For Year 12 students in New South Wales doing the Higher School Certificate (HSC), their final. English mark accounts for at least 20% of their ATAR. That a full ...
OPINION PIECE IN SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, JUNE 2018: FULL TEXT Is it time to re-think English in the calculation of a student’s ATAR? Scientia Professor Andrew J. Martin School of Education University of New South Wales, Australia For Year 12 students in New South Wales doing the Higher School Certificate (HSC), their final English mark accounts for at least 20% of their ATAR. That a full 20% of a student’s ATAR must comprise his or her Year 12 English mark poses potential issues about educational equity, may impede some students’ post-school pathways, and may privilege some students over others. There has been recent debate about the ATAR, the scaling of subjects, and the contribution of scaling to students’ ATAR. However, of all the factors that play into a student’s ATAR, the role of the Year 12 English mark may be one of the most significant—and the least discussed. Indeed, it could be argued that debates about who may or may not be advantaged or disadvantaged through subject scaling are relatively trivial when compared to the mandatory 20% that the Year 12 English mark contributes to the ATAR. Is it time to reconsider the place of a student’s Year 12 English mark in the calculation of his or her ATAR? English - the School Subject In considering this question, it is important to be clear about what English (as a Year 12 subject) is and is not. Senior school English is a school subject, alongside all other school subjects. By Year 12, English is not aimed at teaching literacy any more than literacy is taught in most other subjects. Just as in English, teachers in most other subjects will provide corrective feedback on students’ written expression, conceptualising, critical thinking, grammar, spelling, and subject-specific comprehension. There is as much reading required in most other Year 12 subjects as there is in Year 12 English. Moreover, the English language is as much the medium of instruction in English as it is in all other Year 12 subjects (notwithstanding language subjects). Taken together, students are not afforded any more opportunities to think, to improve literacy, to read, or to be exposed to the English language in Year 12 English as they are in most other Year 12 subjects. We can therefore rule out these factors as reasons to require English to account for 20% of an ATAR. According to the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA): “Through the study of English in Stage 6 [Year 11 and 12] … students engage with and explore a variety of texts that include widely acknowledged quality literature of past and contemporary societies … develop an understanding of themselves and of diverse human experiences and cultures … [experience] opportunities to experiment with ideas and expression, to become innovative, active, independent learners, to collaborate and to reflect on their learning.” These are all very important skills to develop, but they are developed in other school subjects as well. Where English might differ from other subjects in these respects, is this divergence so distinct that it must account for 20% of a student’s post-school opportunities? Who Loses? Mandating that so much of one’s ATAR must be sourced from one school subject, introduces systematic bias against those who are disproportionately more likely to struggle with that subject. Speaking personally, there were some Year 12 subjects I tended to be better at and some subjects I was not so good at. I was very fortunate that the subject with which I struggled the most (and A.J. Martin - Opinion Piece in Sydney Morning Herald, June 2018: Full Text
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failed!) did not comprise 20% of my university entry mark. This would have represented instant systematic bias against me and my post-school opportunities. Speaking as an educational psychologist specializing in student motivation, what are the effects on students’ inclination to work towards an ATAR they fear will be undermined by their English mark? Or, what is the effect on students’ motivation studying for Year 12 when they know their ATAR will be disproportionately assisted (relative to other students) by a strong Year 12 English mark? Are these the seeds of an ATAR achievement gap? I recognise English has expanded to include multiple mediums (e.g., film) that will appeal to increasingly diverse learners and I recognise there are Year 12 English courses for students who struggle. However, requiring 20% of the ATAR to be sourced from English does not remove the risk of systematic bias and issues of equity. The obvious flip side to this is that students for whom English is a strength are disproportionately advantaged in the calculation of their ATAR. Furthermore, to the extent that some Australian states/territories, but not others, mandate inclusion of the Year 12 English mark in the calculation of the ATAR, students in different states/territories may have different opportunities for university entrance. There is also the possibility that students may be locked out of post-school pathways that have no direct relevance to Year 12 English. For example, a student’s Year 12 English mark may lower his or her ATAR such that they miss the cut-off for a STEM-specific university course. Should students be screened on criteria that have little direct relevance to the specific course they are pursuing? Alternatively, is it possible that a student makes the cut in a STEM-specific course at university through higher marks in Year 12 English, relative to his or her marks in science and mathematics? Should universities be concerned they may be losing (or accepting) students in this way? What Should Be Done? Again speaking personally, the texts I studied in Year 12 English live with me today. I believe that these texts taught me things about myself and the society in which live that other school subjects could not teach me. Indeed, in these respects, English (as a school subject) occupies an important and unique place in the Year 12 curriculum. I therefore believe it should be mandatory to study English through to the completion of school. But I am not sure it should account for a mandatory 20% of a student’s ATAR. Thus, one option is to retain English as a mandatory subject to be studied in Year 12, but to calculate an ATAR that is compromised solely of a student’s best performing subjects (i.e., best 10 Units of study). For many students, this ATAR will include their English mark; but for many others, it will not. I lean towards this option. However, a concern here is that a lot of students will not try in Year 12 English once they know it does not factor into their ATAR. Thus, alongside an ATAR that is comprised of the 10 best Units of study, students’ Year 12 credential might also report on their satisfactory or unsatisfactory completion of English. Using this information, universities, colleges, and employers can make their own decisions about a potential candidate. Another option is to calculate an ATAR (that is the student’s best 10 Units) and an ATAR-E (that is the student’s ATAR accounting for his/her mark in English—i.e., as it is currently calculated). From here, universities can set their own criteria for different courses (as some already do): those that A.J. Martin - Opinion Piece in Sydney Morning Herald, June 2018: Full Text
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want Year 12 English factored in can use the ATAR-E as the entry mark. Employers can do the same when assessing students’ Year 12 outcomes. A further possibility is to reduce the mandated amount that English factors into the ATAR; say, from 20% (or, 2 Year 12 Units) to 10% (or, 1 Year 12 Unit). Thus, students will still need to invest effort in Year 12 English, but their ATAR will not be disproportionately weighted if it is not their strength. Notably, this and the ATAR-E are not soft options: students will still need to (a) invest significant effort in English because 10% of an ATAR is no small amount or a university may require the ATAR-E and (b) study an extra Unit to cover the balance if English comprises only 10% of their ATAR. As questions are raised about the utility and transparency of the ATAR and subject scaling, it may be time to also debate what is one of the most significant—yet least discussed—influences on a student’s ATAR: the 20% accounted for by his or her Year 12 English mark.
A.J. Martin - Opinion Piece in Sydney Morning Herald, June 2018: Full Text
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