1

Third Consultation on the New Academic Structure for Senior Secondary Education and Higher Education

- Results and Recommendations

18 January 2007

2

An Overview

• Overview of responses in the third consultation & the way forward (slides 3 - 6)

• Proposed changes to the assessment design (slides 7 - 9)• The double cohort years & the implementation challenge (slides

10 - 11)• Strategic implementation principles & plan (slides 12 - 21)

Note:Details of the third consultation along with the Curriculum & Assessment Guides for all subjects will be uploaded onto the EMB and HKEAA websites by the end of January

3

The Consultations

Number of Consultations Number Attending

Principals 8 1,197

Panel chairs and teachers 80 10,771

Questionnaires sent

Questionnaires received

Response rate(%)

Government and Aided 429 414 96.5

Day schools 549 470 85.6

Participating schools 626 493 78.8

All schools 703 508 72.3

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Overview of Responses to Questionnaires Average Ratings by Question

1 2 3 4 5 6

Teacher Effort

Student Effort

Authentication

Design

Timeline

Weighting

Weighting

Paper Structure

Duration

Alignment

SBA

Exam The main concerns continue to be teacher and student effort, and to a lesser extent, authentication

Notes :A 6-point scale is adopted, with 6 denoting strongly agree and 1 strongly disagree at the two ends of the continuum. Schools choosing 4, 5, or 6 indicated a view in agreement with the statement, while those choosing 1,2 or 3 in disagreement with the statement.

5

Overview of Responses to the Survey

• Schools’ views on the public examination components are generally good

• Positive support for the design and weighting of SBA in most subjects

• Opinion divided as to whether the effort required by teachers and students to complete SBA is reasonable

6

The Way Forward

• Further refinement of assessment design for 9 elective subjects • Strategic implementation of SBA

7

Proposed Changes to the Assessment Design(Core Subjects)

Subject Concern Remarks

Chinese Lang Weighting of SBA, teachers’ and students’ effort on SBA

Details of SBA to be reviewed in the final round of consultation in early 2008

English Lang • Retain public speaking assessment for school candidates

• Weighting of SBA, teachers’ and students’ effort on SBA

• To be further reviewed upon completion of the 2007 HKCE exam cycle

• Details of SBA to be reviewed in the final round of consultation in early 2008

Note : There are no proposed changes to the assessment design for Mathematics and Liberal Studies.

8

Proposed Changes to the Assessment Design(Elective Subjects)

Subject Concern RemarksChi History Teachers’ and

students’ effort on SBA

Reduce the no of assessment tasks from 4 to 3

Economics Teachers’ and students’ effort on SBA

Reduce the no of SBA assignments from 5 to 3

Geography Teachers’ and students’ effort on SBA

Revise the requirement on fieldwork for the first few cohorts:• reducing the word limit of the report• allowing students to work in groups in planning and data collection stage• allowing students of the same class to work on the same field work site, topic or even report title

History Teachers’ effort on SBA

Three-task assignment changed to a two-task assignment

In response to schools’ concern, proposed changes to the assessment design of 9 elective subjects were made

9

Proposed Changes to the Assessment Design(Elective Subjects)

Subject Concern Remarks

Biology Teachers’ and students’ effort on SBA

Reduce the number of practical related assessment from 5 to 4

Integrated Science

Teachers’ and students’ effort on SBA

Reduce the number of non-practical assignments from 3 to 2

BAFS Weighting of SBA, teachers’ and students’ effort on SBA

• Reduce the weighting from 20% to 15%• Reduce the number of tasks from 2 to 1

Visual Arts Assessment of art appreciation & criticism, duration of public examination

Divide the 4-hour paper into two separate sessions, andrelax the requirement of relating art appreciation to art making in public exam

PE Difficulty in assessing a wide range of physical activities

Adopt a restricted list of physical activities at initial stages

10

The Double Cohort Years (2011 and 2012)

During the double cohort years, some teachers may need to teach S6/S7 classes entering HKALE and S5/S6 classes entering HKDSE at the same time

Public Exam

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Current HKALE S7 S7 S7 S7

S6 S6 S6

HKCEE S5 S5

S4

NSS HKDSE S6 S6

S5 S5 S5

S4 S4 S4 S4

S3 S3 S3 S3 S3

S2 S2 S2 S2 S2

S1 S1 S1 S1 S1

11

The Implementation Challenge

Key implications of the double cohort in 2011-12:

Some teachers will need to teach i) old HKALE subjects ii) new HKDSE subject equivalents, iii) modules of the new Liberal Studies.

