English 10
The NSE English 10 is designed to evaluate student achievement in relation to selected curriculum outcomes. Individual student results as well as school and board results are provided each fall. The examination is worth 20% of students’ final course mark.
All students registered in any form of English 10 will write the NSE English 10. This includes students in courses such as English 10 Plus, English 10 Pre-IB, and English 10 O2. Students who have an Individual Program Plan (IPP) in English Language Arts, and therefore work toward a different set of outcomes, do not participate in the examination.
The NSE English Advisory Group, comprised of high school English teachers representing all school boards in Nova Scotia assists in the development of examinations. The Advisory Group, under the guidance of department assessment and evaluation coordinators, follows the examination development procedures outlined in the Nova Scotia Assessment Development Model. All processes, examination development, administration, scoring, and reporting are facilitated by Student Assessment and Evaluation of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
The NSE English 10 is constructed according to precise specifications. Questions are written to match curriculum outcomes and then are field-tested with students. Field-test results are then analyzed and items that meet provincial standards are approved for inclusion on examinations.
Teachers of English 10 mark their students’ examinations using the Marking Guide that is provided when examinations are shipped to schools. The Marking Guide follows the Tables of Specifications published in the NSE English 10 Information Guide available in the Documents tab on this website. It is the teacher’s mark that counts towards 20% of the course mark.
A scoring session is held each year to score all students’ examinations. The individual, school and region/board results provided by Student Assessment and Evaluation at the Department of Education are based on this scoring session. Teachers are invited to apply to be scorers at the summer scoring session. Application forms for this session can be accessed under the Scoring Session tab on this website in the spring.
An NSE English 10 information webinar [1] can be accessed by teachers in the Digial Video Library (DVL). This webinar presents an overview of the examination and provides guidance in using the scoring rubrics.
*NEW* A second webinar (recorded January 2019) is available at https://youtu.be/_k9IynK6zKI [2] .
*NEW* Nova Scotia Examinations: English 10 – Lessons Learned [3] is now available.
Note: requests for the Read-Aloud Adaptation for NSE: English 10 must be submitted through the TIENET request form which must be finalized by October 15 for first semester and March 15 for second semester or full year courses.