealing last week he was aware of the breaches in October.
“The minister has known from mid-October that VCE exams have been compromised … many of them substantially compromised, putting so many Victorian students who worked hard for years disadvantaged,” she said.
She wanted the government to back the opposition’s push for the ombudsman to investigate the debacle. Wilson also questioned how it would be possible for authorities to differentiate between students who had an advantage after seeing questions on sample cover sheets, and those who studied hard.
“This is the problem, now we’re talking about potentially taking marks off students without any proof they’ve actually done anything wrong, and let’s be clear no student has done anything wrong,” she said.
However, Carroll earlier said the authority had previously reassured him that questions in affected exams had been rewritten.
“To be provided reassurances that have turned out to be false is deeply unsatisfactory,” he said.
But schools have also been blindsided. Victorian Association of State Secondary Principals president Colin Axup said schools were left in the dark about the process until after the press conference on Monday.
“Principals and staff and schools have been dealing with the fallout without support or clear direction from the VCAA,” he said, adding that they welcomed the grade-check process.
“It’s been used before, so, if you like, we have a measure of confidence in that process, but it’s the best approach given the circumstances.”
Independent Schools Victoria said it remained to be seen if the process would restore confidence in the exam and curriculum body.
Students and teachers are demanding to know how the compromised exams will be marked.Credit: Joe Armao
“School communities have well-founded concerns that some students have been advantaged, and others disadvantaged, by this failure,” chief executive Rachel Holthouse said.
“Confidence has been further eroded by a lack of candour on the part of the VCAA when it became aware of the leak.”
She said the authority must provide clear and prompt answers to questions that principals were raising about the assumptions, guidelines and procedures applied in assessing exam papers in “extraordinary circumstances”.
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