Handbook of Procedures 2013

Wednesday 12 December 2012

I have discovered that the Handbook of Procedures 2013 is available now on the OCC. This is important because it gives up-to-date, definitive instructions about important aspects of the assessment process for English B. I publish this here, as a blog, as a Hot News way of catching as many people's attention as possible!

How long the 2013 Handbook has been on the OCC I can't say, because it is currently rather buried in a corner. You find it like this - get into the OCC, and go to English B ... scroll down the list to Diploma programme publications ... scroll almost to the bottom, and there it is (including also a version in Mandarin, if you want!).

There's an awful lot of it, and most is only relevant to IB Coordinators or teachers of other subjects. The important bit for English B is in Section B, and you can find it quickly by going to section B2a Language B (which will also provide a link to the new form 2 BWA, which is the vital cover sheet for the Written Assignment.

You should, of course read these documents in full and carefully, but here is my personal, unofficial review of what seem to me to be the important headlines :-

 

1. Deadline dates

  • Written Assignment ... 15 March ... completed WAs + form 2 BWA to reach the examiner
  • Oral Internal Assessment marks (+ predicted grades) ... 10 April ... these have to have been entered on the IB computer system, IBIS
  • Oral Internal Assessment samples ... 20 April ... required samples to be uploaded** on IBIS, along with form 2/BIA + the visual stimulus

** notice that it says "uploaded" - this seems to imply that sending CDs or even audio-cassettes is now not permitted ... important to check ?

(And note that you're going to have to have all of this material completed and delivered to your Coordinator well before each of the relevant deadlines - so negotiate with your Coordinator!)

 

2. Written Assignment

  • Modified procedures The relevant section begins with these words : "Please note that the procedures for the written assignment (both standard level and higher level) have been modified—teachers are advised to refer to the section below for the most up to date information."
  • Helping the students The wording under section B2a.4.3 is that teachers "...should offer advice and support students in their choice of task." This seems to be a more proactive role than that suggested by the more impersonal wording in the Guide - see p. 34 (SL) & p.42 (HL).
  • Reference material permitted Students are allowed to have with them "...teacher’s guidelines on writing text types, the assessment criteria, the assignment guidelines and dictionaries in printed form plus at standard level the original texts as chosen by the teacher and at higher level a copy of the literary work read in class." Nothing else is mentioned.
  • HL: no summary required Teachers have to enter on form 2 BWA "...details of the literary work on which the assignment is based ..." Form 2 BWA has spaces for Title, Author, Date of publication. There is no space for a summary, nor is a summary mentioned in the check list of requirements.
  • SL: hard copies of the stimulus texts to be sent with form 2 BWA.

3. Oral internal Assessment

 

The Handbook section (B2a.5) gives clear and detailed instructions which amplify but do not change significantly, in my view, the instructions given in the Guide. However, do note the specific instruction given in the first paragraph of the section :

  • "The recording is uploaded electronically ..." This seems to imply, as noted above, that CDs and audio-cassettes are now not allowed.

Boo!Words
10 Jan 2013