Levels are dead? Try again

[GDM]

Sorry if this has been covered - been away.
Went to input some crap for my wife in SIS reports today. She has all the comments and letter grades ready, and what is there - bloody levels. After a phone call to clarify this the answer is - "There is nothing to replace them".
It's same same.
Cheers
Graeme

[Ray]

At a maths department meeting a learned colleague made the following classic analogy "Levels are the pilotfish gnawing on the shark of assessment".

[SET]

Yes, levels are now discredited, disreputable and defunct. Yet teachers in schools are being given no option other than to enter them in SIS in order to generate grades. What the Minister and Director say in their statements and what the bureaucracy does and when it does it seem to be two quite different things.

Levels have caused more illness than swine flu, yet they continue to be inflicted on teachers.

[Secondary Teacher]

Maybe DET has spent too much useless money on the SIS program.  Wouldn't be more honest to say we will get rid of the SIS program so that levels do not have to be used. I sometimes wonder how the purple circle think - if something is discredited, why don't they show their true professionalism and get rid of levels and the stupid SIS system. Does anyone know how money has been spent on SIS and PD on level?

[Gail Reed]

Sis reporting has not changed its spots. This is to cater for those teachers who choose to use levels. My understanding is that 2010 is when they will be officially discarded. I wouldn't hold my breath on that.

[maxiMIM]

Schools need to take the lead by ensuring marking is not done in levels, so that SIS become irrelevant in T4.

I doubt it would even take longer, considering having to wait for SIS to refresh, etc, and select each individual progress point in each level.

All it takes is for schools to decide to imput directly into the Word template - just need to paste ticks under the appropriate headings (just like we did in the 'old' days B4 SIS).

There is NO need to use levels at all - not has there ever been; its just that we ALLOWED ourselves to be bossed into using SIS.  

Hopefully the new Curriculum Organiser (TOPS) being made available to union members will even make the whole process easier...

[Nando]

Maximim, will secondary teachers be able to use the CO for reporting too?

[Ray]

We are reporting in levels but we are calculating a grade from a percentage then using the grade to determine the level.
Another pointless exercise, but at least we are wasting time using the ridiculous level descriptors.