THE WORLD BANK
UgandaSTUDENT ASSESSMENT SABER Country Report
2012
Key Policy Areas for Student Assessment Status
1. Classroom AssessmentIn Uganda, formal system-level documents, such as teaching syllabuses produced by the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC), provide guidelines for classroom assessment. These documents—as well as other system-wide resources, such as textbooks, which provide self-testing exercises at the end of each curricular topic—are available for teachers to engage in classroom assessment activities. Mechanisms are also in place to systematically ensure that teachers develop skills and expertise in classroom assessment. For example, pre-service teacher training for all teachers includes the development of skills and expertise in classroom assessment. However, classroom assessment practices are perceived to be weak.
2. ExaminationsThe Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) examination has been administered every year since 1980 to grade 13 students. UACE results are used for certifying grade completion and determining admission to higher education institutions, as well as for monitoring education quality levels, planning education policy reforms, and for school and educator accountability. There are varied and systematic mechanisms in place to ensure the quality of the examination. For example, the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) conducts a pilot and translation verification before the final examination is set. However, inappropriate behavior surrounding the examination process is high, and includes candidates using unauthorized materials, such as prepared answers and notes.
3. National Large Scale Assessment (NLSA)The National Assessment of Progress in Education (NAPE) has been administered in Uganda at the primary level since 1996 and at the secondary level since 2008. NAPE is administered annually to students in grades 3 and 6 in Literacy and Numeracy, and every three years in Oral Skills in English. NAPE is also administered every year to students in Senior grade 2 in English, Mathematics, and Biology. Regular funding for NAPE is provided by the government and external sources, such as the World Bank. Although the group in charge of NAPE is a permanent unit within the Uganda National Examinations Board, there are too few staff members to adequately carry out assessment activities.
4. International Large Scale Assessment (ILSA)Uganda has participated in two international large-scale assessments, SACMEQ II (1999-2004) and SACMEQ III (2005-2009). Uganda has taken concrete steps to participate in SACMEQ IV (2010-2015). Funding for SACMEQ III was earmarked partly from the regular government budget, allocated at discretion, as well as from external sources. Although Uganda met all technical standards required to have its data from the SACMEQ exercises presented in the main displays of the international report, the results have not been covered in the media.
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Introduction
Uganda has focused on increasing student learningoutcomes by improving the quality of education in thecountry. An effective student assessment system is animportant input to improving education quality andlearning outcomes because it provides the necessaryinformation to meet stakeholders’ decision makingneeds. In order to gain a better understanding of thestrengths and weaknesses of its existing assessmentsystem, Uganda decided to benchmark this systemusing standardized tools developed under The WorldBank’s Systems Approach for Better Education Results(SABER) program. SABER is an evidence based programto help countries systematically examine andstrengthen the performance of different aspects of theireducation systems.
What is SABER Student Assessment?
SABER Student Assessment is a component of theSABER program that focuses specifically onbenchmarking student assessment policies and systems.The goal of SABER Student Assessment is to promotestronger assessment systems that contribute toimproved education quality and learning for all.
National governments and international agencies areincreasingly recognizing the key role that assessment ofstudent learning plays in an effective education system.The importance of assessment is linked to its role in:(i) providing information on levels of student
learning and achievement in the system;(ii) monitoring trends in education quality over
time;(iii) supporting educators and students with real
time information to improve teaching andlearning; and
(iv) holding stakeholders accountable for results.
SABER Student Assessment methodology
The SABER Student Assessment framework is built onthe available evidence base for what an effectiveassessment system looks like. The framework providesguidance on how countries can build more effectivestudent assessment systems. The framework isstructured around two main dimensions of assessment
systems: the types/purposes of assessment activitiesand the quality of those activities.
Assessment types and purposes
Assessment systems tend to be comprised of threemain types of assessment activities, each of whichserves a different purpose and addresses differentinformation needs. These three main types are:classroom assessment, examinations, and large scale,system level assessments.
Classroom assessment provides real time informationto support ongoing teaching and learning in individualclassrooms. Classroom assessments use a variety offormats, including observation, questioning, and paperand pencil tests, to evaluate student learning, generallyon a daily basis.
Examinations provide a basis for selecting or certifyingstudents as they move from one level of the educationsystem to the next (or into the workforce). All eligiblestudents are tested on an annual basis (or more often ifthe system allows for repeat testing). Examinationscover the main subject areas in the curriculum andusually involve essays and multiple choice questions.
Large scale, system level assessments provide feedbackon the overall performance of the education system atparticular grades or age levels. These assessmentstypically cover a few subjects on a regular basis (such asevery 3 to 5 years), are often sample based, and usemultiple choice and short answer formats. They may benational or international in scope.
Appendix 1 summarizes the key features of these maintypes of assessment activities.
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Quality drivers of an assessment systemThe key considerations when evaluating a studentassessment system are the individual and combinedquality of assessment activities in terms of theadequacy of the information generated to supportdecision making. There are three main drivers ofinformation quality in an assessment system: enablingcontext, system alignment, and assessment quality.
Enabling context refers to the broader context in whichthe assessment activity takes place and the extent towhich that context is conducive to, or supportive of, theassessment. It covers such issues as the legislative orpolicy framework for assessment activities; institutionaland organizational structures for designing, carryingout, or using results from the assessment; theavailability of sufficient and stable sources of funding;and the presence of trained assessment staff.
System alignment refers to the extent to which theassessment is aligned with the rest of the educationsystem. This includes the degree of congruencebetween assessment activities and system learninggoals, standards, curriculum, and pre and in serviceteacher training.
Assessment quality refers to the psychometric quality ofthe instruments, processes, and procedures for theassessment activity. It covers such issues as design andimplementation of assessment activities, analysis andinterpretation of student responses to those activities,and the appropriateness of how assessment results arereported and used.
Crossing the quality drivers with the differentassessment types/purposes provides the frameworkand broad indicator areas shown in Table 1. Thisframework is a starting point for identifying indicatorsthat can be used to review assessment systems andplan for their improvement.
Table 1: Framework for building an effectiveassessment system, with indicator areas
The indicators are identified based on a combination ofcriteria, including:
professional standards for assessment;empirical research on the characteristics of effectiveassessment systems, including analysis of thecharacteristics that differentiate between theassessment systems of low versus high performingnations; andtheory—that is, general consensus among expertsthat it contributes to effective assessment.
Levels of development
The World Bank has developed a set of standardizedquestionnaires and rubrics for collecting and evaluatingdata on the three assessment types and related qualitydrivers.
The questionnaires are used to collect data on thecharacteristics of the assessment system in a particularcountry. The information from the questionnaires isthen applied to the rubrics in order to judge thedevelopment level of the country’s assessment systemin different areas.
The basic structure of the rubrics for evaluating datacollected using the standardized questionnaires issummarized in Appendix 2. The goal of the rubrics is toprovide a country with some sense of the developmentlevel of its assessment activities compared to best orrecommended practice in each area. For each indicator,the rubric displays four development levels—Latent,Emerging, Established, and Advanced. These levels are
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artificially constructed categories chosen to representkey stages on the underlying continuum for eachindicator. Each level is accompanied by a description ofwhat performance on the indicator looks like at thatlevel.
Latent is the lowest level of performance; itrepresents absence of, or deviation from, thedesired attribute.Emerging is the next level; it represents partialpresence of the attribute.Established represents the acceptable minimumstandard.Advanced represents the ideal or current bestpractice.
A summary of the development levels for eachassessment type is presented in Appendix 3.
In reality, assessment systems are likely to be atdifferent levels of development in different areas. Forexample, a system may be Established in the area ofexaminations, but Emerging in the area of large scale,system level assessment, and vice versa. While intuitionsuggests that it is probably better to be further along inas many areas as possible, the evidence is unclear as towhether it is necessary to be functioning at Advancedlevels in all areas. Therefore, one might view theEstablished level as a desirable minimum outcome toachieve in all areas, but only aspire beyond that in thoseareas that most contribute to the national vision orpriorities for education. In line with theseconsiderations, the ratings generated by the rubrics arenot meant to be additive across assessment types (thatis, they are not meant to be added to create an overallrating for an assessment system; they are only meant toproduce an overall rating for each assessment type).The methodology for assigning development levels issummarized in Appendix 4.
Education in Uganda
Uganda is a low income country in Sub Saharan Africa.In 2012, GDP per capita (current US$) was $547, withannual growth of 3.4 percent.
In Uganda, the first seven years of education are freeand compulsory for all children. As of 2011 (latest data
available), net enrollment at the primary level was 94percent; as of 2002 (latest data available), it was 16percent at the secondary level. Net enrollment of girls ishigher than boys at the primary level (95 percent forgirls and 92 percent for boys in 2011); however, it ishigher for boys at the secondary level (15 percent forgirls and 17 percent for boys in 2002).
The Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) in Ugandahas identified a number of priorities to further developits education system, including improving the quality ofprimary education through the introduction of locallanguage instruction, increasing the attractiveness ofthe teaching profession through the introduction of ascheme of service that creates a career ladder forteachers and school administrators, and ensuring thatall pupils successfully completing the first primary sevenyears of education have access to either academicsecondary education or Business, Technical, andVocational Education and Training (BTVET).
Detailed information was collected on Uganda’s studentassessment system using the SABER StudentAssessment questionnaires and rubrics. It is importantto remember that these tools primarily focus onbenchmarking a country’s policies and arrangements forassessment activities at the system or macro level.Additional data would need to be collected todetermine actual, on the ground practices in Uganda,particularly by teachers and students in schools. Thefollowing sections discuss the findings by eachassessment type, accompanied by suggested policyoptions. The suggested policy options were determinedin collaboration with key local stakeholders based onUganda’s immediate interests and needs. Detailed,completed rubrics for each assessment type areprovided in Appendix 5.
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Classroom Assessment
Level of development: EMERGING
In Uganda, several formal, system level documentsprovide guidelines for classroom assessment at theprimary and secondary level. Additionally, there aresome system wide resources available for teachers toengage in classroom assessment activities. For example,textbooks provide self testing exercises at the end ofeach topic.
Additionally, there are some system level mechanismsto ensure that teachers develop skills and expertise inclassroom assessment. For example, pre service teachertraining that is offered to teachers in Primary Teacher’sColleges and in the undergraduate Bachelor ofEducation degree program includes a topic on thedevelopment of skills and expertise in classroomassessment. Opportunities are also available every yearfor some teachers and Uganda National ExaminationsBoard (UNEB) examiners to participate in workshopsand conferences, as well as in item development for,and in scoring of, examinations. School inspection andteacher supervision also includes a component focusedon classroom assessment.
Informal and ad hoc activities to build teachers’ skillsand expertise in classroom assessment are also madeavailable in Uganda, including refresher courses onclassroom assessment, as well as conferences andworkshops organized for practicing teachers.
Varied and systematic mechanisms are in place inUganda to monitor the quality of classroom assessmentpractices. Specifically, classroom assessment is arequired component of a teacher’s performanceevaluation and of school inspection. There are alsosystem wide reviews of the quality of education, whichinclude a focus on classroom assessment.
At the same time, classroom assessment practices aregenerally considered to be weak. For example, teacherstend to construct their own assessments in a haphazardfashion, creating questions and essay prompts similar tothe ones that their teachers used. In addition, it is verycommon for classroom assessment activities to bemainly about recalling information.
In Uganda, classroom assessment information isrequired to be disseminated to all key stakeholders.Specifically, teachers are required to report classroomassessment information to the school, parents,students, School Management Committees and theBoard of Governors.
Classroom assessment information is also required tobe used to support student learning, includingdiagnosing student learning issues, providing feedbackto students on their learning, and as an input to anexternal examination program. Although teachers useclassroom assessment to inform their students’learning, informing their own teaching is not a mainreason why teachers typically carry out classroomassessment activities.
Suggested policy options:
1. Ensure a variety of resources are made available toteachers at the system level to provide support forclassroom assessment activities, such as scoring criteriaor rubrics for evaluating students’ work.
2. Review existing pre service and in service trainingmechanisms and adjust them to ensure that the trainingthat teachers receive in conducting classroomassessment is sufficient to ensure appropriate studentlearning. In service training should also be mademandatory after a specific number of years in theteaching service to refresh those who have taught forlong.
3. Ensure that teachers employ a variety of assessmentsthat go beyond knowledge recall and allow students toengage in higher order thinking skills, with emphasis onthe students’ ability to inquire, reason, and applyconcepts to real world situations.
4. Ensure that teachers evaluate their assessmentpractice and use assessment not only to measure astudent’s progress but also to acquire useful data toinform their own instructional practice.
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Examinations
Level of development: ESTABLISHED
The Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) isan examination that has been administered every yearsince 1980 to grade 13 students. Examination resultsare used for certifying grade completion anddetermining admission to university and other highereducation institutions, as well as for monitoringeducation quality levels, planning education policyreforms, and school or educator accountability.
The Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB), asemi autonomous body that is accountable to theMinistry of Education and Sports, is responsible forrunning the UACE. While UNEB has permanent, fulltime staff, there are too few staff members toadequately meet the demands of the examination.Specifically, one staff member is required to handlemany subject areas outside of his or her area ofexpertise. UNEB sometimes relies on externalspecialists, including the National CurriculumDevelopment Centre (NCDC) and university staff,teacher trainers, and secondary school teachers, toassist with examination activities.
There are some opportunities offered in Uganda toprepare for work on the examination. For example,Makerere University’s School of Education offersundergraduate and master’s degree courses oneducational measurement and evaluation. Additionally,UNEB sends eight to ten people to attend theAssociation for Educational Assessment in Africa (AEAA)conference and two people to attend the InternationalAssociation for Educational Assessment (IAEA)conference every year.
UNEB annually selects teachers to participate indeveloping the examination questions, creating markingguides, administering the examination, acting as a judgein orals, and supervising examination procedures.However, other than a four week training for theteachers involved in item development and marking ofthe examination, there are no courses or workshops onthe examinations available to teachers.
Some documentation about the technical aspects of theexamination is available, but it is not in a formal reportformat. At the same time, there are varied andsystematic mechanisms in place to ensure the quality ofthe examination. For example, UNEB conducts a pilot orfiled testing and translation verification before theexamination is finalized. UNEB also sends supervisorswho monitor the administration of the examination atUACE examination centers all over the country.
However, inappropriate behavior surrounding theexamination process is high. Inappropriate behaviorincludes leakage of examination content prior to theexamination, and using unauthorized materials such asprepared answers and notes during the examination.
In general, examination results are used by somestakeholder groups in a proper way. However, schoolsrelease the examination results to the media, whichpublish student’s names and grades. This practice is notin line with the guidelines of communicatingexamination results, and it is something that the schoolsand the media do without formal authority.
Students who do not perform well on the UACE havethe option of retaking the examination, attendingremedial courses to prepare for the examination andrepeating the grade. Students can also opt to attendless selective schools. In addition, some mechanismsare in place to monitor the consequences of theexamination. For example, there is a permanentoversight committee and studies that are updatedregularly.
Suggested policy options:
1. Ensure that UNEB has a sufficient number ofpermanent full time staff to meet the demands of theexamination. In addition, ensure that UNEB hasadequate facilities, including computers for all technicalstaff, in order to carry out the required examinationactivities.
2. Introduce courses or workshops on the examination,and make them widely available to teachers. Forexample, conduct workshops on the Report on theWork of Candidates (which analyses in detail thecandidates’ performance in the examination papers) to
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allow teachers sufficient time to address candidates’weaknesses.
3. Ensure varied and systematic mechanisms to monitorthe consequences of the examination. For example,allocate government funding for independent researchon the impact of the examination.
