Outcomes based education - Levels are flawed says Andrich report

I was going to write an article on the uselessness of levels which is probably the greatest failure of outcomes based education in western australia (and everywhere else it is used) but an interesting article appeared on perthnorg that caught my eye.

Outcomes Based Education levels are flawed

The much maligned OBE system in WA has once again gone under the microscope now that a meeting of teachers from ten state high schools have labeled the leveling system as "inaccurate, unworkable and too difficult for parents to understand".
The lack of precision and accuracy in the leveling process has also lead to students all being graded the same with the teachers commenting that ".. it was so imprecise that 90 percent of the students in a year group were often awarded the same level, removing any incentive to strive for better results"
This report comes shortly after a report by Professor David Andrich an international assessment expert from Murdoch University whose report found that teachers should use traditional numerical marking systems based on percentages when ranking students for University. Other finding included that the specialized jargon of OBE was difficult for parents to understand and that the "outcomes and levels" assessment system was too crude to rank students for tertiary entrance.

Written by "Darren" as well, so he must be a good bloke!

http://www.perthnorg.com.au/