Effectiveness of Assessment Process of Competency Based

Curriculum in Primary Level Education in Sri Lanka

P.Senevirathne

&

T.Mukunthan Faculty of Education

The Open University of Sri Lanka

Introduction• Grade 1 (5 years) to Grade 5 (10 years) is

considered as primary level • Competency based curriculum is used in

Primary school level • The formative and summative evaluations

Methods are used • Assessment is one of main component in

the curriculum process • From 1997 Government has drawn

attention to enhance assessment procedure in the primary education

Introduction (Con…)• Lambdin (2003) observation, discussion and

interviews serve better than paper and pencil tests in evaluating pupil’s ability to understand the principals and procedures he uses

• National Union of Teachers in the United Kingdom also suggests that parents should rely on the professional judgment of teachers rather than draw conclusions from the outcomes of tests which do not properly show the achievement of their youngsters.

Problem

There are many complaints about the teachers by the parents to the departments of Educations, that, teachers do not assess the children properly

Objectives

1. To identify assessment methods that teachers use at primary level

2. To find out how teachers assess children at primary level

3. To find out teachers’ perceptions of assessment process in the Primary level

Methodology• observation and interview methods were

used as most appropriate methods.

• Target population for the study comprised primary school teachers and primary class room children

• Representative sample was selected from the Homagama zonal education office in Colombo district.

Sample

Type of schools

Number of classroom

Teachers

1AB schools 05 071C schools 09 14

Type 2 schools 04 06Type 3 schools 02 03

Total 20 30

Data analysis

The representation of data was done through statistical analysis with the use

of percentages and tables

Discussion and Findings • Types of assessment methods 1)formal methods

2)Informal methods

Type of assessment techniques

• Formative assessment

• Summative assessment

• Criterion referenced assessment

• Maintaining Portfolio

• Writing short notes and using check list

Formative assessment

Teacher continuously searches for learning abilities and disabilities with in learning stage. This is also considered as continuous assessment. It is needed to give practical solutions for problems faced by students in primary grades. Otherwise it leads to create unsuccessful students. Therefore the main objective of assessment in primary grades is to look after students continually.

Summative assessment

• This means investigating the achievement of students at the end of one learning unit in that stage. Therefore we can assess the progress of students either at the end of the term or year through a question paper which is prepared according to the curriculum. However, this assessment system cannot be recommended for primary grades.

Criterion referenced assessment

• There is an assessment sheet for language, mathematics, environmental related activities at the end of every teacher’s guides. It is also included in the learning outcomes to be considered of each subject.

• Mathematics - keep in order of three different size

materials or • Language - simple sentences pronounced loudly.

• ERA- exhibit good hygienic habits which will lead for student’s good life.

• Common assessment- willingness to support others

Maintaining Portfolio

• Primary teachers collect each student’s works in separate file or folders, but portfolio is a process more than that.

• It is a meaningful collection of student’s performances that also project his /her problems and strengths .

• This should give a clear idea of the student.

• The preparation of portfolio may differ from teacher to teacher, and difficulty to give correct methods.

Writing short notes and using check list

• Teachers can collect much important information while teaching. However, they never utilize this information meaningfully. It is better to keep short notes in a book for further actions.

• Check lists are also another important system. One can use check lists to decide whether the student has reached the level of competencies that are given at the end of teachers guides.

Teachers understanding

Teachers satisfaction about keeping record for individual

child

Conclusion• The Research has established some major facts

which need to be tested in a larger scale sample which would cover more than one zonal education office.

• On the other hand this sample researched only the areas in the zonal education office which records a higher stage of development in human and physical capital which other zones of the country have achieved unevenly representative of the whole country.

Conclusion (Cont..)

• assessment methods should be designed to eliminate the problems encountered by the primary students in their learning process.

• teacher has to pay individual attention to students and he/she should provide formative and summative assessment activities to achieve their objectives.

Conclusion (Cont..)• Formative assessment criteria should be

enhanced in order to give the students more room for correcting themselves.

• The assessments are in fact a tool to visualize the development of the student’s capacities and competencies. They must not be a burden on both the teacher and the student. The idea is that the learning process for the primary grade students should be made interesting and easy to follow.

THANK YOU