4. Ensure that the technical aspects of the examinationare contained in a formal report format that is easilyaccessible to all stakeholders.
5. Introduce preventive and reactive mechanisms tolimit inappropriate behavior surrounding theexamination. For example, make available for all keystakeholders a document that clearly definesinappropriate behavior during the examination processand specifies the consequences for engaging in suchbehavior. Ensure that the consequences areconsistently enforced.
6. Ensure that schools and the media comply with theguidelines of communicating examinations results.Measures for non compliance should be clearly statedand consistently enforced.
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National Large Scale Assessment (NLSA)
Level of development: ESTABLISHED
To monitor the effectiveness of the teaching learningprocess, the Government of Uganda has carried out theNational Assessment of Progress in Education (NAPE) atthe primary level since 1996 and at the secondary levelsince 2008. At the primary level, assessment isconducted annually in grades 3 and 6 in Literacy andNumeracy, and every three years in Oral Skills inEnglish. At the secondary level, students in the Seniorgrade 2 are assessed every year in English,Mathematics, and Biology. In addition, a sample ofteachers is assessed.
The Government White Paper on Education (Ministry ofEducation and Sports, 1992) is the formal policydocument that authorizes NAPE. In addition to thisdocument, a national large scale assessment plan forthe coming years exists in official communications andminutes of meetings.
Regular funding for NAPE is allocated by thegovernment and by non government sources, such asthe World Bank. Activities covered by the fundinginclude assessment design and administration, and dataanalysis and reporting. Due to the small resourceenvelope allocated for the assessment program fromboth government and non government sources, someactivities, mainly at the level of dissemination of NAPEfindings, are suppressed and others are squeezed.
The group in charge of NAPE is a unit within the UgandaNational Examinations Board. Although there ispermanent full time staff responsible for NAPE, thereare too few staff members to meet the needs of theassessment.
In Uganda, university courses (graduate andundergraduate) on educational measurement andevaluation are available on an annual basis; however,there are no opportunities to prepare individuals towork on NAPE. At the same time, teacher trainingcourses, workshops, and presentations are offered toteachers, head teachers, and District Education Officers.
A number of measures are taken to ensure the quality
of NAPE. For example, all administrators are trainedaccording to a protocol, there is a standardized manualfor the administrators, and a pilot is conducted beforethe main data collection takes place.
A comprehensive, high quality technical report on NAPEis available to the general public. The report broadlycovers an introduction to the assessment, surveyprocedures, and student achievement levels by subjectand grade. The report also presents challenges faced bythe schools and concludes with recommendations forthe future.
NAPE results are disseminated within 12 months afterthe assessment is administered. In addition,mechanisms are in place to monitor the consequencesof NAPE, including a permanent advisory committee,regular focus groups and surveys of key stakeholders,and expert review groups.
Suggested policy options:
1. Using official communications, minutes of meetings,and other resources, develop a formal, written planfor future NAPE activities.
2. Introduce funding for research and developmentactivities specifically for NAPE.
3. Ensure a variety of mechanisms are in place tomonitor the consequences of NAPE, such as fundingfor independent research on the impact of NAPE.
4. Establish and make regularly available opportunitiesthat prepare individuals for work on NAPE.
5. Ensure that sufficient funds from government andnon government sources are earmarked for NAPEactivities, including for the dissemination of NAPEfindings.
6. Ensure that NAPE has a sufficient number ofpermanent full time staff to meet the demands ofthe assessment.
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International Large Scale Assessment(ILSA)
Level of development: EMERGING
Uganda has participated in two international large scaleassessments, SACMEQ II (1999 2004) and SACMEQ III(2005 2009). In addition, Uganda has taken concretesteps to participate in SACMEQ IV (2010 2015). A pilotstudy of SACMEQ IV has been concluded, and theresults are being analyzed.
Funding for SACMEQ III was earmarked partly from theregular government budget, allocated at discretion, aswell as from external sources. Funding for SACMEQ IIIcovered implementation of the assessment exercise inUganda, processing and analyzing data collected fromthe assessment exercise, and reporting anddisseminating assessment results. In addition, fundingcovered attendance at international expert meetings, aswell as research and development activities. TheGovernment of Uganda is required to meet the costs ofadministering SACMEQ IV.
The team responsible for carrying out SACMEQactivities is comprised of the National Coordinator, whois the Minister of Education and Sports, and twoNational Research Coordinators, all of whom are fluentin the language in which the international levelmeetings are conducted. They have attended variousinternational workshops, meetings, and trainings. Theteam has previous experience working on internationalassessments and has the necessary training andexperience to carry out the required assessmentactivities effectively.
Individuals working directly on SACMEQ benefit fromthe opportunities to learn about internationalassessments. Master’s degree students studyingassessment or a related area are also invited to theinternational training workshops. Workshops that areheld in Uganda are only for individuals who are involvedin administering the SACMEQ questionnaires, andmaster’s degree students are not invited to theseworkshops.
Uganda met all technical standards required to have itsdata presented in the main displays of the international
report. In addition, Uganda has contributed to theglobal knowledge base on international assessments bygenerating new knowledge and making it availablethrough publications and presentations, which areavailable as SACMEQ National Reports, National PolicyBriefs, and Research Papers and Theses.
Although SACMEQ results have not been covered in themedia, they have been used by policymakers to informcurriculum improvement, teacher training programs,and resource allocation. For example, SACMEQ findingshave been used by the Ministry of Education and Sportsto inform the design of continuous assessmentguidelines for tutors in Primary Teacher Colleges (PTCs).SACMEQ findings have also been used to inform thecontent and delivery of pre service and in serviceteacher training programs to ensure that they are moreresponsive to teachers’ needs.
Suggested policy options:
1. Introduce a system level strategy and monitoringmechanisms to ensure that SACMEQ information iscommunicated effectively to all key stakeholders. Forexample, include provisions for all schools andeducators to receive feedback on SACMEQ results.Additionally, distribute national reports with SACMEQresults to stakeholder groups in electronic and printformats.
2. Collaborate with the media to ensure wide coverageof ILSA results, such as through newspapers, radio, andtelevision
Ensure that financial resources are earmarked fromboth government and non government sources to runSACMEQ activities.
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Appendix 1: Assessment Types and Their Key Differences
Classroom Large-scale assessment Surveys
Examinations
National International Exit Entrance
Purpose To provide immediatefeedback to inform classroom instruction
To provide feedback on overall health of the system at particular grade/age level(s), and to monitor trends in learning
To provide feedback on the comparative performance of the education system at particular grade/age level(s)
To certify students as they move from one level of the education system to the next (or into the workforce)
To select students for further educational opportunities
Frequency Daily For individual subjects offered on a regular basis (such as every 3-5 years)
For individual subjects offered on a regular basis (such as every 3-5 years)
Annually and more often where the system allows for repeats
Annually and more often where the system allows for repeats
Who is tested?
All students Sample or census of students at a particular grade or age level(s)
A sample of students at a particular grade or age level(s)
All eligible students
All eligible students
Format Varies from observation to questioning to paper-and-pencil tests to student performances
Usually multiple choice and short answer
Usually multiple choice and short answer
Usually essay and multiple choice
Usually essay and multiple choice
Coverage of curriculum
All subject areas Generally confined to a few subjects
Generally confined to one or two subjects
Covers main subject areas
Covers main subject areas
Additional informationcollected from students?
Yes, as part of the teaching process
Frequently Yes Seldom Seldom
Scoring Usually informal and simple
Varies from simple to more statistically sophisticatedtechniques
Usually involves statistically sophisticatedtechniques
Varies from simple to more statistically sophisticatedtechniques
Varies from simple to more statistically sophisticatedtechniques
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Appendix 2: Basic Structure of Rubrics for Evaluating Data Collected on a Student Assessment System
Dimension
Development Level
LATENT (Absence of, or deviation from,
attribute)
EMERGING (On way to meeting minimum standard)
ESTABLISHED (Acceptable
minimum standard)
ADVANCED (Best practice) Justification
EC—ENABLING CONTEXT EC1—Policies EC2—Leadership, public engagement
EC3—Funding EC4—Institutional arrangements EC5—Human resources
SA—SYSTEM ALIGNMENT SA1—Learning/quality goals SA2—Curriculum SA3—Pre-, in-service teacher training
AQ—ASSESSMENT QUALITY AQ1—Ensuring quality (design, administration, analysis)
AQ2—Ensuring effective uses
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Appendix 3: Summary of the Development Levels for Each Assessment Type
Assessment Type LATENT EMERGING ESTABLISHED ADVANCED
Absence of, or deviation from, the attribute
On way to meeting minimum standard
Acceptable minimum standard
Best practice
CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT
There is no system-wide institutional capacity to support and ensure the quality of classroom assessment practices.
There is weak system-wide institutional capacity to support and ensure the quality of classroom assessment practices.
There is sufficient system-wide institutional capacity to support and ensure the quality of classroom assessment practices.
There is strong system-wide institutional capacity to support and ensure the quality of classroom assessment practices.
EXAMINATIONS
There is no standardized examination in place for key decisions.
There is a partially stable standardized examination in place, and a need to develop institutional capacity to run the examination. The examination typically is of poor quality and is perceived as unfair or corrupt.
There is a stable standardized examination in place. There is institutional capacity and some limited mechanisms to monitor it. The examination is of acceptable quality and is perceived as fair for most students and free from corruption.
There is a stable standardized examination in place and institutional capacity and strong mechanisms to monitor it. The examination is of high quality and is perceived as fair and free from corruption.
NATIONAL (OR SYSTEMLEVEL) LARGE SCALEASSESSMENT
There is no NLSA in place.
There is an unstable NLSA in place and a need to develop institutional capacity to run the NLSA. Assessment quality and impact are weak.
There is a stable NLSA in place. There is institutional capacity and some limited mechanisms to monitor it. The NLSA is of moderate quality and its information is disseminated, but not always used in effective ways.
There is a stable NLSA in place and institutional capacity and strong mechanisms to monitor it. The NLSA is of high quality and its information is effectively used to improve education.
INTERNATIONAL LARGESCALE ASSESSMENT
There is no history of participation in an ILSA nor plans to participate in one.
Participation in an ILSA has been initiated, but there still is need to develop institutional capacity to carry out the ILSA.
There is more or less stable participation in an ILSA. There is institutional capacity to carry out the ILSA. The information from the ILSA is disseminated, but not always used in effective ways.
There is stable participation in an ILSA and institutional capacity to run the ILSA. The information from the ILSA is effectively used to improve education.
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Appendix 4: Methodology for Assigning Development Levels
1. The country team or consultant collects information about the assessment system in the country.
2. Based on the collected information, a level of development and score is assigned to each dimension in the rubrics:
Latent = 1 score pointEmerging = 2 score pointsEstablished = 3 score pointsAdvanced = 4 score points
3. The score for each quality driver is computed by aggregating the scores for each of its constituent dimensions. Forexample:
The quality driver, ‘Enabling Context,’ in the case of ILSA, has 3 dimensions on which a hypothetical country receives thefollowing scores: Dimension A = 2 points; Dimension B = 2 points; Dimension C = 3 points. The hypothetical country’soverall score for this quality driver would be: (2+2+3)/3 = 2.33
4. A preliminary level of development is assigned to each quality driver.
5. The preliminary development level is validated using expert judgment in cooperation with the country team and TheWorld Bank Task Team Leader.
For scores that allow a margin of discretion (i.e., to choose between two levels of development), a final decision has tobe made based on expert judgment. For example, the aforementioned hypothetical country has an ‘Enabling Context’score of 2.33, corresponding to a preliminary level of development of ‘Emerging or Established.’ Based on qualitativeinformation not captured in the rubric, along with expert judgment, the country team chooses ‘Emerging’ as the mostappropriate level.
6. Scores for certain key dimensions under ‘Enabling Context’ (in the case of EXAM, NLSA, and ILSA) and under ‘SystemAlignment’ (in the case of CLASS) were set as ceiling scores, i.e., the overall mean score for the particular assessmenttype cannot be greater than the score for these key dimensions. These key variables include formal policy, regularfunding, having a permanent assessment unit, and the quality of assessment practices.
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availableto
determ
inetherelevant
selectionintherow.
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UGANDA
ClassroomAssessment
UGA
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NTAS
SESSMEN
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16
ENABLINGCONTEXT
ANDSYSTEM
ALIGNMENT
Overallpo
licyan
dresource
fram
eworkwith
inwhich
classroom
assessmenta
ctivity
takesp
lace
inacoun
tryor
system
,and
thedegree
towhich
classroom
assessmenta
ctivity
iscoherent
with
othercom
ponentso
fthe
educationsystem
.LATENT
EMERGING
ESTABLISHED
ADVANCED
ENABLINGCONTEXT
ANDSYSTEM
ALIGNMENT1:
Settingclearguidelinesforclassroomassessment
Thereisno
system
leveld
ocum
entthat
provides
guidelines
for
classroo
massessmen
t.
There
isan
inform
alsystem
level
documen
tthat
provides
guidelines
for
classroo
massessmen
t.
Thereisaform
alsystem
leveld
ocum
ent
that
provides
guidelines
forclassroo
massessmen
t.1
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
The
availability
ofthe
documen
tis
restricted.
Thedo
cumen
tisw
idelyavailable.
2
ENABLINGCONTEXT
ANDSYSTEM
ALIGNMENT2:
Aligning
classroomassessmentw
ithsystem
learning
goals
Thereareno
system
wideresourcesfor
teache
rsforclassroom
assessmen
t.Therearescarce
system
wideresources
forteachersfor
classroo
massessmen
t.Therearesomesystem
wideresources
forteachersfor
classroo
massessmen
t.3There
are
avarie
tyof
system
wide
resources
available
for
teache
rsfor
classroo
massessmen
t.
There
isno
official
curriculum
orstandardsd
ocum
ent.
There
isan
official
curriculum
orstandardsdo
cumen
t,bu
titis
notclear
whatstud
ents
areexpe
cted
tolearnor
towhatlevelof
performance.
There
isan
official
curriculum
orstandardsdo
cumen
tthat
specifies
what
stud
ents
areexpe
cted
tolearn,
butthe
levelof
performance
requ
ired
isno
tclear.
There
isan
official
curriculum
orstandardsdo
cumen
tthat
specifies
what
stud
ents
areexpe
cted
tolearn
and
towhatlevelof
performance.4
ENABLINGCONTEXT
ANDSYSTEM
ALIGNMENT3:
Havingeffectivehuman
resourcestocarryoutclassroom
assessmentactivities
Thereareno
system
levelmechanism
sto
ensure
that
teache
rsde
velop
skills
andexpe
rtise
inclassroo
massessmen
t.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
There
are
some
system
level
mechanism
sto
ensure
that
teache
rsde
velopskillsandexpe
rtise
inclassroo
massessmen
t.5
There
are
avarie
tyof
system
level
mechanism
sto
ensure
that
teache
rsde
velopskillsandexpe
rtise
inclassroo
massessmen
t.
*
*
*
*
*
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ASSESSMENTQUALITY
Qua
lityof
classroo
massessmentd
esign,ad
ministratio
n,an
alysis,
anduse.
LATENT
EMERGING
ESTABLISHED
ADVANCED
ASSESSMENTQUALITY1:
Ensuring
thequality
ofclassroomassessment
Classroo
massessmen
tpractices
suffe
rfrom
widespreadweaknessesor
thereis
noinform
ation
available
onclassroo
massessmen
tpractices.
Classroo
massessmen
tpractices
are
know
nto
beweak.
6Classroo
massessmen
tpractices
are
know
nto
beof
mod
eratequ
ality
.Classroo
massessmen
tpractices
are
know
nto
begene
rally
ofhigh
quality
.
