Improving Student Achievement through School Based Assessment for Learning Dr Joyce Musabe

1. Improving Student Achievement through School Based Assessment for Learning Dr Joyce Musabe Quality in Education Summit Kigali RWANDA 2011

2. Pre-amble • Quality education has been one of the major focuses of Schools. It will assume a central focus in "Education For All" program as well. • The major indicator of quality of education is the level of student achievement. • Assessment has a greater role in increasing and maintaining quality of education • Assessment: more useful if learning of a child is assessed with the main intention to improve her/his learning. • It is important to assess students’ achievement with respect to the curriculum objectives by employing appropriate assessment devices. Achieving quality education for all regional summit, Kigali, Rwanda November 2011

3. Purpose of Assessment • Assessment for learning: gives teachers information to modify and differentiate teaching and learning activities. • Assessment as learning : focuses on the role of the student as the critical connector between assessment and learning. • Assessment of learning : confirms what students know and can do, to demonstrate whether they have achieved the curriculum outcomes, and, occasionally, to show how they are placed in relation to others. Achieving quality education for all regional summit, Kigali, Rwanda November 2011

4. Different audiences have different needs for information about learning • Students need feedback on their performance: to know where they are doing well and where they need to place additional effort. • Teachers: to make good decisions about what and how they teach. • Parents: to know the areas where their students need additional support. • Districts/ Government: to know where additional support for teachers and students may be needed. Achieving quality education for all regional summit, Kigali, Rwanda November 2011

5. Formative and Summative Assessment • Formative Assessment ( CA): the use of day-to- day(often informal) assessments to explore pupils’ understanding. Teacher to best decide how to help them to develop that understanding. • Summative Assessment: the more formal summing- up of a pupil’s progress with purposes for ranging them Achieving quality education for all regional summit, Kigali, Rwanda November 2011

6. Summative assessment... • Should reflect formative assessments that precede it. • Should match material taught. • May determine student’s exit achievement. • May be tied to a final decision, grade or report. • Should align with instructional/curricular outcomes. • May be a form of alternative assessment. Achieving quality education for all regional summit, Kigali, Rwanda November 2011

7. Assessment is related to curriculum and instruction Assessment Quality teachers use evidence of learning (assessment) to inform what they teach (the curriculum) and how they teach (instruction Curriculum Instruction Achieving quality education for all regional summit, Kigali, Rwanda November 2011

8. Quality Assessment implies Corrective Instruction • If assessments provide information for both students and teachers: must be followed by high-quality, corrective instruction : ( remedy of errors found) (see Guskey, 1997). • - High-quality, corrective instruction is not reteaching(louder and more slowly), Rather there is a use of approaches that accommodate differences in students' learning styles and intelligences (Sternberg, 1994) - Teachers must follow their assessments with instructional alternatives that present those conceptsin new ways and engage students in different and more appropriate learning experiences. - Although teachers generally try to incorporate different teaching approaches when they initially plan their lessons, corrective instruction involves extending and strengthening that work Achieving quality education for all regional summit, Kigali, Rwanda November 2011

9. Quality Assessment implies Corrective Instruction - Corrective instruction provide enriching activities to those students who have few or no learning errors (broaden and expand their learning) - structured professional development opportunities can help teachers share strategies and collaborate on teaching techniques (Guskey, 1998, 2000b) - Faculty meetings devoted to examining classroom assessment results and developing alternative strategies can be highly effective. - District-level personnel and collaborative partnerships with local schools offer wonderful resources for ideas and practical advice. Achieving quality education for all regional summit, Kigali, Rwanda November 2011

10. Assessment challenges in Rwandan classrooms My observations from being a teacher and schools’ supervisor for many years ( 25 years), from regional perspective as well: • Pupils are not actively engaged in monitoring their own progress- the teacher does it; • Many teachers do not understand and not able to articulate the nature of the progress being aimed at; • Many teachers are not skilled at using a range of methods to assess pupil learning; • Many teachers do not have manageable recording procedures that enable them to keep track of each pupil’s learning; Achieving quality education for all regional summit, Kigali, Rwanda November 2011

11. Assessment Challenges cont’… • Many teachers are not able communicate effectively with each pupil- highly generalized. • The teacher-student ratio in Rwanda is high for meaningful formative assessment there is therefore much focus on summative assessments. • The attraction to ranking overrides the need to exhaust the learning curriculum • The assessment approaches (summative) does not attend to all learning styles and students’ ability • The focus on assessment of learning overrides assessment for learning Achieving quality education for all regional summit, Kigali, Rwanda November 2011

12. Impact of CA in Zambia( William Kapambwe, 2010) • The higher pupils’ performance in pilot schools comparing to others • Improvements in the teaching and learning processes. • CA provides useful feedback to students • CA is the appropriate assessment in the outcomes-based curriculum. • At classroom level, quality of teaching has been improved. Achieving quality education for all regional summit, Kigali, Rwanda November 2011

13. Impact of CA in Zambia( William Kapambwe, 2010) • Teachers skilled to adapt instruction to meet individual learning needs. • Pay attention to teaching approaches that work well and put them into practice more often. • The relation relationships with students and parents are stronger. • Students have great involvement in the learning process Achieving quality education for all regional summit, Kigali, Rwanda November 2011

14. Way forward • Move from emphasis on Testing and exams, to a holistic focus on assessment • Need to shift focus in national exams from competition and receiving marks, to exhaustion of curriculum and learning objectives in summative assessment • Develop assessment systems at different administrative levels: district exams, provincial exams to national level • Elaborate a national assessment policy for primary and secondary to advocate the use of CA ( there is one for higher learning) • Help schools develop internal assessment policies that are in harmony with the national assessment policy Achieving quality education for all regional summit, Kigali, Rwanda November 2011

15. Way forward E. Documentation and dissemination of assessment best practices F. Capacity building for teachers on tests and measures, and development of assessment tools and employing them in class G. Many teachers spend a lot of instruction hours in setting and marking tests. A system for interpretation and dissemination of results needed. H. Diversification of assessment tools to test a wide variety of skills and knowledge acquired as well as attitude change. Achieving quality education for all regional summit, Kigali, Rwanda November 2011

16. Conclusion • Using classroom assessment to improve student learning is not a new idea. • Benjamin Bloom has showed how to conduct this process in practical and highly effective ways (Bloom, 1968, 1971) 30 yrs ago. But since that time, the assessment for accountability has diverted attention from this more important and fundamental purpose. • Assessments can be a vital component in our efforts to improve quality education but if we use them only as a means to rank schools and students, we will miss their most powerful benefits • When assessments become an integral part of the instructional process and a central ingredient in teachers efforts to help students learn, the benefits of assessment for both students and teachers will be boundless. Achieving quality education for all regional summit, Kigali, Rwanda November 2011

17. Thank you Quality in Education Summit Kigali RWANDA 2011