Page 257 - DEDU504_EDUCATIONAL_MEASUREMENT_AND_EVALUATION_ENGLISH

Unit 22 : Continuous Assessment

which students need review and remediation and which pupils are ready to move on to more Notes
complex work. Thus, the results of the assessments help to ensure that all pupils make learning
progress throughout the school cycle thereby increasing their academic achievement.

22.2 Need of Continuous Assessment
The continuous assessment process is much more than an examination of pupil achievement.
Continuous assessment is also a powerful diagnostic tool that enables pupils to understand the
areas in which they are having difficulty and to concentrate their efforts in those areas. Continuous
assessment also allows teachers to monitor the impact of their lessons on pupil understanding.
Teachers can modify their pedagogical strategies to include the construction of remediation
activities for pupils who are not working at the expected grade level and the creation of enrichment
activities for pupils who are working at or above the expected grade level. Hence, the continuous
assessment process supports a cycle of self-evaluation and pupil-specific activities by both pupils
and teachers.
Frequent interactions between pupils and teachers means that teachers know the strengths and
weaknesses of their learners. These exchanges foster a pupil-teacher relationship based on
individual interactions. Pupils learn that the teacher values their achievements and that their
assessment outcomes have an impact on the instruction that they receive.
In continuous assessment, teachers assess the curriculum as implemented in the classroom. It also
allows teachers to evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching strategies relative to the curriculum,
and to change those strategies as dictated by the needs of their pupils. In addition, continuous
assessments provide information on achievement of particular levels of skills, understanding,
and knowledge rather than achievement of certain marks or scores. Thus, continuous assessment
enables pupils to monitor their achievement of grade level goals and to visualize their progress
towards those goals before it is too late to achieve them.

One-to-one communication between the teacher and the pupil can motivate pupils to
continue attending school and to work hard to achieve higher levels of mastery.

22.3 Purposes of Continuous Assessment

The addition of continuous assessment in the instructional and testing process is intended to
achieve two major purposes : to improve both the validity and reliability of the results of pupils’
performance on tests and exercises, and secondly to help the pupil to develop effective learning
and work habits. The present continuous assessment system is essentially based on frequent test
taking and does not really serve the two critical purposes of continuous assessment. Classroom
tests are based on assessment of lower level abilities and memorization. Where assessments are
based on low level thinking skills i.e., “Knowledge” and “Comprehension”, pupils complete
their education still unable to analyze and apply their knowledge to solve problems. Education,
in effect is unable to transform the pupil from the stage of “knowledge recipient” to the status of
“knowledge producer and problem solver”. The central purpose of continuous assessment is to
help the pupil to become a better learner and producer bv encouraging pupils to improve their
knowledge and skills through learning, test taking and project undertaking in the critical and
important objectives of the school curriculum.
The purposes of continuous assessment are achieved in the following ways :
1. Longer time for collecting assessment information
To obtain accurate and reliable assessment data on a pupil, the assessments could be spread
over a longer time, allowing the pupil to take tests and other assignments at different times

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