Report of the Primary Education Review and Implementation PERI Committee

https://planipolis.iiep.unesco.org/en/2009/report-primary-education-review-and-implementation-peri-committee-5141

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MORE HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT TO SUPPORT LEARNING

18. Assessment is an important aspect of teaching and learning which should be effectively used to support the holistic development of our pupils. The Committee heard from many members of the public, who felt the need to shift towards a less exam-oriented culture where academic results are not the only measure of a child’s success. While assessment remains important, a preoccupation with examinations can hinder the overall development of the student and make learning dreary and less engaging.

19. However, there has been a range of views on the use of assessment. While some members of the public have highlighted that examinations could be too stressful for primary school pupils, especially in lower primary, others felt that students needed to be prepared from young to sit for examinations.

20. The Committee’s view is that assessment provides stakeholders such as teachers, parents and pupils with meaningful information about how well pupils have progressed by highlighting their strengths and areas for improvement. Appropriate support can then be given to pupils in developing self-awareness and in learning how to learn. At the national level, assessment outcomes allow informed decisions to be made, e.g. placement of pupils into schools and tracking of pupils’ academic outcomes at the school level.

21. The Committee believes that the PSLE remains important as a key stage examination, to allow pupils and parents to objectively gauge their standard of academic attainment after six years of primary education. For this reason, MOE needs to ensure that the national assessment framework continues to maintain high standards and ensure the acquisition of strong foundational knowledge.

22. However, apart from the PSLE at the end of primary school, the school-based assessment system should be balanced to place greater emphasis on skills development and to provide constructive feedback which enables more meaningful learning in support of both academic and non-academic aspects of a pupil’s development. This is in line with enhancing schools’ assessment practices to support the balancing of content knowledge with the development of important life-skills as well as building learning in the physical, aesthetic, social and moral domains.

23. Going forward, assessment should be fit for purpose. There should be more widespread use of assessment to provide qualitative feedback to students on their learning and development of skills in both academic and non-academic areas, and to suggest how they can make improvements. The purpose of assessment would be to help students progress along a developmental journey of improvement. It shifts the focus of assessment away from an end-outcome where students and parents may concentrate too much on assessment of learning in the form of examinations as a final indicator of achievement.

24. The Committee feels that at lower primary (Primary 1 and 2), when students are just beginning school, a key focus should be placed on building pupils’ confidence and desire to learn. In these early years, we should encourage schools to move away from an overly strong emphasis on examinations, and explore the use of bite-sized forms of assessment which place more emphasis on learning rather than on grades alone.

25. Thus, at Primary 1 there should be much less importance placed on semestral examinations to facilitate a smooth transition from preschool to primary school. At Primary 2, we could slowly ease pupils into taking examinations. We note that a number of schools have already dispensed with the mid-year semestral examination in Primary 1 as they have other effective forms of school-based assessment in place, while a few schools have replaced the semestral examinations altogether at Primary 1. The Committee also encourages schools to continue to be mindful to space out these school-based assessments appropriately so that their young pupils are not overwhelmed.

26. We believe that using a wider range of assessment modes is useful in providing richer feedback on the learning of pupils. For instance at the end of the year, teachers would have accumulated a portfolio of pupils’ work, or a collation of qualitative feedback based on tests and other forms of assessment. Some examples of different assessment modes and suitable platforms for assessing skills are given in Annex D.

27. The Committee encourages the equipping of teachers to use assessment tools such as rubrics to assess and provide pupils with richer feedback on their development in academic and non-academic areas. Rubrics typically set out the criteria for assessment and provide descriptors for different performance levels that students can achieve. These descriptors present qualitative feedback on how well students have performed and what they can do to improve. Such rubrics should not be used for comparative assessment between pupils, but to encourage pupils to meet their own goals and move forward in their learning. See Annex E for examples of rubrics currently used by primary schools to assess specific skills.

28. To effectively use these rubrics, MOE should train teachers to observe and provide meaningful feedback that goes beyond marks, to help students understand their misconceptions and provide strategies to help them improve. This should include qualitative feedback on skills acquisition and in non-academic areas. Each individual student should know his progress, strengths and areas for improvement for further development. We envisage that schools could provide parents with a more comprehensive progress report or “Holistic Development Profile”, which captures a fuller picture of student learning throughout the school year. Given to primary school pupils at all levels, this report would include both quantitative and qualitative feedback. See Annex F for samples of Holistic Development Profiles that schools can provide to students.

29. However, the Committee notes that pupils’ mastery of foundational skills in subjects such as English, Mother Tongue Language and Mathematics should not be compromised. Different assessment modes should still help to check pupils’ mastery and progress. Schools should continue to have clear guidelines from MOE on the learning outcomes for each subject which teachers can use to design appropriate assessment tasks, at the end of every level. Variations in the quality of the assessment tasks and tools must be managed to ensure the use of fair, valid and reliable assessment practices.

30. At the national level, MOE should develop a system to measure and report the level of attainment of pupil development in both the academic and non-academic areas. This will help in assessing the schools’ ability to develop their pupils in different areas and in providing a more holistic education.

31. We understand that MOE will need time to build the readiness of schools and teachers to use different modes of assessment and provide richer feedback on student learning. Parents will also take time to be accustomed to the use of a wider range of assessment modes and different channels of feedback on their children’s learning.

32. Overall, a shift in mindset about assessment is necessary to balance the learning of knowledge with the development of important life-skills, as well as to focus more on the learning process instead of the end academic outcome. If we can use assessment to affirm our children’s progress, we can ignite their passion and confidence in their ability to learn. This early positive experience can set children on the right path for their subsequent years of schooling, and for life.

Ministry of Education. (2009). Report of the primary education review and implementation committee. Retrieved from http://planipolis.iiep.unesco.org/en/2009/report-primary-education-review-and-implementation-peri-committee-5141