Thereareno
mechanism
sto
mon
itorthe
quality
ofclassroo
massessmen
tpractices.
Therearead
hocmechanism
sto
mon
itor
the
quality
ofclassroo
massessmen
tpractices.
Therearelim
itedsystem
aticmechanism
sto
mon
itor
the
quality
ofclassroo
massessmen
tpractices.
There
are
varie
dand
system
atic
mechanism
sin
place
tomon
itor
the
quality
ofclassroo
massessmen
tpractices.7
ASSESSMENTQUALITY2:
Ensuring
effectiveusesofclassroomassessment
Classroo
massessmen
tinformationisno
trequ
ired
tobe
dissem
inated
tokey
stakeh
olde
rs.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Classroo
massessmen
tinform
ation
isrequ
iredto
bedissem
inated
tosomekey
stakeh
olde
rs.
Classroo
massessmen
tinform
ation
isrequ
iredto
bedissem
inated
toallkey
stakeh
olde
rs.8
Thereareno
requ
ireduses
ofclassroo
massessmen
ttosupp
ortstude
ntlearning.
There
are
limite
drequ
ired
uses
ofclassroo
massessmen
tto
supp
ort
stud
entlearning.
There
are
adeq
uate
requ
ired
uses
ofclassroo
massessmen
tto
supp
ort
stud
entlearning,e
xcluding
itsuseas
aninpu
tfor
externalexam
inationresults.
There
are
adeq
uate
requ
ired
uses
ofclassroo
massessmen
tto
supp
ort
stud
entlearning,including
itsuseas
aninpu
tfor
externalexam
inationresults.9
*
* * *
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ClassroomAssessment
1.At
theprim
arylevel,tw
odo
cumen
tsprovideguidelines
forclassroom
assessmen
t:theNationalCurriculum
Developm
entC
entre(NCD
C)syllabu
sesfor
each
year
P1to
P7andtheTeache
r’sGu
ides
forP
1to
P3.Eachof
thesedo
cumen
tscontains
asectionon
guidelines
fora
ssessm
ent.Thereareno
Teache
r’sGu
ides
forP
4to
P7.
Thecurriculum
attheLower
Prim
arylevel(P1
toP3
)iso
rganize
dinaTh
ematicAp
proach,w
here
diffe
rent
them
eshave
been
develope
dandconten
ttobe
taught
isorganizedinbroadlearning
areasreferredto
asstrand
s.Em
phasisat
thisleveliso
nliteracy,nu
meracy,andlifeskills.
Thecurriculum
attheUpp
erPrim
arylevel(P4
toP7
)iss
ubjectbased,coverin
gEn
glish
,Mathe
matics,Integrated
Science,SocialStud
ies,LocalLanguage,Re
ligious
Stud
ies,Creativ
eand
PerformingArts.W
ithregard
toPrim
aryEd
ucation,NCD
Chasp
rodu
cedsyllabu
sesfor
all the
subjectsfore
achyear
forP
1to
P7andTeache
r’sGu
ides
forP
1to
P3.G
uide
lines
forclassroom
assessmen
tare
provided
attheen
dof
each
topicinthesyllabu
ses.Furthe
rdetailson
classroo
massessmen
tare
giveninthe
Teache
r’sGu
ides
forP
1to
P3.W
ithregard
tosecond
aryed
ucation,NCD
Chasp
rodu
cedteaching
syllabu
sesfor
OLevel(S1
toS4).Thereisateaching
syllabu
sfor
each
subjectfor
each
year
S1to
S4.The
sesyllabu
sesc
ontainguidance
onthemod
eof
assessmen
tbut
dono
tprovide
detailedguidelines
forclassroom
assessmen
tfor
each
topic.Therearealso
noTeache
r’sGu
ides
atthislevel.Thereareteaching
syllabu
sesfor
each
ofthe8core
and23
electiv
eOLevelsub
jects.
NCD
Chasrecen
tlyprod
uced
theteaching
syllabu
sfor
ALeveland
itcanbe
accessed
from
theNationalCurriculum
Developm
entC
entreweb
siteat
http://w
ww.ncdc.go.ug/alevels.html.
TheMinistry
ofEducationandSportshasa
lsode
velope
daCo
ntinuo
usAssessmen
tHandb
ookandGu
idelines
forT
utorsinPrim
aryTeache
rEdu
catio
ninUgand
a.Thisisaguideforind
ividuals(i.e.,tutors/teache
rtrainers)prep
aringstud
entteacherstoen
gage
incontinuo
usassessmen
tinprim
aryscho
ols.Althou
ghthis
Hand
book
ismainlyfortutorsinthePrim
aryTeache
r’sCo
lleges(PTCs),itisavaluableresource
onassessmen
tmechanism
sfor
teache
redu
cators,teacher
traine
esandpracticingteache
rsinprim
aryscho
ols.Th
ehand
book
canbe
accessed
from
theMinistry
ofEducationweb
site.
2.Th
eNCD
Csyllabu
sesfor
each
year
P1to
P7areavailableto
thepu
blicthroughtheNationalCurriculum
Developm
ent C
entre,teache
rtraining
colleges,in
servicecoursesfor
teache
rsandleadingbo
okstores
inthecoun
try.Th
esyllabu
sesa
reprovided
free
ofcharge
toallgovernm
entaide
dscho
olsinthecoun
try.
Privatescho
olsc
anpu
rchase
copies
ofthesyllabu
sesfrom
NCD
Candbo
okstores.
TheNCD
CTeache
r’sGu
ides
forP
1to
P3areprovided
free
ofcharge
toallgovernm
enta
ided
scho
ols.Privatescho
olsc
anpu
rchase
theTeache
r’sGu
ides
from
NCD
Candbo
okstores.
TheNCD
Csyllabu
sesfor
OLevel(S1
toS4)are
availablefrom
NCD
Candaresoldat
bookstores
inthecoun
try.
Thesesyllabu
sesc
analso
beaccessed
from
the
NationalCurriculum
Developm
entC
entreweb
siteat
http://w
ww.ncdc.go.ug/olevel.htm
l.
3.Th
eNCD
Csyllabu
sesfor
each
year
P1to
P7andtheNCD
Csyllabu
sesfor
OLeveloutlinewhatstude
ntsa
reexpe
cted
tolearnindiffe
rent
subjecta
reas
atdiffe
rent
gradelevels.
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Therecommen
dedtextbo
oksfor
prim
aryandsecond
aryed
ucationprovidesupp
ortfor
classroo
massessmen
t.Th
esetextbo
oksu
suallyprovideselftesting
exercisesa
tthe
endof
each
topic.NCD
Chaso
nlyprod
uced
theALevelEntrepren
eurshipLearne
r’sBo
okas
textbo
oksa
remainlyprod
uced
byprivatesector
publish
erssuchas
MacMillan
andHe
inem
ann.TheMinistry
ofEd
ucationandSportsno
rmallyprovides
alisto
fthe
recommen
dedtextbo
okstoeach
governmen
taide
dscho
ol.Schoo
lsarerequ
iredto
selectthetextbo
oksthe
ywou
ldne
edfrom
thelista
ndsubm
ittheirliststotheMinistry
ofEd
ucationand
Sports,w
hich
then
purchasesc
opiesa
ndsupp
liesthe
mfree
ofcharge
toallgovernm
enta
ided
scho
ols.Privatescho
olsp
urchasetheiro
wntextbo
oksfrom
book
stores.
Scho
olsa
ndteache
rsmaketheiro
wnscoringcrite
riaforclassroom
assessmen
tactivities,followingtheUNEB
exam
inationform
ats.Scho
olsa
ndteache
rscan
purchase
pastUNEB
exam
inationpape
rsfrom
UNEB
andbo
okstores
andusethem
forthe
irclassroo
massessmen
tactivities.Schoo
lsandteache
rsalso
collect
pastpape
rsfrom
thebe
stpe
rformingscho
olsa
ndusethem
forclassroom
assessmen
tactivities.
4.Th
eNCD
Csyllabu
sesfor
P1to
P7ou
tline
whatstude
ntsa
tdifferen
tgrade
andagelevelsareexpe
cted
tolearninLanguage
andMathe
matics.Th
esyllabu
ses
also
outline
whatstude
ntsa
reexpe
cted
tolearnfora
llsubjectsinthecurriculum
.The
syllabu
seslist
aseto
fcom
petenciesthatstude
ntsa
reexpe
cted
toacqu
ireat
theen
dof
each
curricular
topic.Th
eNCD
Csyllabu
sesfor
OLeveloutlinewhat stude
ntsa
tdifferen
tgrade
andagelevelsareexpe
cted
tolearnin
English
andMathe
matics.Th
eyalso
outline
whatstude
ntsa
reexpe
cted
tolearnfora
llsubjectsinthecurriculum
.The
OLeveland
ALevelU
NEB
syllabu
ses
outline
whatstude
ntsa
reexpe
cted
tolearninLanguage
andMathe
matics.Th
eyalso
outline
whatstude
ntsa
reexpe
cted
tolearnfora
llsubjectsinthe
curriculum
.
5.System
levelm
echanism
sinclude
pre
andin
serviceteache
rtraining.Specifically,pre
serviceteache
rtrainingfora
llteache
rsinclud
esatopicon
the
developm
ento
fskills
andexpe
rtise
inclassroo
massessmen
t.Second
aryscho
olteache
rtraineesreceive
training
onclassroo
massessmen
tduringtheir
unde
rgradu
ateBa
chelor
ofEducationde
gree
program.Prim
aryscho
olteache
rtraineesreceive
training
onclassroo
massessmen
tduringtheirG
rade
3Ce
rtificate
programsa
tthe
Prim
aryTeache
r’sCo
lleges(PTCs).Prim
aryteache
rtraineese
nrolledforthe
Diplom
ainPrim
aryEducationalso
receivetraining
onclassroo
massessmen
t.
Theprovision
forinserviceteache
rtrainingismainlyavailableto
prim
aryscho
olteache
rsthroughtheCo
ntinuo
usProfessio
nalD
evelop
men
t(CP
D)program
and
theinitialteache
rorie
ntationprogram
cond
uctedby
thecoordinatin
gtutors.Coo
rdinatingtutorsareteache
rtrainersinteache
rtraining
collegesw
hohave
been
iden
tifiedby
theMinistry
ofEd
ucationandSportsto
offersup
portinim
plem
entatio
nof
thecurriculum
.Atthe
second
aryscho
ollevel,theprovision
forin
servicetraining
isavailableprim
arily
toMathe
maticsa
ndScienceteache
rsthroughtheSecond
aryScienceandMathe
maticsT
eachers(SESEMAT
)program
.The
purposeof
theprogram
isto
improvetheteaching
ability
ofScienceandMathe
maticsteachersa
tthe
second
arylevel,andtheoverallgoalistoim
provestud
ent
performance
inthosesubjects.
Additio
nally,allteache
rtrainingprogramsinclude
arequ
iredcourse
onclassroo
massessmen
t.Scho
olinspectio
nor
teache
rsup
ervisio
nalso
includ
esa
compo
nent
focusedon
classroo
massessmen
t.An
nualop
portun
ities
toparticipateinworksho
ps,con
ferences, and
item
developm
entfor,orscorin
gof
exam
sareavailableforsom
eteache
rsandUNEB
exam
iners.
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20
Inform
alor
adho
cinitiatives/activities
tobu
ildskillsa
ndexpe
rtise
inclassroo
massessmen
tare
also
madeavailableinthecoun
try,includ
ingrefreshe
rcou
rses,
conferen
cesa
ndworksho
psorganizedforp
racticingteache
rs.
6.Th
esupp
lyop
enen
dedform
atismorecommon
attheprim
aryscho
ollevel,whilethemultip
lechoice
form
atiscommon
atthesecond
aryscho
ollevel.Th
ere
isno
standard
system
levelcriterionthat
isprovided
toteache
rsto
beused
durin
gthegradingas
partof
classroo
massessmen
tactivities.Teachersc
onstruct
theiro
wnclassroo
massessmen
tsinahaph
azardfashion,with
questio
nsandessayprom
ptssim
ilartotheon
esthat
theirteachersu
sed.
Itisvery
common
forclassroom
assessmen
tactivities
tobe
mainlyabou
trecallinginform
ation.Itisalso
common
toob
serveerrorsinthescoringor
gradingof
stud
ents'w
ork,andgradeinfla
tion,andun
even
applicationof
standardsfor
gradingstud
ents'w
orkisaserio
usprob
lem.Itisc
ommon
forclassroom
assessmen
tto
bemainlyused
asan
administrativ
eor
controltoo
lrathe
rthanas
ape
dagogicalresou
rce.At
thesametim
e,classroo
massessmen
tistypicallyaligne
dwith
thepe
dagogicalorcurricular
fram
ework,parentsa
regene
rally
inform
edof
theirchild'sgrades,and
classroo
massessmen
tactivities
tend
toprovideuseful
feed
back
tostud
ents.
7.System
levelm
echanism
sare
inplaceto
mon
itorthe
quality
ofclassroo
massessmen
tactivities
andinclud
eclassroo
massessmen
tasa
requ
iredcompo
nent
ofateache
r’spe
rformance
evaluatio
nandscho
olinspectio
ns.The
rearealso
system
widereview
softhe
quality
ofed
ucation,which
includ
eafocuso
nclassroo
massessmen
t.Specifically,the
Directorateof
EducationStandardsh
astherespon
sibility
ofsettingstandards,assurin
gqu
ality
andevaluatin
gpe
rformance
ined
ucation.Ad
ditio
nally,the
reisan
externalmod
erationsystem
that
review
sthe
difficulty
ofclassroo
massessmen
tactivities
andthe
approp
riatene
ssof
scoringcrite
ria. Som
escho
olsh
aveinternalandexternalmod
erationsystem
scom
prise
dof
staffw
ithinandou
tsideof
thescho
ols.
8.Teache
rsarerequ
iredto
repo
rtclassroo
massessmen
tinformationto
thescho
ol,paren
ts,stude
nts,Scho
olManagem
entC
ommittees,andBo
ardof
Governors.Onrequ
est,scho
olssho
uldbe
ableto
repo
rton
individu
alstud
ent’s
performance
toofficialsfrom
theMinistry
ofEducationandCo
ordinatin
gCe
ntre
Tutors(CCT
s).
9.Th
erequ
ireduses
ofclassroo
massessmen
tactivities
toprom
oteandinform
stud
entlearninginclud
ediagno
singstud
ents’learningiss
ues,providingfeed
back
tostud
entson
theirlearning,inform
ingparentsa
bout
theirchild’slearning,grading
stud
entsforinternalclassroom
uses,providing
inpu
ttoan
external
exam
inationprogram,and
prom
otingstud
entsfrom
onegradeleveltothene
xt.
Althou
ghteache
rsinUgand
auseclassroo
massessmen
ttoinform
stud
ents’learning,inform
ingtheiro
wnteaching
isno
tamainreason
teache
rstypically
carry
outclassroom
assessmen
tactivities.
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21
UGANDA
Exam
inations
UGA
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NTAS
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TIONRE
SULTS
22
ENABLINGCONTEXT
Overallfram
eworkof
policies,lead
ership,organ
izatio
nalstructures,fiscaland
human
resourcesinwhich
assessmenta
ctivity
takesp
lace
inacoun
tryor
system
andtheextent
towhich
that
fram
eworkiscond
uciveto,orsup
portiveof,the
assessmenta
ctivity.
LATENT
EMERGING
ESTABLISHED
ADVANCED
ENABLINGCONTEXT
1:Settingclearpolicies
Nostandardize
dexam
inationhastaken
place.
