Standards as a social contract in curriculum-based qualifications: stakeholder views in Scotland

Figures & data

Figure 1. Ecological model of standards definitions.

Table 1. Focus group participants.

Stakeholder group	Participants	Institutions	Focus groups
School senior management teams	9	6	2
School principal teachers	12	5	3
School pupils	18	9	3
College senior management teams	5	3	1
College lecturers	10	6	2
College students	8	5	2
Parents or carers	13	7	3
University admissions officers	3	3	1
Employers	3	3	1
Media	1	1	1
Total	82	48	19

Table 2. Survey participants.

a		b
Stakeholder group	No.	Educational institution	No.
Learner	346	State secondary school	492
Teacher/Lecturer	306	Independent school	274
Parent/carer	258	FE College	56
Other	8	Other/missing	96
Total	918	Total	918

Table 3. Definitions of standards coded in focus group discussions.

Definition	Number of focus groups
Criterion-referencing	15
Cohort-referencing	9
Due process	4
Attainment-referencing	2
Other	12

Figure 2. Forced-choice questions on standards (percentages agreeing with each statement).

Table 4. Cross-tabulation between views on the importance of statistics and the nature of the construct being assessed.

		Importance of statistics (2a): It is important that …
		grades are based on individual student skills and knowledge.	the number of students that receive the grade remains about the same every year. (cohort-referencing)
Nature of the construct (2c): Qualification standards tell you about …	performances on the assessment. (criterion-referencing)	48% (n = 441)	10% (n = 96)
	people’s underlying abilities, not just how they performed on the day. (construct-referencing)	31% (n = 283)	11% (n = 98)