Borough of Manhattan Community College Department of English Composition Committee To: All English 101 Instructors
From: Julie Cassidy and Racquel Goodison, Composition Co-coordinators Date: November 26, 2014
Re: Administering and Grading the Final Exam
SPRING 2014 ENGLISH 101 FINAL EXAM PACKAGE
This package includes the following:
• Attendance roster • Exam booklets • Exam questions • Grading criteria • Grade sheet • Grading matrix
• A schedule of third-readers
New Grading Procedure:
This semester, we’ve organized three grading sessions in addition to the grading pairs we started in spring 2014.
If you are in a grading pair, you should have received an email with information about the instructor with which you have been paired up according to class days and times. If you do not have this email, then you can also find the documents on
https://sites.google.com/site/english101atbmcc/. In the trade and grade, you will contact your partner and set up a time/location to exchange the final exams -- that you have already graded -- for your partner to cross-grade.
If you chose a grading session, you should have gotten an email confirming the time and place for your session. You should arrive early, with your graded papers. During the session, your papers will be read again and given a second (or, if necessary, third) grade by your fellow participants.
Finally, know that if you are giving INC grades, you must notify the students and make sure it is indicated on the department roster. The college is no longer sending out letters to students notifying them of INC grades and the requirements.
For the Exam:
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2. Students are allowed to use paper but not electronic dictionaries. Encourage students to look up words they don’t know in the readings beforehand, so as not to waste time during the exam.
3. Students must use their own scrap paper. They should have this out before you distribute test materials.
4. Students can bring their copies of the readings with the annotations they have made. You may bring extra copies for those who do not bring the readings with them.
5. Students who miss the exam (and are not failing the course) must take a make-up exam that will be scheduled next semester. Be sure to submit those students’ addresses, so that the English Department can contact them about the future exam.
On The Day of the Exam Announce the Following:
1. The final is 90 minutes long.
2. The class must meet once during finals week. When the class meets, you can share their exams with them, but students cannot keep the exam booklets.
Administering the Exam:
1. Write your name and the section number for the course on the board. This information needs to appear on the front of each exam booklet.
2. Take attendance.
3. Pass out the blue books.
4. Instruct the students to write the following information on the front of the their test booklet:
a. Their full name b. Your name c. Course section
d. Form of exam (X, Y, or Z)
e. Question number answered, when they have decided
5. Hand out the exam questions. Remind students that they have 90 minutes to read the directions carefully, to respond to only one question, and to do so without using any electronic dictionaries.
7. When students hand in their exam booklets, check off their name on the attendance sheet and collect the exam questions. Make sure that each student who signed-in also handed in an exam. WRITE THE TOTAL NUMBER OF EXAMS ON THE ATTENDANCE SHEET.
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Prior to Switching Essays with Your Trade-and-Grade Partner:
1. Make sure each booklet indicates your name, section number, form of exam (X, Y, or Z) and question number.
2. You are the first grader of your students’ final exam essays. We still expect that you will grade the essays according to the rubric without editing or marking on the essay itself. On the back, inside page of each blue booklet, you will write the essay’s first grade and your initials.
3. Record your grades for each exam before exchanging with your partner and count the number of exams you hand to over to your partner.
After Switching Essays with Your Trade-and-Grade Partner:
1. Record your grade (the second grade) and initials on the front, inside cover.
2. Use the matrix provided to “average” the two grades. If the two grades are too far apart to matrix, then the matrix will show an “X”. Then you can either work it out with your trade-and-grade partner or submit the paper to a member of the Composition Committee for a third read. (See the schedule of third readers.)
3. The matrixed final grade must be written on the front cover of the blue booklet. The front cover should also show at least two checkmarks—one for each grader.
4. Once the papers have been graded and matrixed, switch back with your partner, and discuss your observations and questions. Make sure you get back as many papers as you handed over.
5. Record the exam grades on your roster. Make sure your roster includes the name of every student still listed in the course according to CUNY First. Those without an exam score can earn an INC (incomplete), unless they have unofficially withdrawn from the course. The name, section, and class grade (pending the final) should be submitted to Elba (on the roster) to Elba.
Reminders:
• The Departmental Essay Final is still 30% of the student’s final grade.
• English 101 instructors must submit a grading roster listing each student’s final course grade, along with each student’s grade before the final and on the final exam.
stay in the room for the duration of the exam.
If you have questions, feel free to contact the Co-chairs of the Composition Committee – Racquel Goodison (rgoodison@bmcc.cuny.edu) and/or Julie Cassidy
(jcassidy@bmcc.cuny.edu).