Thestandardize
dexam
inationhasbe
enop
eratingon
anirregular
basis.
Theexam
inationisastableprogram
that
hasb
eenop
eratingregularly
.1This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion
There
isno
policy
documen
tthat
authorize
sthe
exam
ination.
There
isan
inform
alor
draft
policy
documen
tthat
authorize
sthe
exam
ination.
Thereis
aform
alpo
licydo
cumen
tthat
authorize
sthe
exam
ination.
2This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Thepo
licydo
cumen
tisno
tavailableto
thepu
blic
Thepo
licydo
cumen
tisavailableto
the
public.3
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
The
policy
documen
taddresses
some
keyaspe
ctso
fthe
exam
ination.
4Thepo
licydo
cumen
taddressesallkey
aspe
ctso
fthe
exam
ination.
ENABLINGCONTEXT
2:Havingstrong
leadership
Allstakeh
olde
rgrou
psstrongly
oppo
setheexam
inationor
areindiffe
rent
toit.
Most
stakeh
olde
rgrou
psop
pose
the
exam
ination.
Moststakeh
olde
rsgrou
pssupp
ortthe
exam
ination.
5All
stakeh
olde
rgrou
pssupp
ort
the
exam
ination.
Thereareno
attemptsto
improvethe
exam
inationby
stakeh
olde
rgroup
s.This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
There
are
inde
pend
ent
attempts
toim
provetheexam
inationby
stakeh
olde
rgrou
ps.6
There
are
coordinated
attempts
toim
provetheexam
inationby
stakeh
olde
rgrou
ps.
Effortsto
improvetheexam
inationare
not
welcomed
bythe
leadership
incharge
oftheexam
ination
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Effortsto
improvetheexam
inationare
gene
rally
welcomed
bytheleadership
incharge
oftheexam
ination.
7
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
(CONTINUE
D)
* * * * * * *
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23
LATENT
EMERGING
ESTABLISHED
ADVANCED
ENABLINGCONTEXT
3:Havingregularfunding
There
isno
fund
ing
allocated
forthe
exam
ination.
Thereis
irregular
fund
ingallocatedfor
theexam
ination.
Thereisregularfun
ding
allocatedforthe
exam
ination.
8This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Fund
ingcovers
somecore
exam
ination
activities:de
sign,
administratio
n,data
processin
gor
repo
rting.
Fund
ing
covers
allcore
exam
ination
activities:de
sign,
administratio
n,data
processin
gandrepo
rting.
9
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Fund
ing
does
notcoverresearch
and
developm
ent.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Fund
ing
covers
research
and
developm
ent.1
0
ENABLINGCONTEXT
4:Havingstrong
organizationalstructures
Theexam
inationofficedo
esno
texist
orisne
wlyestablish
ed.
The
exam
ination
office
isne
wly
establish
ed.
The
exam
ination
office
isa
stable
organizatio
n.11
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
The
exam
ination
office
isno
taccoun
table
toan
external
board
oragen
cy.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Theexam
inationofficeisaccoun
tableto
anexternalbo
ardor
agen
cy.12
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Exam
inationresults
areno
trecognize
dby
anycertificatio
nor
selectionsystem
.Exam
ination
results
are
recognize
dby
certificatio
nor
selectionsystem
inthe
coun
try.
Exam
ination
results
are
recognize
dby
onecertificatio
nor
selectionsystem
inanothe
rcou
ntry.
Exam
ination
results
are
recognize
dby
two
ormore
certificatio
nor
selection
system
inanothe
rcou
ntry.13
The
exam
ination
office
does
nothave
therequ
ired
facilitiesto
carryou
tthe
exam
ination.
Theexam
inationofficehassomeof
the
requ
ired
facilities
tocarry
out
the
exam
ination.
14
The
exam
ination
office
hasallof
the
requ
ired
facilities
tocarry
out
the
exam
ination.
Theexam
inationofficehasstateof
the
artfacilitie
stocarryou
tthe
exam
ination.
(CONTINUE
D)
* *
*
* *
*
*
UGA
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RSTUDE
NTAS
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SAP
PROAC
HFO
RBE
TTER
EDUCA
TIONRE
SULTS
24
LATENT
EMERGING
ESTABLISHED
ADVANCED
ENABLINGCONTEXT
5:Havingeffectivehuman
resources
There
isno
staff
tocarry
out
the
exam
ination.
Theexam
ination
officeis
inadeq
uately
staffed
toeffectively
carry
out
the
exam
ination,issue
sare
pervasive.
15
The
exam
ination
office
isadeq
uately
staffed
tocarry
outthe
exam
ination
effectively,with
minim
alissue
s.
The
exam
ination
office
isadeq
uately
staffed
tocarry
out
the
assessmen
teffectively,with
noissue
s.
Thecoun
trydo
esno
toffe
ropp
ortunitie
sthat
prep
are
for
work
onthe
exam
ination.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
The
coun
tryoffers
someop
portun
ities
that
prep
are
for
work
onthe
exam
ination.
16
The
coun
try
offers
awide
range
ofop
portun
ities
that
prep
areforworkon
theexam
ination.
*
*
UGA
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EDUCA
TIONRE
SULTS
25
SYSTEM
ALIGNMENT
Degree
towhich
theassessmentisc
oherentw
ithothercom
ponentso
fthe
educationsystem
.LATENT
EMERGING
ESTABLISHED
ADVANCED
SYSTEM
ALIGNMENT1:
Aligning
exam
inationswith
learning
goalsand
opportunitiestolearn
Itis
notclearwhatthe
exam
ination
measures.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Thereis
aclearun
derstand
ingof
what
theexam
inationmeasures.17
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
What
the
exam
ination
measures
isqu
estio
nedby
somestakeh
olde
rgroup
s.This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Whatismeasuredby
theexam
inationis
largelyaccepted
bystakeh
olde
rgroup
s.18
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Materialtoprep
arefortheexam
ination
isminim
aland
itis
only
accessible
tovery
fewstud
ents.
Thereissomematerialtoprep
areforthe
exam
inationthat
isaccessible
tosome
stud
ents.
There
iscompreh
ensiv
ematerial
toprep
are
for
the
exam
ination
that
isaccessibleto
moststude
nts.19
There
iscompreh
ensiv
ematerial
toprep
are
for
the
exam
ination
that
isaccessibleto
allstude
nts.
SYSTEM
ALIGNMENT2:
Providingteacherswith
opportunitiestolearnabouttheexam
ination
Thereareno
coursesor
worksho
pson
exam
inations
availableto
teache
rs.2
0There
are
noup
todate
courses
orworksho
pson
exam
inations
availableto
teache
rs.
Thereareup
todate
voluntarycourses
orworksho
pson
exam
inations
available
toteache
rs.
Thereareup
todate
compu
lsory
courses
orworksho
pson
exam
inations
for
teache
rs.
Teache
rsare
exclud
edfrom
all
exam
inationrelatedtasks.
Teache
rsare
involved
invery
few
exam
inationrelatedtasks.
Teache
rsare
involved
insome
exam
inationrelatedtasks.
Teache
rsare
involved
inmost
exam
inationrelatedtasks.
21
* * *
*
*
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SULTS
26
ASSESSMENTQUALITY
Degree
towhich
theassessmentm
eetsqu
ality
stan
dards,isfair,
andisused
inan
effectiveway.
LATENT
EMERGING
ESTABLISHED
ADVANCED
ASSESSMENTQUALITY1:
Ensuring
quality
There
isno
technicalrepo
rtor
othe
rdo
cumen
tatio
n.There
issome
documen
tatio
non
the
exam
ination,
butit
isno
tin
aform
alrepo
rtform
at.2
2
There
isa
compreh
ensiv
etechnical
repo
rtbu
twith
restrictedcirculation.
Thereis
acompreh
ensiv
e,high
quality
technicalrep
ortavailableto
thegene
ral
public.
There
are
nomechanism
sin
place
toen
sure
thequ
ality
oftheexam
ination.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Therearelim
itedsystem
aticmechanism
sin
place
toen
sure
the
quality
ofthe
exam
ination.
There
are
varie
dand
system
atic
mechanism
sin
place
toen
sure
the
quality
oftheexam
ination.
23
ASSESSMENTQUALITY2:
Ensuring
fairness
Inapprop
riate
behavior
surrou
ndingthe
exam
inationprocessish
igh.
24Inapprop
riate
behavior
surrou
ndingthe
exam
inationprocessism
oderate.
Inapprop
riate
behavior
surrou
ndingthe
exam
inationprocessislow
.Inapprop
riate
behavior
surrou
ndingthe
exam
inationprocessism
arginal.
Theexam
ination
results
lack
cred
ibility
fora
llstakeh
olde
rgroup
s.Theexam
inationresults
arecred
ible
for
somestakeh
olde
rgroup
s.Theexam
inationresults
arecred
ible
for
allstakeho
lder
grou
ps.2
5This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Themajority
ofthestud
ents
(over50%)
may
nottaketheexam
inationbe
causeof
language,gend
er,or
othe
req
uivalent
barriers.
Asig
nificant
prop
ortio
nof
stud
ents
(10%
50%)m
ayno
ttaketheexam
ination
becauseof
language,gend
er,or
othe
req
uivalent
barriers.
Asm
allp
ropo
rtionof
stud
ents(le
ssthan
10%)may
not
take
the
exam
ination
becauseof
language,gend
er,or
othe
req
uivalent
barriers.2
6
Allstud
ents
cantake
theexam
ination;
thereareno
language,gend
eror
othe
req
uivalent
barriers.
(CONTINUE
D)
*
*
*
* *
UGA
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NTAS
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RBE
TTER
EDUCA
TIONRE
SULTS
27
LATENT
EMERGING
ESTABLISHED
ADVANCED
ASSESSMENTQUALITY3:
Usingexam
inationinform
ationinafairway
Exam
ination
results
are
notused
ina
prop
erway
byallstakeho
lder
grou
ps.
Exam
ination
results
are
used
bysome
stakeh
olde
rgroup
sinaprop
erway.2
7Exam
ination
results
are
used
bymost
stakeh
olde
rgroup
sinaprop
erway.
Exam
ination
results
are
used
byall
stakeh
olde
rgroup
sinaprop
erway.
Stud
entn
ames
andresults
arepu
blic.28
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Stud
ents’resultsareconfidentia
l.This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
ASSESSMENTQUALITY4:
Ensuring
positiveconsequencesoftheexam
ination
Thereareno
optio
nsforstud
ents
who
dono
tperform
wello
ntheexam
ination,
orstud
ents
mustleave
the
education
system
.
There
are
very
limite
dop
tions
for
stud
entswho
dono
tperform
wellonthe
exam
ination.
Therearesomeop
tions
forstude
ntsw
hodo
notp
erform
wellontheexam
ination.
Thereisavarie
tyof
optio
nsforstud
ents
who
dono
tpe
rform
well
onthe
exam
ination.
29
There
are
nomechanism
sin
place
tomon
itor
the
conseq
uences
ofthe
exam
ination.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Therearesomemechanism
sin
placeto
mon
itor
the
conseq
uences
ofthe
exam
ination.
30
Thereisavarie
tyof
mechanism
sin
place
tomon
itor
the
conseq
uences
ofthe
exam
ination.
*
*
*
*
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EDUCA
TIONRE
SULTS
28
Exam
inations
1.Th
eUgand
aAd
vanced
Certificate
ofEducation(UAC
E)isan
exam
inationwhich
isadministered
tostud
entsafterthe
ycompletetw
oyearsof
uppe
rsecon
dary
scho
ol(grade
13).Th
emainpu
rposes
oftheexam
inationareforstud
entcertificatio
nforgradeor
scho
olcyclecompletion,
stud
entselectionto
universityor
othe
rhigher
educationinstitu
tion,
mon
itorin
gof
educationqu
ality
levels,
planning
educationpo
licyreform
s,andforscho
olor
educator
accoun
tability.
The
exam
inationwas
administered
forthe
firsttim
ein19
80.
2.Therearefour
documen
tswhich
containaspe
ctso
fthe
policyon
theUAC
Eexam
ination.
Theform
alpo
licydo
cumen
tsinclud
e:
a.TheUgand
aNationalExaminations
BoardAct,Ch
apter1
37Lawso
fUgand
a.b.
TheUNEB
Ugand
aAd
vanced
Certificate
ofEducationRe
gulatio
nsandSyllabu
ses,which
arerevisedeveryfiveyears.Thecurren
tUAC
ERe
gulatio
nsandSyllabu
sesa
reforthe
perio
d20
0920
13.
c.TheUNEB
Regulatio
nson
theCo
nducta
ndSupe
rvision
ofUCE
andUAC
EExam
ination,which
areauthorize
dby
UNEB
.The
curren
tregulations
arefor
theyear
2012
.
Thedraftp
olicydo
cumen
tinclude
s:
a.TheNationalC
urriculum
Developm
entCe
ntre
(NCD
C)draftALevelsyllabu
s,which
provides
thepo
licyon
theUAC
Eexam
ination.
Thisdraftisno
tavailableto
thepu
blic.
3.Allofthe
form
alpo
licydo
cumen
tsareavailableto
andeasilyaccessibleby
thepu
blic.
TheUgand
aNationalExaminations
BoardActcan
beaccessed
from
UNEB
.The
Actcan
also
bepu
rchasedfrom
bookstores.
Acopy
oftheUgand
aAd
vanced
Certificate
ofEd
ucationRe
gulatio
nsandSyllabu
sesisdistrib
uted
free
ofcharge
toexam
inationcenters,which
regularly
enter
cand
idates
forUAC
E.Ad
ditio
nalc
opiescanbe
obtained
from
UNEB
.Scho
ols,
stud
ents,andthegene
ralp
ublic
canpu
rchase
copies
oftheregulatio
nsand
syllabu
sesfrom
UNEB
andbo
okstores
inthecoun
try.
Theexam
inationregulatio
nscanalso
beaccessed
from
theUgand
aNationalE
xaminations
web
siteat
http://w
ww.une
b.ac.ug.
Acopy
oftheUNEB
Regulatio
nson
theCo
nductandSupe
rvision
ofUCE
andUAC
EExam
inations
isdistrib
uted
free
ofcharge
toexam
inationcenters,which
regularly
entercandidatesfor
UAC
E.
UGA
NDA
SABE
RSTUDE
NTAS
SESSMEN
TSA
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YRE
PORT
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SYSTEM
SAP
PROAC
HFO
RBE
TTER
EDUCA
TIONRE
SULTS
29
4.TheUgand
aNationalExaminations
Boardismandatedto
cond
uctsecon
dary
andothe
rexaminations
inUgand
a.Th
eUNEB
Acto
utlines
issue
sof
governance,
distrib
utionof
power,a
ndrespon
sibilitie
sam
ongkeyen
tities.Italso
states
fund
ingsources,as
wellasproced
ures
foraw
arding
certificatesandrespon
ding
tooffenses.
TheUgand
aAd
vanced
Certificate
ofEducationRe
gulatio
nsandSyllabu
sesspecify
who
cansit
forthe
exam
ination,
theform
atof
theexam
inationqu
estio
ns,and
theexam
ination'salignm
entwith
curriculaandstandards.
Other
issue
saddressedin
theRe
gulatio
nsandSyllabu
sesinclud
erequ
iremen
tsto
sitforthe
exam
ination,
awardrules,grading,
cond
ition
sfortheaw
ardof
certificates,center
ofexam
inations,e
xaminationfees,w
ithdraw
als,exam
inationtim
etables,
materialsto
beprovided
bycand
idates,notificatio
nof
results,disq
ualification,andremarking
ofscrip
ts.
