Student Assessment and SEE
Student's assessment determines
level of learning of the student as set in the curriculum in the subject
tested. Learning achievement of the student is used for various purposes such
as qualification for higher studies; selection for scholarship or employment;
as a yardstick to measure quality of education; or as an information tool to
improve instruction to enhance student learning.
Assessment is
categorized into formative and summative assessments based on their purposes.
Formative assessments are used when teaching learning is going on and there is
room to improve student's learning. Summative assessments are used is to
determine level of student's learning and usually certification is done on this
basis.
School Education Examination (SEE) is a nation-wide external examination used to
certify student at the end of grade 10. Previously SEE
was named as School Leaving Examination (SLC) in school education system in
Nepal. SLC which has been accorded as end of school level education was in practice
since 1934 under the Board of School Leaving Certificate Examination. In its history of 85 years of SLC with changed
named SEE in 2017, there have been a number of initiatives to improve end of
grade examination such as development of specification
grid, use of marking scheme, training to the item writers, quality improvement
of examination tools, capacity development for data processing, and use of
letter grading, etc. But weakest point of SLC/SEE is that it has never been
standardized which is essential for quality assessment. Due to
lack of test standardization, interpretation of test
results and comparability of test scores over years has been difficult.
The School Sector Development Plan (SSDP) 2016/2017-2020/21
has emphasized standardization of SEE at grade 10 starting with three subjects:
language (Nepali or English), Science and Mathematics.
National Examination Board (NEB) is responsible for regulating and
carrying out SEE examination which will be held by provinces later. NEB is
working towards standardization of SEE which will be pre-tested in 2020 and in
SEE 2021 standardized test will be used.
Concept of Test Standardization
There have been several issues in SLC/SEE which have impacted validity
(meeting purposes of the test), reliability (consistency in score), and fairness
in the test (no discrimination among the examinees). One of the issues is that
tests are not comparable from one year to another year because pass percentage
is always fluctuating, and reasons are not evident. Second issue is coverage of
learning domains are not representative and mostly rote learning items are
included in the test. SSDP also remarked that the test items are commonly at "memorization
and knowledge/recall level. Critical thinking, analysis, and creativity are
insufficiently emphasized'. Third pertinent issue is lack of uniformity in instruction,
administration and scoring. There were instances where Nepali and English versions of the items did not convey the same meaning
in the test paper.
These issues need to be considered in order
to improve SEE. In order to make the tests equivalent, test items need to be
pre-tested and equivalent test papers should be prepared from the pool of
pre-tested item based on their characteristics. In order to make test
representative of the curriculum, item preparation should consider elaborated
specifications and items assembling process which comply with format and level
of behaviour intended by the curriculum. Moreover, uniformity in testing should
be ensured. During pre-testing clarity in instruction are checked. Uniform
guidelines are used and adhered to before, during and after test
administration. To improve scoring key or marking schemes are prepared along
with the items and these are also pre-tested to ensure their correctness and
uniform use. Besides these aspects several other aspects are thoroughly
followed in order to improve testing. A standardized test adheres to these
compliances.
HA level Item Presentation
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