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Context
and Vision
Statistical and empirical evidence gathered from
various surveys on learning levels point to the significant proportion
of children attending government schools, who go through primary stage
and learn very little. Such children are unlikely to complete middle or
secondary school. The quality of schooling depends on variety of
factors including infrastructure, presence and motivation of teachers,
minimum teaching standards and demonstrable learning outcomes of
students. (Status of learning achievements in India: A review
of empirical research, Sujata Reddy 2004).
Almost every major committee constituted to review
the education system from time to time, has concluded and recommended
that if we wish to move towards the goal of comprehensive educational
reform then, reform in the examination system is a critical issue. It
is widely accepted that the current mode of public examination
determines the way teaching learning takes place. Many experiments and
initiatives that have sought to improve class room and teaching
learning processes without accompanying examination reform have not
been able to impact the system.
Despite this generally accepted view that
examination system can have a large influence on the kind of teaching
learning that takes place in the class room, changes in examination
process at school level have not been attempted in a major way and thus
we are unable to conclude how effective such an approach will be to
achieve the comprehensive education change that is desired.
As a first step, examination reform can address
one major criticism of the existing pattern, namely, that it tests rote
learning to the neglect of basic competencies or conceptual
understanding and application that are supposed to be the objectives of
the curriculum. If such competencies and conceptual understanding are
assessed in a manner that answers cannot be given by mere rote
memorization but require comprehension, understanding and even
internalizing the concepts, then teaching learning methods will move
away from emphasis on rote to comprehension, application, problem
solving abilities etc.
The way we are defining the concept and objectives
of Learning Guarantee Program Examinations define the way teaching
takes place and therefore reforms in assessment will influence reforms
in class room processes. Assessing a child's real understanding,
application, problem solving abilities, analysis etc, will lead to
different classroom practices. Analysis and feedback will lead to
positive response from teachers and the teacher support system. The
Learning Guarantee Program is seen as a vehicle for bringing change in
class room processes through change in the way we assess the learning
of children: "Assessment Led Reforms". The program s designed in a
manner to:
The long term
objective of the program is to ensure every school enables every child
to achieve quality learning. This would be necessary to ensure equity
with quality. This will also be the measure of the accountability of
the school to the community whose children are studying in their
schools with the expectation that they will receive quality education.
Our Perspective on
Assessment
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Ideally teaching practices should be geared to the
aims of the curriculum, and assessment should reflect curricular
objectives in such a way that it reinforces the best practices in
teaching. In reality, however, the relationships among assessment,
curriculum, and instruction are not always ideal. Striving for quality
education necessarily entails a multi pronged approach dealing with the
education in its totality.
To begin with, the program in its assessment of
learning has restricted itself to the test of cognitive abilities.
Given the grim ground realities in terms of learning outcomes
prevailing in the country this is perhaps a fair point to begin the
journey.
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The hypothesis is that change in assessment
methods will bring about the change in class room teaching learning
processes, since the way we test influences the way we teach. The
experiment or program provides a motivational platform to encourage
such efforts. In such a context, the principle focus of reform is at
the school and systemic level even though it is aimed through
introduction of the newer assessment principles and methods at the
level of individual student tests.
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We are thus not looking at a micro-level picture
of assessment at individual learner’s performance per se. Rather, we
look at assessment at a macro-level at assessment of learners’ as a
group.
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The assessment in the LGP may be seen as summative
but is not restrictive to being assessment of learning since the
feedback from such assessment forms a crucial link to the process of
initiating improvements in the class room pedagogy, both at the
individual school level as well as at the systemic level. To
illustrate, if we are testing the third standard students at the end of
the year, the results will be fed back to the teachers who handle third
standard class as well as the teachers who handle the fourth standard
classes. The rationale behind the feed forward is the notion that
competencies are continuous and so teachers will gain insight into the
problems generally faced by students in acquiring a particular
competence
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The primary function of education is all round
development of the individual and therefore scholars feel that a
reliable indicator of quality education would be assessment of both
cognitive and non cognitive abilities and traits. At the same time it
is also admitted that very little is known about non-cognitive
evaluation. Since the overarching concept of assessment reform is seen
as a contribution to comprehensive education development, we need to
understand these aspects so that they can at a point of time become a
part of the overall school quality assessment rubric.
Process
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Since the parameters of this examination are
different from the current tests that take place, the chances of many
schools performing satisfactorily are low. So as a first step, the
program lets the schools / teachers know the kind of assessment
proposed in advance and decide for themselves whether they are prepared
to subject themselves and their students to this kind of examination.
This is the voluntary nature of participation of schools showing a
willingness to participate in this process of reform.
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There is also a belief that once teachers and
schools are aware of the way understanding and application of
competencies/ concepts are tested – which are essentially from the
existing curriculum/ syllabus – they are likely to modify their
teaching learning processes to enable students to perform well in this
kind of examination. It will give an impetus to the change in teaching
learning processes and practices.
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In order to motivate these schools and teachers to
join this reform process, the program is designed to recognize the
efforts of those who demonstrate through the assessment that their
students perform well. Such schools are recognised as the role models
that can demonstrate how other schools in similar conditions can by
changing themselves also achieve similar performance and success.