TheUNEB
Regulatio
nson
theCo
nducta
ndSupe
rvision
ofUCE
andUAC
EExam
inations
addressissue
sof
securitybreaches,m
alpractices
andirregularities.Ita
lsoou
tline
stheproced
ures
forspecialn
eeds
anddisadvantagedstud
ents
andiden
tifiesrulesabou
tprep
aringtheexam
inationroom
sandhalls.Other
issue
saddressedinclud
ecategorie
sof
exam
inationsupe
rviso
rs,gen
eralrulesandregulatio
nson
thecond
ucta
ndsupe
rvision
oftheexam
inations,a
swellasgene
ral
arrangem
ents,such
asthecollectionof
exam
inationmaterials,
packagingof
exam
inationpape
rs,de
liveryof
questio
npape
rsto
storagestations,daily
distrib
utionof
questio
npape
rsto
centers,andcollectionof
exam
inations
scrip
tsfrom
storagestations.
5.Thereisstrong
supp
ortfor
theexam
inationprogram
from
policym
akers,teache
runion
s,ed
ucators,stud
ents,p
aren
ts,e
mployers,andun
iversities.Althou
ghthemed
iasupp
ortstheexam
inationprogram,the
yhave
pointedto
thene
edto
review
theexistingsystem
ofsettingandadministeringnatio
nalexaminations
toim
provethequ
ality
oflearning.N
ewspaper
articlereview
shavepo
intedto
thefactthat
UNEB
hasb
eenrecyclingexam
inationqu
estio
nsat
alllevelsite
xamines.
Thispracticehashadsomeim
plications,including
encouragingmanyscho
olsto
divertfrom
theteaching
syllabu
sthat
isintend
edto
prom
otelearning
inallits
threedo
mains,spe
cificallycognitive
(impartingknow
ledge),affe
ctive(positive
attitud
echange)a
ndpsycho
motor
(skills
developm
ent),toconcen
tratingon
the
questio
nandansw
erapproach
ofteaching
(which
orientsthelearne
rsto
reprod
ucein
anexam
thepo
ints
givendu
ringthelesson
with
little
room
for
reason
ing).
6.Attemptshave
been
madeby
themed
iato
acknow
ledgethene
edto
improvetheexam
inationprogram.T
hene
wly
appo
intedchairm
anof
theUgand
aNationalExaminations
Boardhasa
lsoexpressedintentions
toreview
theen
tireexam
inationsystem
.
7.Effortsto
improvetheexam
inationaregene
rally
welcomed
bytheleadership
incharge
oftheexam
ination.
TheUNEB
syllabu
sesandregulatio
nsarerevised
everyfiveyearsto
catertothechangesintheestablish
edcurriculum
.The
rulesandregulatio
nsarealso
revisedbasedon
emerging
need
sandrepo
rtsfrom
the
exam
inationexercise.
8.Thereisregularfun
ding
allocatedby
thegovernmen
tfor
theexam
ination,andfund
ingisalso
provided
bystud
entfees.
9.Fund
inghasbe
enallocatedforexam
inationde
signandadministratio
n,data
analysis,
andrepo
rting,
andthelong
ormed
ium
term
planning
ofprogram
mileston
es. W
hilefund
ingcoversstafftraining,thisfund
ingisno
tade
quate.
10.Fun
ding
also
coversresearch
andde
velopm
enta
ctivities.
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NTAS
SESSMEN
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11.T
heUgand
aNationalE
xaminations
Boardisasemiauton
omou
sbo
dy.Ithastheprim
aryrespon
sibility
forrunn
ingtheexam
ination.
Althou
ghtheUgand
aNationalExaminations
BoardActw
asform
allyen
actedin19
83,the
agen
cyhash
adprim
aryrespon
sibility
forrun
ning
theUAC
Eexam
inationsin
ce19
80.
12.The
Ugand
aNationalExaminations
Boardisaccoun
tableto
theMinistry
ofEducationan
dSports.
13.TheUAC
Eexam
inationresults
areofficially
recognize
dby
certificatio
nandselectionsystem
sin
Ugand
aas
wella
sby
morethan
onecertificatio
nand
selectionsystem
abroad.Som
ecoun
triesandun
iversities thata
dmitUgand
anstud
entshave
onlywrittento
UNEB
toverify,transla
te,and
clarify
theresults.For
exam
ple,
someun
iversitiesin
Canada
have
askedUNEB
tosend
them
acopy
ofthecourse
conten
t.Universities
inIndiahave
requ
estedUNEB
toconvertthe
grades
show
non
thecertificates(i.e.,A,
B,C,D,
E,andF)into
percen
tages.
14.T
heUNEB
headqu
arters
areho
used
inasecure
buildinglocatedin
Ntin
da,o
neof
thesubu
rbsof
Kampala.A
nother
buildingwhich
hassecure
storage
facilitiesislocatedin
Kyam
bogo,K
ampala.A
lthou
ghUNEB
hastheability
toback
updata
andhasadeq
uate
commun
icationtools,itdo
esno
thave
adeq
uate
accessto
compu
terservers,and
nota
lltechnicalstaffhasa
ccesstocompu
ters.
15.U
NEB
haspe
rmanen
t,fulltim
estaff,bu
titisn
otsufficien
ttomeetthe
demands
oftheexam
ination.
Somestaff,espe
ciallythetechnicalstaff,
isoverloaded
.Thisyear,a
totalo
f111
,581
cand
idates
wereexpe
cted
tosit
forthe
UAC
Eexam
ination,
inadditio
nto
the56
5,66
3cand
idates
who
satfor
thePLEexam
ination
andthe26
8,78
2stud
entswho
satfor
theUCE
exam
ination.ThePLEexam
inationandtheUCE
exam
inationarealso
overseen
byUNEB
.
Thereareap
proxim
ately23
0staff (technical,gene
ral,middlelevel,andtoplevelstaff)
working
with
UNEB
.How
ever,the
reisalim
itednu
mbe
roftechn
icalstaff.
Forexam
ple,
theSecond
aryScho
olDe
partmen
t,which
istasked
with
theUAC
Eexam
ination,
employs12
test
develope
rs,four
staffwho
aretasked
with
exam
inationmanagem
ent,andsevenstaffw
howorkintherecordssection.
Staffisoverloaded
,and
onestaffm
embe
risrequ
iredto
hand
lemanysubjecta
reas
(eventhou
ghthesesubjectswereno
thisor
herm
ajor
attheun
iversity).U
NEB
sometim
esrelieson
subjecte
xpertsfrom
NCD
C,un
iversities,as
wellasteache
rtraine
rsandsecond
aryscho
olteache
rs.
Issues
that
have
been
iden
tifiedwith
thepe
rformance
ofthehu
man
resourceswho
arerespon
sible
fortheexam
inationinclud
epo
ortraining
oftest
administrators
andinvigilators,a
swella
sweaknessesin
test
desig
n.Specifically,the
training
forinvigilators
isno
tadeq
uate.S
omeinvigilators
arepracticing
teache
rswho
areexpe
cted
tobe
familiar
with
administeringexam
inations
ingene
ral.Other
invigilators
areteache
rswho
have
previously
invigilatedUNEB
exam
inations.U
NEB
hasthereforeno
tinvestedsig
nificanttim
ein
retraining
teache
rsto
invigilate
theexam
inations.U
NEB
cond
ucts
a4weektraining
forthe
teache
rsinvolved
intest
item
developm
enta
ndmarking
oftheexam
inations.H
owever, the
teache
rsinvolved
insupe
rvising
andinvigilatin
gtheexam
inations
areon
lygivenaon
edaybriefin
gpriortothecommen
cemen
tofthe
exam
inations.Som
eteache
rsareno
tableto
attend
thebriefin
g.Re
cently,h
owever,U
NEB
hasclarified
thedu
tiesof
invigilators
intheirRe
gulatio
nson
theCo
nductandSupe
rvision
ofUCE
andUAC
EExam
inations
publication.
This
documen
tis
distrib
uted
totest
administrators,sup
ervisors
andinvigilators
attheon
edaybriefin
gandalso
atthecommen
cemen
tof
theexam
inations
forthoseteache
rswho
wereno
table
toattend
thebriefin
g.Re
gardingweaknessesin
test
desig
n,certainexam
inationqu
estio
nsareno
taskedin
aclearen
ough
way
forall
stud
entsto
unde
rstand
them
correctly
.
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16.Thereareun
iversitycourseson
educationalmeasuremen
tandevaluatio
nin
Ugand
a.Forinstance,MakerereUniversity
’sScho
olof
Educationoffers
unde
rgradu
ateandmaster’s
courseso
ned
ucationalm
easuremen
tand
evaluatio
n.
Fund
ingisalso
availablethroughtheUNEB
budget
fora
tten
ding
internationalp
rogram
s,courses,andworksho
pson
educationalm
easuremen
tand
evaluatio
n.Thefund
ingisavailableon
anannu
albasis
toUNEB
staff.Fore
xample,
UNEB
isamem
bero
fthe
AssociationforE
ducatio
nalA
ssessm
entinAfrica(AEA
A).T
his
associationorganizesc
onferences
invario
uscoun
triesinAfricato
which
UNEB
usually
send
seightto10
peop
le,suchas
testde
velope
rsandresearch
officers,to
attend
.UNEB
isalso
amem
berof
theInternationalA
ssociatio
nforEducationalA
ssessm
ent(IAEA
).Th
isassociationalso
organizesconferen
ceseveryyear,b
utbe
causeof
thecostsinvolved,UNEB
ison
lyableto
send
approxim
atelytw
ope
opleto
theconferen
ceeveryyear.
17.The
UAC
Eexam
inationmeasuresthe
natio
nalschoo
lcurriculum
guidelines
andstandards.
18.W
hatismeasuredby
theexam
inationislargelyaccepted
byvario
usstakeh
olde
rssuch
aspo
licym
akers,teache
rs,edu
cators,stude
nts,parents,med
ia,think
tanks,un
iversities,andem
ployers.
19.T
hepu
blicallyavailablematerialsne
eded
toprep
arefortheexam
inationinclud
eexam
ples
ofthetype
sof
questio
nscontaine
don
theUAC
Eexam
ination,
which
arepu
blish
edinUNEB
pastpape
rpub
lications
fora
llsubjects.The
sepu
blications
canbe
purchasedfrom
UNEB
andfrom
bookstores.
TheUAC
ERe
gulatio
nsandSyllabu
sesdo
cumen
texplainswhatismeasuredon
theexam
ination.
Each
exam
inationcenter,w
hich
regularly
enterscand
idates
for
UAC
E,receives
afree
copy
oftheRe
gulatio
nsdirectlyfrom
UNEB
.Add
ition
alcopies
canbe
purchasedfrom
UNEB
andinbo
okstores.
Additio
nally,U
NEB
releases
anannu
alrepo
rton
thestrengthsandweaknessesin
stud
entp
erform
ance
ontheUAC
E,which
ismadeavailableto
theMinistry
ofEducationan
dSports.The
Minister
ofEducationthen
officially
releases
theUAC
Eresults
tothepu
blic.
Thematerialsne
eded
toprep
areforthe
exam
inationareaccessibleby
moststude
nts.Scho
ols,stud
ents,and
thegene
ralp
ublic
canpu
rchase
UNEB
syllabu
ses,
regulatio
ns,andpast
pape
rsfrom
UNEB
andfrom
theleadingbo
okstores
inthecoun
try.
Scho
olscanalso
hold
copies
intheirlibrarie
s.Ho
wever,certain
subgroup
s,espe
ciallycand
idates
inurbanscho
ols,have
greatera
ccesstothematerialsthan
theirruralcoun
terparts.
20.T
here
areno
coursesor
worksho
pson
theexam
inationavailableto
teache
rs.T
heon
lyworksho
psavailableareforteache
rswho
areinvolved
intest
item
developm
enta
ndmarking
oftheexam
ination.
21.Every
year,U
NEB
selectsteacherstoparticipateincreatin
gexam
inationqu
estio
ns,creatingmarking
guides,adm
inisteringtheexam
ination,
actin
gas
ajudge
inorals,andsupe
rvising
exam
inationproced
ures.
22.T
here
issomedo
cumen
tatio
nabou
tthe
technicalaspectsof
theexam
ination,
butit isno
tinaform
alrepo
rtform
at.T
hisdo
cumen
tatio
nisinclud
edin
the
2012
UNEB
Regulatio
nson
theCo
nductandSupe
rvision
ofUCE
andUAC
EExam
inations
documen
t.Th
ebroadareascoveredby
thedo
cumen
tinclud
e:
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categorie
sof
exam
inationsupe
rviso
rs,gen
eralrulesandregulatio
nson
thecond
ucta
ndsupe
rvision
ofexam
inations,and
gene
ralarrangemen
tsandmeasures
againstm
alpractice.
23.T
oen
sure
thequ
ality
oftheexam
ination,
UNEB
cond
ucts
apilotor
filed
testing(w
here
sampleexam
inationqu
estio
nsaretested
inasampleof
UAC
Escho
ols),andanalyzes
theresults.Th
esampleinclud
escand
idates
inthetop,
middle,
andlow
achievem
entsubgroup
s.UNEB
also
cond
ucts
transla
tion
verificationbe
fore
thefin
alexam
inationisset.Du
ringtheadministratio
nof
theexam
ination,
UNEB
send
sscou
tsto
UAC
Eexam
inationcenterswho
mon
itorthe
runn
ingof
theexam
inations.Externalreviewsor
observerscomefrom
sisterinstitutions
such
astheNationalC
urriculum
Developm
entC
entre,Teache
rTraining
Institu
tions,and
theDirectorateof
EducationStandards.
24.The
rearevario
usinapprop
riate
behaviorssurrou
ndingtheexam
ination.
However,certainmechanism
shave
been
putin
placeto
addresseach
type
ofinapprop
riate
behavior:
a.Leakageof
theconten
tofa
nexam
inationpape
rorp
arto
fapape
rprio
rtotheexam
ination.
Toaddressthisissue
,UNEB
hasincreasedexam
inations
scou
ts.Intheeven
tofe
vide
nceof
cheatin
g,UNEB
cancelstheresults
ofthecheatin
gstud
ents
andscho
ols.Thepo
licealso
arreststud
ents
involved
incheatin
g.
b.Im
person
ation(w
henan
individu
alothe
rthantheregistered
cand
idatetakestheexam
ination).T
oaddressthisissue
,UNEB
hasinstitu
tedtheuseof
photoalbu
ms.
c.Co
pyingfrom
othe
rcand
idates.T
oaddressthisissue
,UNEB
hasspecified
aminim
umdistance
that
shou
ldbe
perm
itted
betw
eencand
idates
durin
gtheexam
ination.
d.Usin
gun
authorize
dmaterialssuch
asprep
ared
answ
ersandno
tes.To
addressthisissue
,candidatesarecheckedthorou
ghly
before
enterin
gthe
exam
inationroom
/hall.
e.Co
llusio
nam
ongcand
idates
viamob
ileph
ones,p
assin
gof
pape
r,or
equivalent.Toaddressthisissue
,mob
ileph
ones
arestrictly
proh
ibite
dfrom
the
exam
inationroom
. UNEB
also
deployse
xternalsup
ervisorsto
checkon
stud
entcon
ductdu
ringtheexam
ination.
f.Issuingforged
certificatesor
alterin
gresults.Toaddressthisissue
,the
results
certificateshave
adde
dsecurityfeatures,suchas
stud
entp
hotographs.
