Assessment in Senior School: Certification, Criteria, Approaches, Methods, and Tools

My 26th treatise on Competency-Based Education (CBE) focuses on assessment in Senior School, which will be used to determine achievement of learners’ outcome —  leading to certification. Competency-Based Assessment (CBA) will be undertaken to determine the learners’ ability to demonstrate knowledge, skills, values and attitudes in real-life contexts.

Formative (30%) and Summative (70%) Assessments

Both formative and summative assessment approaches will be used in assessing learners in Senior Schools (Grades 10-12). Formative and summative assessments will be conducted by teachers to trace learners’ progress and success. Formative assessment will be offered in form of classroom and School-Based Assessments (SBA) at Grades 10 and 11. The ratio of SBA and Summative Assessment will be 30% and 70% respectively.

Then, the classroom assessment will provide continuous feedback to the learning process or progress. Therefore, it will not be used for certification per se. The SBA will be developed by Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC), and uploaded on the Competency-Based Assessment (CBA) portal hence teachers will download, administer, mark, and upload scores on the portal. KNEC will provide raft of guidelines for standardised SBA to be administered by subject teachers that will score learners’ work for the SBA at school level. They will score learner’s work in all subjects using the scoring guides provided by KNEC, so as to provide immediate feedback to the learner at school level. The scores for each learner will be uploaded to the KNEC assessment portal at the end of each year.

Consequently, KNEC will analyse the SBA for each grade, and provide a national report depicting the national performance of different strands in each subject. This report will highlight areas that require intervention, and give specific raft of recommendations to education stakeholders. KNEC will track learners’ performance, using the records maintained at two levels; at school by the teachers, and at national level by KNEC. After uploading the results of SBAs on KNEC portal, teachers shall keep records of formative assessment. Whereas KNEC will keep safe both formative and summative assessment records for the learner.

Ideally, a School Year Report (SYR), which is a comprehensive account of the learner’s performance will be issued at the end of Grade 10 and 11. It will provide complete and comprehensive qualitative and quantitative account of learner’s progress and achievement in all the learning areas during the year in the respective grades. Summative Assessment will be conducted at the end of Grade 12. KNEC will organise and manage marking of Summative Assessment at national level. The combined results from SBA (30%) and Summative Assessment (70%) will be used for placement of learners in different Career Pathways at tertiary education and dynamic world of work.

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There will also be Capstone Projects: to provide practical experience synthesising and show-casing their skills, creativity and knowledge. Learners will undertake such projects to demonstrate their mastery of the subject matter, and to prepare them for the next stage of their academic or professional careers.

Certification at the Zenith of Senior School

In actual sense, at the epic peak of Senior School (Grade 12) learners will be issued a certificate referred to as the Kenya Certificate of Basic Education (KCBE). Learners will be assessed in 7 subjects of which 4 are core-subjects: English, Kiswahili or Kenya Sign Language (KSL), Core Mathematics or Essential Mathematics and Community Service Learning (CSL). The remaining 3 subjects shall be selected from the Career Pathways and Tracks of choice. Result slip, which is a candidate’s statement of provisional results will be issued immediately after announcement of results. Whereas certificates will be issued immediately results are confirmed.

8-Level Performance Criteria

Somehow, KNEC will adopt 8-Level Performance Criteria interpreted in the following ways: Exceeding Expectations (Level 1 and Level 2), when the learner demonstrates exceptional achievement in terms of technical skills, originality, creativity and initiative. However, achievement at this level should not be taken to mean that the learner has performed beyond the specific learning outcomes in the curriculum design. Meeting Expectation (Level 1 and Level 2), it is when the learner satisfactorily demonstrates proficiency in most dimensions of the task performed in terms of technical skills, originality, creativity and initiative.

Then, Approaching Expectation (Level 1 and Level 2), in this, the learner demonstrates proficiency with some errors in the task performed in terms of technical skills, originality, creativity and initiative. Below Expectation (Level 1 and Level 2), it is when the learner has difficulties in demonstrating proficiency in the task performed in terms of technical skills, originality, creativity, initiative, and requires appropriate intervention. The learner gives limited information for tasks requiring multiple approaches, which is full of inaccuracies.

Assessment Approaches in Senior School

Majorly, there will be 6 approaches of assessment in Senior School. Firstly, there will be Project-Based Assessment, where learners will be expected to complete projects relevant to their Career Pathways such as: Scientific research, social studies report, or art portfolios. The rationale of projects is to assess the learner’s ability to apply their skills in real world scenarios. Secondly, there will be Enquiry-Based Assessment, which will focus on assessing learner’s ability to ask questions, investigate problems, gather evidence, analyse data, and draw conclusions through Self-Directed Enquiry. This project is to evaluate critical thinking and problem solving abilities in learners. Thirdly, there will be Collaborative and Cooperative Assessment, where learners are to work together in groups to complete assessment tasks, solve problems, or demonstrate learning outcomes through active collaborative, collective and joint effort.

Additionally, there is the Differentiated Assessment, an evaluation that takes into account learners’ differences in abilities, learning styles, inherent interests, and nearest dearest needs. This allows them to show their competencies in various Career Pathways quite effectively. Moreover, there will be Computer-Based Assessment, which will encompass a vast array of assessment activities that leverage digital technology to administer and score assessments electronically. It will involve delivery of assessments through digital platforms, and the use of automated scoring mechanisms. Then, there will be Authentic Assessment, where learners will be evaluated on their ability to perform or demonstrate competencies relevant to real-life situations through tasks that reflect real-world challenges and skill to enable them apply knowledge in practical and meaningful ways.

Assessment Methods and Tools

The assessment methods in Senior School will include: Observation, project method, journaling, computer-based assessment, performance-based and experiments. Whereas, assessment tools will include: Observation schedule, checklist, rating scale, assessment rubric, questionnaire, portfolio, oral and aural assessment and signing, learner profile, anecdotal records and written tests. The following tools shall apply when reporting learner’s performance: Firstly, Validated-Assessment Tools, which are observation schedules checklists, written tests, assessment rubrics, portfolio, rating scales, questionnaires, journals, anecdotal records, et cetera. They are to serve as reporting tools once validated so as to offer first-hand information on the learner’s acquisition of competencies.

School and National Level Reports

In school and national level reporting, the following will apply: Once the scores are successfully uploaded on KNEC CBA portal, a School Specific Report will be generated. This report compares the school performance with national performance in each strand or sub-strand or performance level. Then, KNEC will analyse the results from the scores uploaded by schools hence a National Report that will inform policy intervention on the cohort of learners. The analysis will present the percentage of learners nationally with correct responses in a strand or sub-strand or at various performance level per subject, gender and regions, and other important parameters.

By Victor Ochieng’

Victor Ochieng’ is an education consultant. He speaks to Grade 10 learners and parents in the plenary session of Induction/Orientation into Senior School. He guides Grade 10 learners on Choice of Career Pathways. vochieng.90@gmail.com. 0704420232