A 2012 introduction of SBA for all subjects could result in heavy short-term demands on these teachers and on the schools in balancing teacher workload

Strategic implementation

of SBA

12

Strategic Implementation Principles

• SBA should be fully implemented in 2012 for subjects that already have SBA at HKCEE level

• Deferred arrangements would be adopted for subjects with no SBA at HKCEE level, taking into consideration the support for SBA and the impact (in terms of the no of schools and candidature)

13

Strategic Implementation Plan

• Category 1 (8 subjects) - Full implementation in 2012• Category 2 (10 subjects) - To be further discussed with

stakeholders before finalization• Category 3 (6 subjects) – Deferred implementation

14

Proposed Strategic Implementation Plan for Cat 1 Subjects

Subjects Implementation Plan Rationale

Chi Lang, Eng Lang, Chi Hist, DAT, History, ICT, Visual Arts(7 subjects)

• Full implementation in 2012• For Chi Lang & Eng Lang, details of SBA to be reviewed in the final round of consultation in early 2008

Already have SBA at HKCEE level

Liberal Studies Full implementation in 2012 • Strong support• Independent Enquiry Study critical to the subject

15

Proposed Strategic Implementation Plan for Cat 3 Subjects

Subjects Implementation Plan Rationale

BAFS, Econ, ERS, Geog, Music, Math(6 subjects)

Deferred arrangements (2-year deferral of SBA marks submission followed by 0/1/2 years of school trial, before full implementation)

• No SBA at HKCEE level• SBA is new to the subject• Strong support for deferral

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Summary of Strategic Implementation Planfor Subjects in Cat 1 and Cat 3

Chi Lang, Eng Lang, LS, Chi Hist, DAT, History, ICT, Visual Arts

Econ, ERS, Geog Music BAFS, Maths

2012 Implement Deferred Deferred Deferred

2013 Implement Deferred Deferred Deferred

2014 Implement Implement School Trial School Trial

2015 Implement Implement Implement School Trial

2016 Implement Implement Implement Implement

Implement: All schools fully implement SBA, submit marks to HKEAA for counting towards subject result

School Trial: All schools fully implement the curriculum and assessment guides and submit SBA marks to HKEAA for feedback, but do not count towards subject result

Deferred: All schools fully implement the curriculum and assessment guides, but do not submit SBA marks to HKEAA

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Cat 2a - Science Subjects (Bio, Chem, Phy, Sci)

• SBA well established and accepted at HKALE• Strong arguments for regarding the practical

component of the SBA (i.e., laboratory work) as integral to the subject

• However, currently SBA is not a part of HKCEE science subjects

• Many science teachers will be involved in teaching HKALE courses and contributing to Liberal Studies in 2011 and 2012, noting that electives with large candidature (e.g. Econ, Geog, BAFS etc) will be implemented strategically

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Proposed Strategic Implementation Plan for Cat 2a – Science Subjects

Option Implementation Plan Pros Cons

A • Deferred for 2 years• Full implementation in

2014

• SBA is not a part of HKCEE science subjects

• Relief the workload of science teachers

• SBA of science subjects has been implemented in HKALE as early as 1978

• Universities may have concern about the standards & abilities of students if their practical skills are not reflected in the public assessment

B • Partial implementation in 2012 & 2013 (practical component only)

• Defer implementation of non-practical assignments for 2 years

• Full implementation in 2014

• Practical skills is critical to science subjects

• Science teachers are familiar with the assessment of practical skills

• Partially relief the workload of science teachers

• Workload of science teachers may still be an issue during the double cohort years

Note :A further point of discussion for science subjects is to have school trial for 2 years in 2012 and 2013 before full implementation in 2014, taking into consideration the fact that assessment of practical skills has been practised in science subjects for many years.