Certificatesalso
have
aho
logram
with
theUNEB
Courto
fArm
sem
bedd
edinsid
e.Thereisan
embe
dded
thread
that
isno
tvisibleto
thenakedeye(an
ultraviolet
feature)
andun
ique
lines
onthecertificate.
g.Provision
ofexternalassistanceviathesupe
rviso
r,mob
ileph
one,etc.To
addressthisissue
,UNEB
send
sout
scou
tsto
exam
inationcentersto
mon
itor
thecond
uctdu
ringtheexam
ination.
Supe
rviso
rsandinvigilators
comefrom
outsidethecenter.Mob
ileph
ones
arealso
notallowed
into
the
exam
inationroom
.
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h.Thereisalso
anoccasio
nalsub
stitu
tionof
stud
ent’s
scrip
tswith
othe
rsdo
neou
tsidetheexam
inationroom
bysomeo
neelse.Tam
pere
vide
ntplastic
scrip
tenvelop
esareused
toaddressthisissue
.
25.A
llstakeh
olde
rgroup
saccep
tthe
exam
inationresults
and,as
approp
riate,use
them
forselectio
n,placem
ent,andem
ploymen
tpurpo
ses.
26.Som
estud
ents
who
attend
privatescho
olsbu
tare
unable
topaytheexam
inationfees
cann
ottake
theexam
ination.
Somestud
ents
inprivatescho
olspay
theexam
inationregistratio
nfees
totheirschoo
ls,yetthe
scho
olauthorities
take
themon
eyandstud
entscann
otsit
theexam
ination.
UNEB
norm
allyappe
alsto
scho
olstoletstude
ntssitforthe
exam
inationandpaylater.
27.Som
eDistrictE
ducatio
nOfficers(policym
akers)threaten
tofirehe
adteache
rswho
sescho
olsd
ono
tachieve
acertainpass
levelontheexam
ination.
Thishas
encouraged
cheatin
gand
malpractice.
Themed
iahascarriedou
ttherankingof
cand
idates
andscho
olsinapprop
riately,which
hasen
couraged
unfair
compe
titionandmalpractice.
28.From
UNEB
’ssid
e,on
lythestud
enta
ndpe
rson
swith
alegitim
ate,professio
nalinterestinthetest
takerc
anknow
theresults.Thu
s,UNEB
hasinstitu
tedan
SMSservicewhe
restud
ents
canreceivetheirresults
immed
iatelyafterthey
arereleased
.How
ever,schoo
lsmaketheresults
publicby
releasingthem
tothe
med
iawhich
publish
stud
ents’n
ames
andexam
inationresults.T
hispracticeisno
tin
linewith
theguidelines
ofcommun
icatingexam
inations
results
andis
something
that
thescho
olsandthemed
iado
with
outformalauthority
. Som
eof
theresults
that
have
been
publish
edin
thepressareno
tauthe
ntic.The
med
iaalso
makes
unfairrankings
basedon
theexam
inationresults.
29.Stud
ents
who
dono
tpe
rform
wellon
theexam
inationhave
theop
tionof
retaking
theexam
ination,
attend
ingremed
ialcoursesto
prep
areforthe
exam
inationand/or
repe
atingthegrade.
Stud
ents
canalso
optforless
selectivescho
olssuch
astechnical,vocatio
naltraininginstitu
tions,farm
scho
olsand
nursingscho
ols.
30.T
hemechanism
sin
placeto
mon
itortheconseq
uences
oftheexam
inationaremainlyape
rmanen
toversig
htcommittee
andstud
iesthat
areregularly
updated.
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NDA
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.
UGANDA
National(orSystem
Level)LargeScaleAssessment(NLSA)
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ENABLINGCONTEXT
Overallfram
eworkof
policies,lead
ership,organ
izatio
nalstructures,fiscaland
human
resourcesinwhich
NLSAactivity
takesp
lace
inacoun
tryor
system
andthe
extent
towhich
that
fram
eworkiscond
uciveto,orsup
portiveof,the
NLSAactiv
ity.
LATENT
EMERGING
ESTABLISHED
ADVANCED
ENABLINGCONTEXT
1:SettingclearpoliciesforNLSA
NoNLSAexercise
hastaken
place.
The
NLSA
has
been
operating
onan
irregular
basis.
TheNLSA
isastable
program
that
has
been
operatingregularly
.1This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Thereis
nopo
licydo
cumentpe
rtaining
toNLSA.
There
isan
inform
alor
draft
policy
documen
tthata
utho
rizes
theNLSA.
Thereis
aform
alpo
licydo
cumen
tthat
authorize
sthe
NLSA.
2This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Thepo
licydo
cumen
tisno
tavailableto
thepu
blic.
Thepo
licydo
cumen
tisavailableto
the
public.3
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Thereisno
plan
forN
LSAactivity
.This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Thereisagene
ralund
erstanding
that
the
NLSAwilltake
place.
4There
isa
written
NLSA
plan
forthe
comingyears.
ENABLINGCONTEXT
2:Havingstrong
publicengagementforNLSA
Allstakeh
olde
rgrou
psstrongly
oppo
setheNLSAor
areindiffe
rent
toit.
Some
stakeholde
rgrou
psop
pose
the
NLSA.
Moststakeh
olde
rsgrou
pssupp
ortthe
NLSA.
Allstakeho
lder
grou
pssupp
ortthe
NLSA.
5
(CONTINUE
D)
* * * *
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LATENT
EMERGING
ESTABLISHED
ADVANCED
ENABLINGCONTEXT
3:HavingregularfundingforNLSA
There
isno
fund
ing
allocated
tothe
NLSA.
There
isirregular
fund
ingallocated
totheNLSA.
Thereisregularfund
ingallocatedto
the
NLSA.
6This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Fund
ing
covers
some
core
NLSA
activities:d
esign,administratio
n,analysis
andrepo
rting.
Fund
ingcovers
allcore
NLSA
activities:
desig
n,administratio
n,analysis
and
repo
rting.
7
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Fund
ing
does
notcoverresearch
and
developm
enta
ctivities.8
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Fund
ing
covers
research
and
developm
enta
ctivities.
ENABLINGCONTEXT
4:Havingstrong
organizationalstructuresforNLSA
Thereis
noNLSAoffice,
adho
cun
itor
team
.TheNLSAofficeisatempo
rary
agen
cyor
grou
pof
peop
le.
TheNLSAofficeisape
rmanen
tagen
cy,
institu
tionor
unit.
9This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Political
considerations
regularly
hampe
rtechnicalcon
siderations.
Political
considerations
sometim
eshampe
rtechn
icalconsiderations.1
0Po
litical
considerations
never
hampe
rtechnicalcon
siderations.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
TheNLSAofficeisno
taccoun
tableto
aclearly
recognize
dbo
dy.
The
NLSA
office
isaccoun
table
toa
clearly
recognize
dbo
dy.1
1This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
(CONTINUE
D)
* *
*
* * *
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LATENT
EMERGING
ESTABLISHED
ADVANCED
ENABLINGCONTEXT
5:Havingeffectivehuman
resourcesforNLSA
Thereisno
staffa
llocatedforrun
ning
anNLSA.
TheNLSAofficeis
inadeq
uately
staffed
toeffectivelycarryou
tthe
assessmen
t.12
TheNLSAofficeisadeq
uately
staffedto
carry
out
the
NLSA
effectively,
with
minim
alissue
s.
TheNLSAofficeisadeq
uately
staffedto
carryou
ttheNLSA
effectively,
with
noissue
s.
Thecoun
trydo
esno
toffe
ropp
ortunitie
sthat
prep
are
individu
als
forwork
onNLSA.
13
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Thecoun
tryofferssomeop
portun
ities
toprep
are
individu
als
for
work
onthe
NLSA.
The
coun
try
offers
awide
range
ofop
portun
ities
toprep
areindividu
alsfor
workon
theNLSA.
*
*
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SYSTEM
ALIGNMENT
Degree
towhich
theNLSAiscoherent
with
othercom
ponentso
fthe
educationsystem
.LATENT
EMERGING
ESTABLISHED
ADVANCED
SYSTEM
ALIGNMENT1:
Aligning
theNLSA
with
learning
goals
Itis
notcleariftheNLSA
isbasedon
curriculum
orlearning
standards.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
TheNLSAmeasurespe
rformance
against
curriculum
orlearning
standards.
14This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Whatthe
NLSA
measuresis
gene
rally
questio
nedby
stakeh
olde
rgroup
s.This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
WhattheNLSAmeasuresis
questio
ned
bysomestakeh
olde
rgroup
s.What
the
NLSA
measures
islargely
accepted
bystakeh
olde
rgroup
s.15
There
are
nomechanism
sin
place
toen
sure
that
the
NLSA
accurately
measures
what
itis
supp
osed
tomeasure.
Therearead
hocreview
sof
theNLSAto
ensure
that
itmeasures
what
itis
intend
edto
measure.
Thereareregularinternalreview
sof
the
NLSAto
ensure
that
itmeasureswhatit
isintend
edto
measure.1
6
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
SYSTEM
ALIGNMENT2:
Providingteacherswith
opportunitiestolearnabouttheNLSA
Thereareno
coursesor
worksho
pson
theNLSA.
There
are
occasio
nal
courses
orworksho
pson
theNLSA.
17Therearesomecoursesor
worksho
pson
theNLSAofferedon
aregularb
asis.
Therearewidelyavailablehigh
quality
courses
orworksho
pson
the
NLSA
offeredon
aregularb
asis.
*
*
*
*
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ASSESSMENTQUALITY
Degree
towhich
theNLSAmeetstechnicalstand
ards,isfair,an
disused
inan
effectiveway.
LATENT
EMERGING
ESTABLISHED
ADVANCED
ASSESSMENTQUALITY1:
Ensuring
thequality
oftheNLSA
No
optio
nsare
offered
toinclud
eall
grou
psof
stud
entsintheNLSA.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Atleaston
eop
tionisofferedto
includ
eallgroup
sofstude
ntsintheNLSA.
Diffe
rent
optio
nsareofferedto
includ
eallgroup
sofstude
ntsintheNLSA.
18
There
are
nomechanism
sin
place
toen
sure
thequ
ality
oftheNLSA.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Therearesomemechanism
sin
placeto
ensure
thequ
ality
oftheNLSA.
There
are
avarie
tyof
mechanism
sin
placeto
ensure
thequ
ality
oftheNLSA.
19
There
isno
technicalrepo
rtor
othe
rdo
cumen
tatio
nabou
tthe
NLSA.
Thereissomedo
cumen
tatio
nabou
tthe
technicalaspe
ctsof
theNLSA,
butitis
notinaform
alrepo
rtform
at.
There
isa
compreh
ensiv
etechnical
repo
rtbu
twith
restrictedcirculation.
Thereis
acompreh
ensiv
e,high
quality
technicalrep
ortavailableto
thegene
ral
public.20
ASSESSMENTQUALITY2:
Ensuring
effectiveusesoftheNLSA
NLSAresults
areno
tdissem
inated
.NLSAresults
arepo
orlydissem
inated
.NLSA
results
are
dissem
inated
inan
effectiveway.21
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
NLSAinform
ationisno
tused
orisused
inwaysinconsisten
twith
thepu
rposes
orthe
technicalcharacteristicsof
the
assessmen
t.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
NLSA
results
are
used
bysome
stakeh
olde
rgrou
psin
away
that
isconsisten
twith
the
purposes
and
technical
characteristics
ofthe
assessmen
t.
NLSA
inform
ation
isused
byall
stakeh
olde
rgrou
psin
away
that
isconsisten
twith
the
purposes
and
technical
characteristics
ofthe
assessmen
t.22
There
are
nomechanism
sin
place
tomon
itorthe
conseq
uences
oftheNLSA.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Therearesomemechanism
sin
placeto
mon
itorthe
conseq
uences
oftheNLSA.
23There
are
avarie
tyof
mechanism
sin
place
tomon
itorthe
conseq
uences
oftheNLSA.
** *
*
*
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National(orSystem
Level)LargeScaleAssessment(NLSA)
1.To
mon
itortheeffectiven
essof
theteaching
learning
process,
theGo
vernmen
tof
Ugand
a,throughtheUgand
aNationalExam
inations
Board(UNEB
),em
barked
oncarrying
outthe
NationalA
ssessm
ento
fProgressin
Education(NAP
E)at
theprim
arylevelsince
1996
andat
thesecond
arylevelsince
2008
.The
mainob
jectives
ofNAP
Eareto:
•De
term
ineandmon
itorthe
levelofa
chievemen
tofp
upils
over
time.
•Ge
nerate
inform
ationon
whatp
upils
know
andcando
indiffe
rent
areaso
fthe
curriculum
.•Evaluate
theeffectiven
esso
freformsintheed
ucationsystem
.•Provideinform
ationon
varia
bles
that
affectlearning
achievem
ent.
•Suggestm
easuresfor
theim
provem
ento
fteachingandlearning
inscho
ols.
Theassessmen
tisdo
neannu
ally
ingrades
3and6in
thesubjectareasof
Literacy
andNum
eracy.
OralS
kills
inEn
glish
areassessed
everythreeyears.Th
eSenior
grade2assessmen
tfocuses
onEnglish
,Mathe
matics,andBiology.Asampleof
teache
rsisalso
assessed
.
2.TheGo
vernmen
tWhite
Pape
ronEd
ucation(M
inistry
ofEducationandSports,1
992)
istheform
alpo
licydo
cumen
tthata
utho
rizes
NAP
E.Th
eGo
vernmen
tWhite
Pape
ronEducationrecommen
dedthereview
anddiversificatio
nof
theassessmen
tsused
bytheUgand
aNationalExaminations
Board,
which
ledto
the
form
ationof
NationalA
ssessm
ento
fProgressinEd
ucation.
3.TheGo
vernmen
tWhite
Pape
ron
theEducationPo
licyRe
view
CommissionRe
portisavailablein
theMinistry
ofEducationRe
source
Centre
andun
iversity
librarie
s,andcopies
canbe
purchasedfrom
thegovernmen
tboo
ksho
pandothe
rboo
kstores.
4.Thenatio
nallarge
scaleassessmen
tplan
forthecomingyearsexistsin
officialcom
mun
ications
andminutes
ofmeetin
gs.T
hus,while
thereisacommon
unde
rstand
ingthat
NAP
Ewilltake
place,thereisno
form
allywrittenplan.
5.Thereisstrong
supp
ortfortheNAP
Elargescaleassessmen
tprogram
from
allstakeho
lder
grou
ps.M
anystakeh
olde
rsareno
wconsciou
sof
thene
edto
obtaininform
ationon
whatchildrenactuallylearninscho
ol.The
useof
natio
nalassessm
entresultshasrangedfrom
reform
ingthecurriculum
toim
provingand
reallocatin
gresources.
6.Thereisregular(continuo
usandpred
ictable)
fund
ingallocatedby
thegovernmen
tand
byno
ngovernmen
tsou
rces,suchas
theWorld
Bank.H
owever,the
fund
ingisno
tsufficient
toen
ablealarger
samplesiz
eto
beused
toredu
cesamplingerrors.
7.Theactiv
ities
coveredby
thefund
ingallocatedforNAP
Eareassessmen
tde
signandadministratio
n,anddata
analysisandrepo
rting.
Dueto
thesm
all
resource
envelope
allocatedforthe
assessmen
tprogram
from
both
governmen
tand
nongovernmen
tsou
rces,som
eactiv
ities
aresupp
ressed
andothe
rsare
sque
ezed
.The
activ
ities
that
aresupp
ressed
andsque
ezed
aremainlyat
thelevelo
f dissem
inationof
theNAP
Efin
dings.Fore
xample,
dueto
limite
dfund
ing,
onlytheHe
adTeache
rsof
thesampled
scho
olsineach
districtw
ereinvitedto
thedissem
inationworksho
psof
thelatestNAP
Efin
dingsforp
rimaryscho
ol.The
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Head
Teache
rsweregivencopies
oftheNAP
Eassessmen
trep
orta
tthe
endof
theworksho
p.Allschoo
ls,includ
ingthosethat
didno
tparticipatein
theNAP
Eassessmen
treceivedcopies
oftheassessmen
trep
orts.
