The results for more than 2,000 MYP students from over 60 IB World Schools in the May 2015 session were released today.
Overall, the pilot was an extremely positive experience with a great deal of collaboration and consultation between schools, examiners and the Assessment team in Cardiff. Schools reported that “We have to move forward with the times and MYP eAssessment does that” and “The majority of our candidates had a wonderful experience in this well-designed; user-friendly examination package.” There were some technical issues, but solutions to these have been identified in readiness for the May 2016 first live session.
The results from the pilot show significant variability among subjects and schools, which is understandable, given the innovative nature of the eAssessments, which are completely new; based on concepts, global contexts and with an Interdisciplinary component. It is also to be expected given the different registration approaches of the 60 pilot schools. A number of schools were enthusiastic to take part in the pilot but were unable to register Year 5 students, so registered younger students in Year 4. Others registered students in all 5 subjects, despite not having taught one or more of the 5 subjects offered. Such variations are normal and expected in a pilot assessment.
Overall, achievement in language and literature and interdisciplinary learning was most pleasing, whilst performance in biology and mathematics indicated that some aspects of the new curriculum had not been established in schools yet including coverage of the topic lists, mathematics framework and investigative skills. A full report on each subject will provide important feedback and will be published on the OCC later this month.
The Chief Examiner in the Interdisciplinary component, said “I was delighted at how well the students engaged with the eAssessments. The best candidates were able to link their classroom learning with the real world experiences provided in the eAssessments and their responses were innovative and perceptive.”
We are very grateful to all schools who participated in the pilot whose generous feedback has informed enhancements to the on-screen examinations platform and examination design in readiness for the first full MYP eAssessment session in May 2016. We hope that schools also found the pilot a rich learning experience for teachers and students.