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Cat 2b - Literatures and Practical Subjects (Chi Lit, Lit in Eng, HMSC, THS, T&L, PE)

• No SBA at HKCEE level (Chi Lit, Lit in Eng, PE)• New subjects (HMSC, THS, T&L)• Heavily practical in nature or the current public examination

already assessing similar skills• Some language teachers teaching the literature subjects will be

involved in teaching Chi Lang / Eng Lang as well• Medium/small candidature anticipated, medium/small impact on

schools

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Proposed Strategic Implementation Plan for Cat 2b – Literatures and Practical Subjects

Option Implementation Plan Pros Cons

A • Deferred for 2 years• Full implementation in 2014

• SBA is not a part of the HKCEE for these subjects

• Address the readiness issue for new subjects or subjects with no SBA at HKCEE

• Release the workload of language and technology subject teachers during the double cohort years

• SBA closely related to the curriculum, especially for the elective part which cannot be assessed by public examination

• May need to adjust the public assessment of some subjects during the transition, which will increase teachers’ & students’ pressure in preparing for the public examination

B Full implementation in 2012 • Medium / small impact on schools

• Strong support for SBA in some subjects

• Readiness of some subjects may be an issue

• Workload of teachers and demand on schools may be an issue during the double cohort years

21

Summary of Strategic Implementation for All Subjects

Chi Lang, Eng Lang, LS, Chi Hist, DAT, History, ICT, Visual Arts

Econ, ERS, Geog, + Bio, Chem, Phy, Sci

+ Chi Lit, HMSC, Lit in Eng, THS, T&L, PE

Music BAFS, Maths

2012 Implement Deferred Deferred Deferred

2013 Implement Deferred Deferred Deferred

2014 Implement Implement School Trial School Trial

2015 Implement Implement Implement School Trial

2016 Implement Implement Implement Implement

Implement: All schools fully implement SBA, submit marks to HKEAA for counting towards subject result

School Trial: All schools fully implement the curriculum and assessment guides and submit SBA marks to HKEAA for feedback, but do not count towards subject result

Deferred: All schools fully implement the curriculum and assessment guides, but do not submit SBA marks to HKEAA

+ Adopting Option A

22

Professional Development for Teachers

A. Including 40 3-day school leaders workshops and some 110 1-day workshops for all middle managers of all secondary schools as well as subject specific programmes for teachers (e.g. in 2005/06, about 90 programmes & 400 events were offered to entertain 36,000 enrolments)

B. Include also the following areas:a. Integration of SBA tasks in regular teaching and learning activities;

andb. Developing a school assessment policy which adopts more

diversified forms of assessment apart from paper and pen examinations

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Impact of good training: the case of PE

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

1 2 3 4 5 6(1 Strongly Disagree 6 Strongly Agree)

3rd Consultation After 1.5-day PDP

Responses to the item "The amount and type of effort required of teachers to complete SBA is reasonable"

(3rd Consultation, n=282; After PDP =74).

Responses to the item "The amount and type of effort required of students to complete SBA is reasonable"

(3rd Consultation, n=282; After PDP =74).

Teachers’ Workload

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

1 2 3 4 5 6(1 Strongly Disagree 6 Strongly Agree)

3rd Consultation After 1.5-day PDP

Students’ Workload

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Other Support Provisions

1. School-based Support Services3 types of support: subject-specific, generic and school partnership projectMode of support: on-site, consultancy service and networking

2. Curriculum & Assessment Guides (ready in early 2007)3. Senior Secondary Curriculum Guides4. Liberal Studies Web-based Resource Platform

(http://www.ls.hkedcity.net); user name: lsuser; password: lspwd5. 334 Web Bulletin (http://www.emb.gov.hk/334)6. Learning & Teaching materials (including textbooks)