8.Fund
ingdo
esno
tcover
research
andde
velopm
ent a
ctivities.
9.Thegrou
pin
charge
ofNAP
Eisape
rmanen
tunitwith
intheUgand
aNationalExaminations
Board.
Thereare11
fulltim
estaffm
embe
rsworking
onNAP
E.Five
ofthesearesenior
staff,andsix
arejunior
staffa
ndclerical
officers.Ho
wever,w
henthene
edarise
s,staffm
embe
rsarecalledup
onto
workon
othe
rassessmen
tactivities
aswell.
10.Som
estakeh
olde
rssometim
esho
ldreservations
regardingNAP
Efin
dingsdu
eto
politicalconsiderations.H
owever,the
sereservations
have
nevera
ffected
thequ
ality
oftheNAP
Eassessmen
t,andtheNAP
Eassessmen
tresultshave
neverb
eenwith
heldfrom
publicationbe
causeof
politicalreason
s.
11.T
hegrou
prespon
sible
forcarrying
outtheNAP
Eassessmen
tisaccoun
tableto
theExecutiveSecretary,
Ugand
aNationalE
xaminations
Board.
UNEB
isa
semia
uton
omou
sbod
yun
derthe
Ministry
ofEducationandSports.
12.The
reispe
rmanen
tfulltim
estaffrespo
nsibleforN
APE.Ho
wever,the
reisno
teno
ughstafftomeet the
need
sof
theassessmen
t.Thereareon
ly11
NAP
Estaffm
embe
rsto
runassessmen
tsforP
rimary3and6inNum
eracy,Literacy
andOralSkills
inEnglish
.The
samestaffrun
stheassessmen
tsinthesubjecta
reas
ofEnglish
,Mathe
maticsa
ndBiologyforS
enior2
.
13.T
here
areun
iversitycourses(gradu
ateandun
dergradu
ate)
oned
ucationalm
easuremen
tandevaluatio
nthat
areavailablein
thecoun
tryon
anannu
albasis
.Forinstance,MakerereUniversity
’sScho
olof
Educationoffers
unde
rgradu
ateandmaster’s
courseson
educationalmeasuremen
tandevaluatio
n.Ho
wever,the
reareno
oppo
rtun
ities
inthecoun
tryto
prep
areindividu
alsforworkon
NAP
E.Therearealso
noop
portun
ities
offeredin
thesystem
forNAP
Estaffp
erse.A
llfiveNAP
Esenior
staffh
avepo
stgraduate
degrees.Ofthe
se,o
nestaffm
embe
rhas
recentlyacqu
iredado
ctorate(PhD
)degreeinstatistics,three
staffm
embe
rshave
master’s
degreesin
statisticsandon
estaffm
embe
rhas
amaster’s
degree
inlanguage
education.
Ofthe
sixNAP
Ejunior
andclericalstaff
mem
bers,o
nehasa
master’s
degree
ined
ucation,
twostaffm
embe
rshave
bachelor’sde
greesined
ucation,
onestaffm
embe
rcom
pleted
ALevel,andthetw
osecretariesh
avequ
alificatio
nsinsecretarialstudies.
14.NAP
Emeasurespe
rformance
againstnatio
nalcurriculum
guidelines
andlearning
standards.
Attheprim
arylevel,theassessmen
tmeasurespu
pils’
achievem
entin
Num
eracy,
Literacy,and,
morerecently,in
OralSkillsin
English
.At
thesecond
arylevel,pu
pils’
achievem
entis
measured
inEn
glish
,Mathe
matics,andBiology.
15.W
hatismeasuredby
NAP
Eislargelyaccepted
byvario
usstakeh
olde
rgrou
ps. T
hese
includ
e,am
ongothe
rs,p
olicym
akers,ed
ucators,teache
rs,d
istrict
educationofficials,
inspectors,teacher
educators,curriculum
develope
rs,stude
nts,parents,andem
ployers.
16.N
APEisbasedon
thenatio
nalcurriculum
which
outline
sthecompe
tenciesthat
learne
rsareexpe
cted
toacqu
ireat
each
gradelevel.Qualityassurance
measuresareappliedat
everystageof
theassessmen
texercise
toen
sure
validity
andreliability.
Forexam
ple,
thereareregularinde
pend
entandinternal
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NDA
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42
review
sby
qualified
expe
rtsof
thealignm
entb
etweentheassessmen
tinstrum
enta
ndwhatthe
assessmen
tissupp
osed
tomeasure.T
hese
expe
rtsarefrom
with
inandou
tsideof
UNEB
.The
yusually
includ
eofficialsfrom
NAP
E,NCD
C,teache
rs,and
teache
rtrainers.
17.T
here
areteache
rtraining
courses,worksho
ps,and
presen
tatio
nson
NAP
E,which
areofferedprim
arily
toteache
rs,H
eadTeache
rsandDistrictE
ducatio
nOfficers.A
llDistrictE
ducatio
nOfficersattend
theNAP
Edissem
inationworksho
psas
they
arerespon
siblefora
llmattersconcerning
educationinthedistrict.For
theprim
aryscho
ols,theparticipantsaretheteache
rsof
Num
eracyandLiteracy
andallH
eadTeache
rsfrom
thesampled
scho
olsw
hich
participated
intheNAP
Eassessmen
t.Forthe
second
aryscho
ols,theparticipantsareteache
rsof
English
,Mathe
matics,andBiologyandallH
eadTeache
rsfrom
thesampled
scho
olsthat
participated
inthesurvey.W
hileNAP
Eiscond
uctedinalldistrictsinUgand
a,on
lyasampleisselected
from
each
district.NAP
Estaffh
asno
tbeenableto
train
alargenu
mbe
rof
teache
rsdu
eto
limite
dfund
ing.
However,som
escho
olsandteache
rshave
organizedtheirow
nworksho
psandhave
invitedNAP
Estaffto
dissem
inateNAP
Efin
dingsto
improveteaching
andlearning.W
hileNAP
Eiden
tifiedthelack
ofteache
rtraininginbasic
assessmen
ttechn
ique
sas
amajor
block
toeffectiveteaching,attem
ptstohe
lptheteache
rsinthisarea
have
nottaken
placedu
eto
financialconstraints.Althou
ghUNEB
andNAP
Ehave
recognize
dthe
need
totrainteache
rsin
assessmen
ttechniqu
es,the
yareno
tmandatedto
give
thistraining,a
ndUNEB
andNAP
Edo
nothave
abu
dget
toofferteache
rstraining
inassessmen
ttechniqu
es.T
hegovernmen
tof
Ugand
a,throughtheMinistry
ofEducationandSports,h
asthemandate
totrainteache
rsforbo
thprim
aryandsecond
aryscho
ols.Thistraining
isofferedinPrim
aryTeache
r’sCo
lleges(PTCs)a
ndun
iversities.Althou
ghthePTCs
andun
iversitiesofferc
ourses
inassessmen
tand
evaluatio
n,UNEB
andNAP
Eareof
theview
that
thistraining
need
stobe
furthe
rstren
gthe
ned.
18.A
twostagestratifiedsamplingde
signisused
.The
firststageinvolves
selectingarand
omsampleof
scho
ols,stratifiedby
district.Scho
olsin
thedistrictsof
Ugand
aareinclud
edinthesamplingfram
e.In
thesecond
stage,arand
omsampleof
pupilspresen
tinthescho
olon
thedayof
thesurvey
isselected
from
each
ofthePrim
ary3,
Prim
ary6,
andSenior
2classes.Ra
ndom
selectionof
scho
ols,andpu
pilswith
inascho
ol,isdo
neto
minim
izeselectionbias.A
ccom
mod
ations
areprovided
forstud
ents
with
disabilities,
specialplansaremadeto
ensure
that
theNAP
Eis
administered
tostud
ents
inhard
toreachareas,
andthe
assessmen
tiso
fferedinEn
glish
,which
isthelanguage
ofinstructioninUgand
a.
19.A
numbe
rofm
easuresaretakento
ensure
thequ
ality
oftheNAP
Eassessmen
tinstrum
ent.Alladm
inistratorsaretraine
daccordingto
aprotocol,the
reisa
standardize
dmanualfor
administrators,and
apilotisc
ondu
cted
before
themaindata
collectiontakesp
lace.Inadditio
n,all boo
kletsa
renu
mbe
red,scorersa
retraine
dto
ensure
high
interraterreliability,andthereareinternalandexternalob
serversd
uringtheassessmen
texercise
.
20.The
reisacompreh
ensiv
e,high
quality
technicalrep
orta
vailableto
thegene
ralpub
lic.The
repo
rtbroadlycoversan
introd
uctio
nto
theassessmen
t,survey
proced
ures,the
achievem
entof
pupilsin
numeracyandliteracyat
diffe
rent
gradelevels,
andthechallenges
facedby
thescho
ols.Th
erepo
rten
dswith
aconclusio
n,discussio
n,andrecommen
datio
ns.
21.N
APEresults
aredissem
inated
with
in12
mon
thsafterthe
assessmen
tisadministered
.The
mainrepo
rtson
theresults
containinform
ationon
theoverall
achievem
entlevelsandby
subgroup
s,as
wellastren
dsover
timeandforsubgroup
s.Th
emainrepo
rtson
theresults
also
containstandard
errors.T
here
are
worksho
psandPo
werPo
intp
resentations
fork
eystakeh
olde
rson
theresults.R
esultsarefeatured
inthemed
ia,and
repo
rtsw
iththeresults
aremadeavailable
for a
llstakeh
olde
rgroup
s.Inadditio
n,custom
izedrepo
rtsa
realso
prep
ared
forspe
cific
stakeh
olde
rswhe
neverfun
dsareavailable.
22.A
ssessm
entinform
ationisused
bymoststakeh
olde
rgrou
pssuch
aspo
licym
akers,ed
ucators,teache
rs,stude
nt,teacher
traine
rs,curriculum
develope
rs,
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employers,andparentsinaway
that
isconsisten
twith
thestated
purposes
oftheassessmen
t.Morerecently,teachersh
avestronglyem
braced
theassessmen
tinform
ationto
improvetheirteaching.Other
stakeh
olde
rsareusingtheinform
ationto
influ
ence
theira
ctivities,alth
ough
ataslo
wpace.
23.Themechanism
sin
placeto
mon
itortheconseq
uences
ofNAP
Einclud
eape
rmanen
tadvisory
committee,regularfocusgrou
psandsurveysof
key
stakeh
olde
rs,and
expe
rtreview
grou
ps.
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UGANDA
InternationalLarge
ScaleAssessment(ILSA)
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ENABLINGCONTEXT
Overallfram
eworkof
policies,lead
ership,organ
izatio
nalstructures,fiscaland
human
resourcesinwhich
ILSA
takesp
lace
inacoun
tryor
system
andtheextent
towhich
that
fram
eworkiscond
uciveto,orsup
portiveof,ILSAactiv
ity.
LATENT
EMERGING
ESTABLISHED
ADVANCED
ENABLINGCONTEXT
1:SettingclearpoliciesforILSA
Thecoun
try/system
hasno
tparticipated
inan
ILSA
inthelast10
years.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Thecoun
try/system
hasparticipated
inat
leasto
neILSA
inthelast10
years.
Thecoun
try/system
hasparticipated
intw
oor
moreILSA
inthelast10
years.1
The
coun
try/system
has
not
taken
concrete
step
stoparticipateinan
ILSA
inthene
xt5years.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Thecoun
try/system
hastakenconcrete
step
stoparticipateinat
leasto
neILSA
inthene
xt5years.
2
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
There
isno
policy
documen
tthat
addressesp
articipationinILSA
.There
isan
inform
alor
draft
policy
documen
tthata
ddresses
participationin
ILSA
.
Thereis
aform
alpo
licydo
cumen
tthat
addressesp
articipationinILSA
.3This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Thepo
licydo
cumen
tisno
tavailableto
thepu
blic.
Thepo
licydo
cumen
tisavailableto
the
public.4
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
ENABLINGCONTEXT
2:HavingregularfundingforILSA
Thereis
nofund
ingforparticipationin
ILSA
.Thereis
fund
ingfrom
loansor
external
dono
rs.5
There
isregularfund
ing
allocated
atdiscretio
n.Thereisregularfun
ding
approved
bylaw,
decree
orno
rm.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Fund
ingcovers
somecore
activ
ities
oftheILSA
.Fund
ingcovers
allc
oreactivities
ofthe
ILSA
.6This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Fund
ing
does
notcoverresearch
and
developm
enta
ctivities.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Fund
ing
covers
research
and
developm
enta
ctivities.7
(CONTINUE
D)*
* * *
*
*
*
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LATENT
EMERGING
ESTABLISHED
ADVANCED
ENABLINGCONTEXT
3:Havingeffectivehuman
resourcesforILSA
There
isno
team
ornatio
nal/system
coordinator
tocarry
out
the
ILSA
activities.
There
isa
team
ornatio
nal/system
coordinator
tocarry
out
the
ILSA
activities.
There
isa
team
and
natio
nal/system
coordinator
tocarry
out
the
ILSA
activities.8
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
The
natio
nal/system
coordinator
orothe
rdesignatedteam
mem
berm
ayno
tbe
fluen
tin
the
language
ofthe
assessmen
t.
Thenatio
nal/system
coordinatorisfluen
tinthelanguage
oftheassessmen
t.9This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
TheILSA
officeisinadeq
uatelystaffedor
traine
dto
carry
out
the
assessmen
teffectively.
TheILSA
officeis
adeq
uately
staffedor
traine
dto
carryou
ttheILSA
effectively,
with
minim
alissue
s.10
TheILSA
officeisadeq
uatelystaffedand
traine
dto
carryou
ttheILSA
effectively,
with
noissue
s.
* * *
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SYSTEM
ALIGNMENT
Degree
towhich
theILSA
meetstechnicalqua
litystan
dards,isfair,
andisused
inan
effectiveway.
LATENT
EMERGING
ESTABLISHED
ADVANCED
SYSTEM
ALIGNMENT1:
ProvidingopportunitiestolearnaboutILSA
The
ILSA
team
has
not
attend
edinternationalw
orksho
psor
meetin
gs.
The
ILSA
team
attend
edsome
internationalw
orksho
psor
meetin
gs.
TheILSA
team
attend
edallinternatio
nal
worksho
psor
meetin
gs.11
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
The
coun
try/system
offers
noop
portun
ities
tolearnabou
tILSA.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
The
coun
try/system
offers
some
oppo
rtun
ities
tolearnabou
tILSA.
12Thecoun
try/system
offers
awiderange
ofop
portun
ities
tolearnabou
tILSA.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Opp
ortunitie
sto
learn
abou
tILSA
are
availableto
thecoun
try's/system
'sILSA
team
mem
berson
ly.13
Opp
ortunitie
sto
learn
abou
tILSA
are
availableto
awideaudien
ce,inadditio
nto
the
coun
try's/system
'sILSA
team
mem
bers.
* * *
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ASSESSMENTQUALITY
Degree
towhich
theILSA
meetstechnicalqua
litystan
dards,isfair,
andisused
inan
effectiveway.
LATENT
EMERGING
ESTABLISHED
ADVANCED
ASSESSMENTQUALITY1:
Ensuring
thequality
ofILSA
Data
from
the
ILSA
has
not
been
publish
ed.
