Sat April 27, 2024Introduction of School Based Assessment:
School Based Assessment (SBA) is an important tool that allows a more comprehensive picture of individual students’ learning performance and their needs. It also fosters positive washback effects and helps to address the limitations of judging students on their performance in one single examination.
Departments offering subjects with a SBA element will adhere to the detailed procedures of SBA set out for their specific subject by the HKEAA. For details on requirements and tasks of different subjects, please refer to the HKEAA website: https://www.hkeaa.edu.hk/en/sba/sub_info_sba/
SBA marks will be submitted to the HKEAA and constitutes a percentage of the total subject mark.
The school issues a SBA Mark Slip to Parents of Secondary 5 and 6 students. The dates for the issuing of the reports that are to be signed by parents are as follows:
- SBA Report (S5) distributed on 2nd Monday in May
- SBA Report (S6) distributed on 4th Monday in November
An Appeal Policy is in place and any appeal must be made within 7 working days after the release of the mark. This must be done by the parent/guardian in writing. Letters should be addressed to The Principal.
- School Policy on SBA Penalties and Handling plagiarism cases in SBA
SBA is an important tool that allows a more comprehensive picture of individual students’ learning performance and their needs. It also fosters positive washback effects and helps to address the limitations of judging students on their performance in one single examination
1. Background
All Subject Panels will adhere to the detailed procedures of SBA set out for their specific subject by the HKEAA. See https://www.hkeaa.edu.hk/en/sba/introduction/
2. Handling of Irregularities
Students’ works are of two kinds, those ‘done at home’ and those ‘done at school’. Teachers of the subject with SBA components will inform their students of details of assessment and type of work to be done.
2.1 Assessment done at home
This refers to work done by students throughout the term and submitted to teacher on set due dates, e.g. projects, major assignments, and portfolios.
Situations and penalty
2.1.1 Late submission of work done at home
(a) Non‐justified
There will be a penalty range of 1 mark from the total mark awarded deducted for each school day the work is late.
(b) Justified
Justified late submissions are handled as follows:
Absence considered justified
If medical certificates are issued up to two calendar days BEFORE the date of the assessment; or if prior application is submitted at least 2 working days in advance for events such as competitions, piano examination and family affairs, a grace period of 2 school days will be given following the deadline of submission.
There will be no penalty if the work is handed in within the two-day grace period. After the 2‐day grace period, a penalty of 1 mark from the total mark awarded will be deducted for each school day the work is late.
2.l.2 Non‐submission of work done at home
(a) Non‐justified
0 marks will be given to non‐submission of work with no accepted justification
(b) Justified
The Academic Secretary and the Head of the Panel will examine the case and follow-up with the Examinations and Assessment Committee of the school and then report these cases to the HKEAA for further instruction.
2.1.3 Further notes:
Only school days will be counted for penalty purposes. All teachers must strictly follow instructions stipulated in the HKEAA Handbook as it is an offence in public examinations for teachers to give students any unfair advantage.
2.2 Assessment done at school
Work done by students in class, under the supervision of the teacher, e.g. laboratory work, oral assessment
Situations and penalty
2.2.1 Absence
(a) Non‐justified absences
No make‐up will be allowed and the student will get ZERO (0).
(b) Justified
A make‐up arrangement can be made within a week of the assessment being done. If the absence spans longer than that week, the Academic Head, Panel Head and Head of the Examinations and Assessment Committee shall decide on follow-up action.
2.2.2 Cheating
Suspected cheating will be dealt with as follows:
0 marks will be given for proven cases of cheating.
Demerit marks as deemed appropriate by the Discipline Committee.
3. Warning Letter
3.1 1st warning letter
To be issued to the student and parent concerned within the shortest reasonable time when further late work or absence from assessment will incur a penalty to the overall SBA score. The student and parent concerned is required to sign the warning letter to acknowledge receipt.
3.2 2nd warning letter
To be issued to the student and parent concerned within the shortest reasonable time once a penalty is confirmed to be incurred to the overall SBA score. The teacher concerned, the Panel Head and the Academic Head will meet with the student and parent concerned, and the student and parent concerned are required to sign the warning letter.
4. Plagiarism
4.1 Standard practice
Students will be informed of what plagiarism is and its consequences at the beginning of the course of study. Students will be required to sign a
STUDENT DECLARATION FORM stating that the work done is their own work.
The Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority has issued details on the handling of cases of plagiarism which STC follows. Details can be found of the HKEAA website:
- SBA Appeal Policy
Background of School Based Assessment for Public Examinations
In the context of public assessment, School-based Assessment (SBA) refers to assessments administered in schools and marked by students’ own teachers. SBA marks awarded will count towards students’ public assessment results. However, there will not be separate reporting of SBA results in the Diploma.
The primary rationale for SBA is to enhance the validity of the assessment, by including the assessment of outcomes that cannot be readily assessed within the context of a one-off public examination. After the release of examination results, candidates may only apply to the HKEAA for rechecking of their SBA marks. They cannot apply for a re-assessment of their performance in SBA. Queries regarding SBA results must be resolved by schools before the submission of SBA marks to the HKEAA.
In this regard, Shung Tak has in place an Appeal Policy so students or parents who will like to appeal their SBA mark can apply to the Principal in writing.
Procedures for Appeal
The following should be submitted:
Applications for reassessment should be submitted within 7 days (including weekends) after the release of that subject mark to students. No late applications would be accepted.
After the application is received, a Review of the case would be conducted.
Process:
- Score will be rechecked for technical errors such as arithmetic errors and wrong mark entries.
- A statistical analysis will be conducted to check the correlation between the marks obtained by the student in SBA and the more objective mark of that particular subject. Marks from daily work, the Interim Exam and the Final Examination may be referred to.
- If there is a high correlation between the 2 marks, no additional steps will be taken and the mark awarded will stand.
- If there is a low correlation, the work will be remarked. Efforts are made to ensure that the works are remarked by a person other than the original marker.
Outcome of Appeal Review Applications
The student and parent will be notified of the outcome of the application in writing. The decision of the Appeal Committee is FINAL.