Primary school teachers use a great number of methods to determine what and how their pupils have learnt.
A meaningful assessment of their progress requires information from various sources and should not be limited to written tests. Sound performance rating should encompass the entire range of the curriculum’s learning targets, not merely assess factual knowledge. Teachers also should examine whether the pupils have learnt to analyse complex facts and solve problems.
Since 1992 the Centre for Education, Science and Documentation of the German Foundation for International Development (DSE) has helped countries in Eastern and Southern Africa to improve the quality of their test and examination systems in primary schools, with focus on the general knowledge subjects of nature study, the environment, health and agriculture. In many countries of the two regions, the content and type of the crucial exams at the end of the primary school period - that is, after six to eight school years - also define lessons in the final primary school years. So it is difficult to introduce new teaching methods which promote independent learning and participation by the pupils. If, however, the exam questions were changed so that they also tested pupils’ abilities to analyse and solve problems, teachers would have to use corresponding methods of instruction to achieve good exam results. Education reformers have long pointed out that changing the content of examinations can improve the quality of classroom instruction.
Test assignments whose solving demands no awareness of problems merely require a pupil, for example, to complete a sentence such as “The only living being with a movable upper jaw is the ...”. Tasks which describe a problem for which a pupil must find the right solution make more sense. Such as: “The farmer notices that his corn cobs are much too small and their lower leaves are yellow. What should he do?”
In cooperation with its partners in the regions, the DSE in 1992 and 1994 implemented advanced training seminars which enabled experts from examination bodies and curriculum institutes to compare notes on their experiences and problems in developing meaningful examination questions. The seminars drew mainly on the expertise and experience of Kenya, which gave valuable impetus to reform of national examination systems in other countries of the region. For this reason both seminars were held in Kenya with the support of the Kenya National Examinations Council and the Kenya Institute of Education. Over the following years the participants in the two seminars developed a network which the DSE to date has coordinated. Cooperation as part of this network developed in five stages.
Initially, experts in the general knowledge sector in primary schools, in curriculum institutes and in examination bodies exchanged notes on their experiences. Their aim was to discuss the possibilities and limits of developing examination questions which also tested pupils’ abilities to solve problems.
After evaluation of the first advanced training seminar to develop examination questions, another seminar was designed and implemented as a practical exercise. Based on the Kenyan curriculum, the participants developed test questions and tried them out in six schools. This exercise focused on developing test questions aimed at assessing higher intellectual capabilities. It was also to prevent pupils’ being disadvantaged due to certain characteristics such as origin and gender.
Since 1996 the DSE has published annually a collection of examination questions in 12 countries of the regions.
On the basis of the experiences and material arising from the two advanced training seminars, the DSE in 1998 published two manuals documenting the systems covering primary school leaving examinations in the regions. As examples, the manuals also contain complete examination questionnaires as well as articles on reform of primary school exams in Kenya. Using a practical example, the manuals also cover in detail all aspects of developing and evaluating meaningful questions in the general knowledge sector. That means they are well suited for use in advanced training measures.
At a DSE follow-up seminar in Berlin in 1998, the network members discussed their experiences in using the manuals at advanced training events. They also covered further reforms of examination systems and international trends in assessing performance in primary schools. Working groups analysed the examination questions of various network member countries. Since then, two to four such ‘peer reviews’ per country are implemented regularly and included in the DSE’s annual publication.
During the course of this year the DSE will evaluate the network’s inputs, and in 2001 will again invite its members to an exchange of experiences. The evaluation findings are to be put up for discussion with the aim of placing responsibility for coordinating and developing the network in African hands.
The intensive exchange of experiences among the experts since the DSE initiative began has resulted in a marked improvement of the participating countries’ primary school examination systems. But there is still much to do to ensure that the quality of lessons will be improved correspondingly. In the final analysis, that can be achieved only by initiatives by the regions involved.
Udo Bude is in charge of the section Basic Education at the Education, Science and Documentation Centre of DSE in Bonn.
Further information
DSE Centre for Education,
Science and Documentation
Tulpenfeld 5, D-53113 Bonn
Tel.: +49(0)228 2434-5
Fax: +49(0)228 2434-766
E-Mail: zed@dse.de
Internet: http://www.dse.de/zed/zed.htm