Therefore the program will provide opportunity to schools to take up
the challenge and move from current levels in the ensuing years towards
higher levels and success.
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Change cannot occur suddenly. It is a gradual
process and therefore the program is designed to give schools a few
years to demonstrate their progress. Therefore the program provides
feedback and detailed analysis of performance in a transparent manner
to schools, teachers and all stakeholders so that improvement can be
targeted in a planned manner. The program has the scope to recognize
the improvement made by different schools.
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The program’s focus is in motivating the schools
to embrace the reform in assessment and class room processes and
demonstrate their progress. Recognition, reward and public felicitation
are means towards this.
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There is no place for any punitive action or
penalty for schools that are far from the desired levels as seen
through the independent evaluation. It is generally felt that use of
scientific data to understand the situation, arrive at root causes and
apply appropriate measures can be of great help to the system.
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It is in this light that the results of school
evaluation, the analysis and feedback are used by the state and its
academic and administrative system to analyze and provide appropriate
support and encouragement for the schools to improve.
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It has been suggested earlier in this document
that this program is an attempt to influence class room reform through
examination reform. However there is also a general feeling that in the
majority of cases, teachers may not have the pedagogical skills to move
from rote to non rote teaching learning. In order to help teachers in
these participating schools, the academic support system in the state,
consisting of the DIET, BRC, and CRC etc. are expected to provide the
expertise to help teachers.
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In fact the program is expected to generate demand
in teachers for specific capacity building support from their academic
system. This is different from the current practice of providing all
teachers a uniform training menu that is not based on grass root –
bottom up teacher needs.
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Further, it may also be a reality that BRC, CRC,
DIET members etc. may not themselves be equipped to provide such
support for class room reform. And perhaps only some DIETs may have
such competence. In such a case, the state has to find ways of
improving the expertise of their academic system and call in resource
agencies available in the country. Such agencies are well known to the
states themselves and where required the Foundation can also facilitate
an association to be forged between state and such resource agencies.
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Being a new subject, schools and teachers will
need orientation and sensitization to these assessment methods. The
program has the space and scope to provide CRCs, BRCs and teachers
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Necessary orientation on the overarching need to
reform assessment;
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The role of such assessment in ensuring their
children learn;
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How to develop such questions in the course of
their regular lesson plans;
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Build a bank of such questions that they can
continuously try and familiarize with over a period of time.
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Thus if regular interaction with teachers at the
block level are felt necessary, the program provides the space for such
inputs.
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We belive that schools and their academic support
system may undertake to reform their class room processes in many
different ways and we hope that multiple methods will come to the fore.
The spirit is that a number of innovative interventions should be tried
by schools and systems to perform well.
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To maximize the potential of assessment reforms in
creating change in the class room, it is necessary to also engage
actively with processes such as academic capacity building of the
functionaries; leadership skills; enabling teachers to acquire and use
the academic inputs. The momentum generated by Learning Guarantee
Program can be fully leveraged and the program can logically evolve and
extend itself into a holistic academic program. This is how the
holistic LGP is being conceptualized. The state teams in Uttarakhand,
Rajasthan and Gujarat are redesigning their respective programmes
accordingly with effect from academic year 2008-09.
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While this document has so far touched upon the
changes in academic system that the program could influence, it is also
recognized that it also has the potential to significantly influence
the administrative system. Illustratively, the administrators could
decide to provide a pupil teacher ratio as per norms in schools that
take up the challenge; they could also allot a fixed tenure at the
participating school for their teachers to demonstrate the fruits of
their efforts; they could personally monitor that the requisite
infrastructure is available in the school etc.
Outcomes
LGP was
first launched in Karnataka
in 2003 and ran for three years. Also the program ran for two years in Madhya Pradesh. Currently, LGP
is on in two districts each of Rajasthan and Gujarat . In Uttarakhand the program has
expanded to six districts.
The specific outcomes of LGP can be understood at three levels:
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Examination Reform
One of the objectives of LGP has been the reform in public examination
from typically testing of rote learning to assessing understanding.
Karnataka has adopted LGP way of competency assessment through a
specific agency – Karnataka State Quality Assurance Organization
(KSQAO) – and has carried two annual assessments across the state.
Some of the other states where LGP is currently on have agreed to
replace their conventional district-level public examination with LGP
assessment.
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Holistic Systemic Change
We believe that assessment reform is a good entry point to system-wide
change, including changes in curriculum, teacher preparation and
support, administrative reforms etc.
Some of the LGP states have formed district-level bodies to spearhead
changes in the rest of the system using LGP assessment as the basis. We
actively support such initiatives, including bringing in expertise from
outside for capacity building.
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Building Assessment Capability
Foundation’s engagement with various aspects of assessment, such as
framing good test items, analyzing the responses, finding patterns
etc., is leading to development of capability both within the
Foundation as well as in the teachers and other academic staff in the
system.
Researches
Foundation has carried out several researches
relating to the Learning Guarantee Program. These are given below:
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