The
coun
try/system
met
sufficien
tstandardsto
have
itsdata
presen
ted
bene
ath
the
main
display
ofthe
internationalrep
orto
rinan
anne
x.
The
coun
try/system
met
alltechnical
standards
requ
ired
tohave
itsdata
presen
ted
inthe
main
displays
ofthe
internationalrep
ort.
14
The
coun
try/system
met
alltechnical
standards
requ
ired
tohave
itsdata
presen
ted
inthe
main
displays
ofthe
internationalrep
ort.
Thecoun
try/system
hasno
tcontrib
uted
newknow
ledgeon
ILSA
.This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Thecoun
try/system
hascontrib
uted
new
know
ledgeon
ILSA
.15
ASSESSMENTQUALITY2:
Ensuring
effectiveusesofILSA
Ifany,
coun
try/system
specific
results
andinform
ationareno
tdissem
inated
inthecoun
try/system
.
Coun
try/system
specific
results
and
inform
ationaredissem
inated
irregularly
inthecoun
try/system
.16
Coun
try/system
specific
results
and
inform
ationareregularly
dissem
inated
inthecoun
try/system
.
Coun
try/system
specific
results
and
inform
ation
are
regularly
and
widely
dissem
inated
inthecoun
try/system
.
Prod
ucts
toprovidefeed
back
toscho
ols
anded
ucatorsabou
tthe
ILSA
results
are
notm
adeavailable.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Prod
ucts
toprovidefeed
back
toscho
ols
anded
ucatorsabou
tthe
ILSA
results
are
sometim
esmadeavailable.
17
Prod
ucts
toprovidefeed
back
toscho
ols
and
educators
abou
tILSA
results
are
system
aticallymadeavailable.
Thereisno
med
iacoverage
oftheILSA
results.18
Thereis
limite
dmed
iacoverage
ofthe
ILSA
results.
There
issome
med
iacoverage
ofthe
ILSA
results.
Thereiswidemed
iacoverage
oftheILSA
results.
Ifany,
coun
try/system
specific
results
andinform
ationfrom
theILSA
areno
tused
toinform
decisio
nmakingin
the
coun
try/system
.
Results
from
the
ILSA
are
used
ina
limite
dway
toinform
decisio
nmakingin
thecoun
try/system
.
Results
from
theILSA
areused
insome
waysto
inform
decisio
nmakingin
the
coun
try/system
.
Results
from
the
ILSA
are
used
ina
varie
tyof
ways
toinform
decisio
nmakinginthecoun
try/system
.19
Itis
notclearthat
decisio
nsbasedon
ILSA
results
have
hadapo
sitiveim
pact
onstud
ents'achievemen
tlevels.
20
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
This
optio
ndo
esno
tapply
tothis
dimen
sion.
Decisio
nsbasedon
theILSA
results
have
had
apo
sitive
impact
onstud
ents'
achievem
entlevels.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
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InternationalLargeScaleAssessment(ILSA)
1.Ugand
ahasp
articipated
intw
ointernationallarge
scaleassessmen
ts:
SACM
EQII(199
920
04)
SACM
EQIII(200
520
09)
2.Ugand
ahastaken
concrete
step
stoparticipateinSA
CMEQ
IV(201020
15).Apilotstudy
has b
eenconclude
dandtheresults
arebe
inganalyzed
.
3.TheEd
ucationPo
licyRe
view
Commiss
ion(198
9),o
nwhich
theGo
vernmen
tWhite
Pape
ronEducation(199
2)isbased,
repo
rted
alack
ofreliableandup
todate
data
oned
ucationalind
icators.Th
eGo
vernmen
tWhite
Pape
ron
Educationrecommen
dedthereview
anddiversificatio
nof
theassessmen
tsused
bythe
Ugand
aNationalExaminations
Board.
Thede
cisio
nto
incorporateUgand
ainto
SACM
EQwas
madein
1998
whe
ntheMinister
ofEducationandSportsen
tered
into
anagreem
entcom
mittingUgand
a’sp
articipation.
4.TheGo
vernmen
tWhite
Pape
ron
Educationisavailablein
theMinistry
ofEducationRe
source
Center
andun
iversitylibrarie
s,andcopies
canbe
purchased
from
thegovernmen
tboo
ksho
pandothe
rleading
bookstores.
5.Fund
ingforSA
CMEQ
IIIwas
earm
arkedpartly
from
theregulargovernmen
tbu
dget,a
llocatedat
discretio
n.TheGo
vernmen
tof
theNethe
rland
swas
the
largestfund
erforSA
CMEQ
III.O
ther
fund
ingwas
received
from
UNICEF. H
owever,the
Governmen
tof
theNethe
rland
swill
notfund
SACM
EQIV,a
ndthe
Governmen
tofU
gand
aisexpe
cted
tomeetthe
costso
fadm
inisteringSA
CMEQ
IV.
6.Fund
ingforS
ACMEQ
IIIcoveredim
plem
entatio
nof
theassessmen
texercise
inUgand
a,theprocessin
gandanalysisof
thedata
collected
from
theassessmen
texercise,and
repo
rtinganddissem
inatingtheresults.Fun
ding
was
also
allocatedfora
tten
danceat
internationalexpertm
eetin
gsforthe
assessmen
texercise
.
7.Fund
ingforS
ACMEQ
IIIcoveredresearch
andde
velopm
enta
ctivities.
8.Theteam
respon
sible
forcarrying
outSA
CMEQ
iscomprise
dof
theNationalC
oordinator,w
hoistheMinister
ofEducationandSports,a
ndtw
oNational
Research
Coordinators,w
hoaretheop
erationalm
anagersthatw
orkwith
ateam
intheDe
partmen
tofE
ducatio
nPlanning,M
inistry
ofEducationandSports.
9.TheNationalC
oordinator
andthetw
oNationalR
esearchCo
ordinators
areflu
entin
thelanguage
inwhich
theinternationallevel
meetin
gsarecond
ucted.
They
have
attend
edvario
usinternationalw
orksho
ps,m
eetin
gs,and
trainings.Theteam
hasprevious
expe
rienceworking
oninternationalassessm
entsandhas
thene
cessarytraining
andexpe
rienceto
carryou
tthe
requ
iredassessmen
tactivities
effectively.
10.O
nlyminim
alissue
shave
been
iden
tifiedwith
thecarrying
outo
fthe
internationalassessm
ent.For e
xample,theup
loaded
softwarefrom
SACM
EQisusually
inahigher
version,
which
causes
errors
orde
lays
intheprintin
gandlayout
ofthetest
booklets.T
hese
errors
areminim
alandmainlyarise
becauseof
form
atcontrol.Fore
xample,theup
loaded
MicrosoftWordandExceldocum
entsfrom
SACM
EQmay
beinan
updatedform
at(200
7),yet
thecompu
tersintheStatistics
unitrunaprevious
versionof
MicrosoftWordandExcel(20
03).Th
eseerrorsareminim
alandareusually
corrected.
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11.The
NationalCoo
rdinator
andthetw
oNationalResearchCo
ordinatorshave
attend
edallofthe
internationalm
eetin
gsto
which
they
wereinvited.
12.O
pportunitie
sto
learnabou
tinternationala
ssessm
ents
includ
efund
ingto
attend
worksho
psor
meetin
gson
usinginternationala
ssessm
entdatabases.
Fund
inghasalso
been
offeredforattend
inginternationalw
orksho
psor
training
oninternationala
ssessm
ents.S
uchop
portun
ities
areofferedeveryyear
and
they
areavailableto
theNationalCoo
rdinator,the
NationalResearchCo
ordinators,and
master’s
degree
stud
entsstud
ying
assessmen
tora
relatedarea.
13.The
individu
alsw
orking
directlyon
SACM
EQbe
nefit
from
theop
portun
ities
tolearnabou
tinternatio
nalassessm
ents.For
exam
ple,theNationalCoo
rdinator,
thetw
oNationalResearchCo
ordinators,and
master’s
degree
stud
entsstud
ying
assessmen
tora
relatedarea
areinvitedto
theinternationaltrainingworksho
ps.
Theon
lylocalw
orksho
pshe
ldareforind
ividualswho
areinvolved
inadministeringtheSA
CMEQ
questio
nnaires.Theseworksho
psareusually
held
priortothe
commen
cemen
tofthe
data
collectionexercise.M
aster’s
degree
stud
entsstud
ying
assessmen
tora
relatedarea
areno
tinvite
dto
theseworksho
ps.
14.U
gand
amet
alltechn
icalstandardsreq
uiredto
have
itsdata
presen
tedinthemaindisplays
oftheinternationalrep
ort.
15.Ugand
ahascontrib
uted
totheglob
alknow
ledgebase
oninternationalassessmen
tsby
gene
ratin
gne
wknow
ledgeandmakingit
availablethrough
publications
andpresen
tatio
ns,including
through:
a.SA
CMEQ
NationalRep
ort
b.NationalPolicyBriefs
c.Re
search
Pape
rsandTh
eses
16.T
heresults
from
SACM
EQIII
weredissem
inated
inUgand
a.Po
werPo
intp
resentations
with
thecoun
try’sresults
weremadeavailableto
keystakeh
olde
rs,
includ
ingofficials
from
theMinistry
ofEducationandSports,theNationalC
urriculum
Developm
entCe
ntre,theUgand
aNationalE
xaminations
Board,
the
Directorateof
EducationStandards,He
adTeache
rs,teachers,andteache
rtrainers.Ho
wever,the
SACM
EQIIInatio
nalrep
orth
asno
tbeenprintedyet.
17.Theresults
ofSA
CMEQ
IIIhave
been
fedback
toscho
olsanded
ucatorsby
PowerPo
intpresen
tatio
ns.Nobrochu
reswith
thecoun
try’sresults
were
distrib
uted
tokeystakeh
olde
rs.D
issem
inationof
thefin
dingstoalarger
audien
ceof
scho
olsa
nded
ucatorsh
asbe
enlim
itedby
fund
ing.
18.SAC
MEQ
IIIresults
have
notb
eencoveredintheUgand
anmed
ia.
19.The
results
oftheinternationalassessm
ente
xercise
have
brou
ghtthe
attentionof
policym
akers,teache
rs,and
educatorstothestrengthsa
ndweaknessesin
stud
entachievem
entin
readingandmathe
matics.Thefin
dingshave
been
used
bytheMinistry
ofEd
ucationandSports
toaddresstheissue
oflow
levelsof
mastery
ofreadingandmathe
maticssubjects.Th
eresults
oftheinternationala
ssessm
entexercise
have
been
used
bypo
licym
akersto
inform
curriculum
improvem
ent.Th
eNationalCurriculum
Developm
entC
entre(NCD
C)hasu
sedthefin
dingsto
inform
itsed
ucationreform
sund
erthelower
second
aryed
ucation,
exam
ination,
andassessmen
t project.Inpartdu
eto
thefin
dingsof
theinternationalassessm
ente
xercise
,ane
wOLevelcurriculum
forlow
ersecond
arywillbe
laun
ched
in20
17(see
http://w
ww.inde
pend
ent.co.ug/ugand
atalks/201
3/06
/new
olevelcurriculum
pushed
to20
17/).Ad
ditio
nally,the
findings
ofthe
internationalassessm
ente
xercise
have
been
used
toinform
teache
rtraining
programs.Forinstance,
thefin
dingshave
been
used
bytheMinistry
ofEducation
UGA
NDA
SABE
RSTUDE
NTAS
SESSMEN
TSA
BERCO
UNTR
YRE
PORT
|201
2
SYSTEM
SAP
PROAC
HFO
RBE
TTER
EDUCA
TIONRE
SULTS
51
andSportsto
inform
thede
signof
continuo
usassessmen
tguide
lines
fortutorsin
Prim
aryTeache
rColleges(PTC
s).T
hefin
dingshave
also
been
used
toinform
theconten
tand
deliveryof
pre
andin
serviceteache
rtrainingprogramstoen
sure
that
they
aremorerespon
siveto
thene
edso
fthe
teache
rs.
Theresults
oftheinternationalassessm
ente
xercise
have
been
used
toinform
resource
allocatio
n.Fore
xample,
thefin
dingshave
been
used
bytheMinistry
ofEducationandSports
toinform
thesupp
lyof
teache
rs,c
lassroom
s,essentialclassroom
resources,textbo
oks,andteaching
aids
toscho
olsandregion
swith
inadeq
uate
supp
lyof
theseresources.
20.The
reisno
eviden
ceof
apo
sitiveim
pact
onstud
enta
chievemen
tlevelsfrom
theuses
ofSA
CMEQ
III.Evide
nceon
stud
enta
chievemen
tlevelsbe
tweenthe
SACM
EQIIandSA
CMEQ
IIIadministratio
nsislargelymixed
.For
exam
ple,
comparison
ofSA
CMEQ
IIresults
(from
2000
)and
SACM
EQIII
results
(from
2010
)in
readingforPrim
ary6stud
ents
show
that
therewas
anincrease
inthepe
rcen
tage
ofgrade6pu
pilsreaching
compe
tencylevels3to
6.Ho
wever,the
rewas
ade
clinein
thepe
rcen
tage
ofgrade6pu
pilsreaching
compe
tencylevels1,
7and8.
Overall,thenatio
nalm
eanscoreforreading
was
478.7on
SACM
EQIII,d
own
from
482.4on
SACM
EQII.
Additio
nally,com
parison
ofSA
CMEQ
IIresults
(from
2000
)and
SACM
EQIII
results
(from
2010
)for
Prim
ary6stud
entinmathe
matics
show
that
thepe
rcen
tage
ofgrade6pu
pilsreaching
mathe
maticsc
ompe
tencyincreasedforlevels2
to4.Forcom
petencylevels1,5,6,7,and8,thepe
rcen
tage
ofpu
pilsreaching
mathe
maticsc
ompe
tencyde
clined
.Overall,thenatio
nalm
eanscoreform
athe
maticsde
clined
from
506.3on
SACM
EQIIto
481.9on
SACM
EQIII.
UGANDA SABER STUDENT ASSESSMENT SABER COUNTRY REPORT |2012
SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 52
AcknowledgementsThis report was prepared by The World Bank SABERStudent Assessment team in collaboration withInnocent Mulindwa, World Bank Senior EducationSpecialist and Task Team Leader for Education projectsin Uganda, and Damalie Sentumbwe, Lecturer,Makerere University.
ReferencesClarke, M. 2012. “What Matters Most for StudentAssessment Systems: A Framework Paper.”READ/SABER Working Paper Series. Washington, DC:World Bank.
Ministry of Education and Sports. 2008. “RevisedEducation Sector Strategic Plan 2007 2015.” Kampala:Republic of Uganda.
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and CulturalOrganization – Institute for Statistics. 2013. UISStatistics in Brief. “Education Profile: Uganda.”Montreal: UNESCO UIS.
World Bank. Uganda Country Indicator Data.Washington, DC: World Bank. Data retrieved fromhttp://data.worldbank.org/ on July 8, 2013.
UGANDA SABER STUDENT ASSESSMENT SABER COUNTRY REPORT |2012
SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 2
www.worldbank.org/education/saber
The Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) initiativeproduces comparative data and knowledge on education policies andinstitutions, with the aim of helping countries systematically strengthentheir education systems. SABER evaluates the quality of educationpolicies against evidence based global standards, using new diagnostictools and detailed policy data. The SABER country reports give allparties with a stake in educational results—from administrators,teachers, and parents to policymakers and business people—anaccessible, objective snapshot showing how well the policies of theircountry's education system are oriented toward ensuring that allchildren and youth learn.
This report focuses specifically on policies in the area of studentassessment.
This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusionsexpressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or thegovernments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. Theboundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on thepart of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.
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