TUI bans rank-ordering for Junior Cert exams

THE TUI HAS decided to ban all rank-ordering of candidates for Junior Certificate exams. Members have been directed not to complete rank-order listings of students for any subject this June.

However, rank ordering of candidates for Leaving Certificate oral language examinations will continue.

Rose Malone, education and research officer with the TUI explains that Junior Cert practical exams can be examined by a teacher or an external examiner. Where an external examiner is involved, the teacher is asked to put students in rank order. Some teachers have blocked the class into a number of bands, while others have simply listed the students one to 28.

There were no guidelines, and the ranking has caused a lot of problems, particularly in subjects like art, where it was unclear if innate ability or effort was the criterion, Malone says.

"The TUI is not happy with this practice as it may unduly influence the examiner and interfere with the objectivity of the exam. It is also expecting an unpaid contribution by the teacher," she explains. The reason for continuing with rank ordering for Leaving Certificate language students is that it is necessary logistically to deal with the taping, she says.

The ASTI is opposed to teachers giving a mark to pupils for the purposes of State exams, but says that rank-ordering has nothing to do with marks and does not contravene ASTI policy. Assigning a rank-order number to a student does not mean the pupils should achieve a particular mark, says John White, assistant general secretary with the ASTI.

Rank-ordering is entirely voluntary, White says, and if teachers do not wish to become involved they do not have to do it.