Edu-Blog

Navigating Assessment: Guiding Growth in Primary School Learning

In Mauritius, when we think of school tests, we typically picture two types: 

those made by teachers to evaluate students' understanding of specific material (continuous assessment), and national standardised tests usually taken at the end of a phase like the PSAC or NCE. 

However, schools and teachers also use various assessments throughout the year to gauge students' progress and identify areas where they need help. This information is crucial for both teachers and families. Unfortunately, the abundance of educational jargon can make it difficult for parents to understand what’s happening in their children’s classrooms.

Here’s the meaning of the types of assessments your child might encounter throughout their school life:

Beginning-of-the-Year Assessments
Often termed "diagnostic", or "benchmark" assessments, these quick evaluations, usually administered in January/ February, measure a student's starting point in areas like reading or math. Schools often use the same set of tools at the beginning, middle, and end of the year to track progress.

Formative Assessments
These occur throughout the school year to monitor students' progress and can take various forms like quizzes, test papers, presentations or projects. These are usually administered at the beginning of a unit and at various checking points in the unit to monitor the understanding and progress of the child. 

End-of-the-Year Assessments
Referred to as “summative assessments,” these help teachers gauge how much students have learned over the year and provide a baseline for the next year's teachers. These assessments can also be administered after each unit is taught. 

State Standardised Tests
Taken by students in certain grades (usually Grade 6, 9, 11 and 13 in Mauritius)  towards the end of the school year, these exams assess overall student performance and measure their performance against other peers nationally.

What are we doing at Lighthouse?
As a growing school, we are continuously striving to implement more authentic ways to assess and report our students' performance. We are slowly but surely putting in place assessments which give valid and reliable data to our stakeholders. Since last year Lighthouse has been moving towards sharing students' performance more frequently by sending CARs (Continuous Assessment Reports) every 4 weeks. These reports are usually done through formative assessment but can also include summative assessments depending on the completion of units. The TR (Term Reports) usually include more summative assessments but again depending on completion of units.

Although State Standardised tests have often been criticized for narrowing down the curriculum making it less creative and innovative in both teaching and learning and for adding pressure on teachers to "teach to the test" instead of providing a more holistic education, Standardised testing can provide great insight to move a school forward if done correctly.

Standardised tests hold schools and teachers accountable for students' learning ensuring every child receives quality education. It also helps to highlight achievement gaps within a school, prompting efforts to address these disparities and inform data-driven decisions. They also provide an objective assessment of student learning and encourage schools to align their curriculum, ensuring a cohesive and comprehensive educational experience for all students.

State Standardised Tests have not been something Lighthouse has been doing in primary school. If you are wondering why we do not do PSAC, for example, it is simply because it does not align with the British Curriculum that we use. However, as part of our continuous growth and improvement, there is value in considering standardized testing for the future of our primary school.

We are busy looking at implementing a growth assessment which will align with our educational holistic values but which will also provide data-driven insights to move our school forward. Stay tuned for more!