a discussion on benchmark assessments both nationally and internationally in order to maintain and improve standards “The difference between school and life? In school, you are taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you are given a test that teaches you a lesson.” In this presentation I am going to discuss a few of the Benchmark assessments that are available to schools both Nationally & Internationally. I think that at the outset we need to understand that it is important to be participating in some form of Benchmarking as it is crucial to constantly evaluate the product we provide our market critically in order to say that we are offering an excellent product. And an excellent product is particularly important for Christian schools to be aiming at!

Learning is no longer merely memorising facts and answering questions. Introduction We live in a technologically advanced society, where facts are just a click of a button away. Learning is no longer merely memorising facts and answering questions. Today we need to equip our children with the skills that they need to interpret, analyse, criticize and utilize this information. We need to look at a benchmarking system which will tells us whether our children have these skills in place. Our pupils are growing up in a technologically advanced society where they can retrieve facts & information at a click of a button from Google etc. Learning is no longer about merely memorising facts & answering questions, it is more about acquiring the skills they need to interpret, analyse, criticize and utilize the information they have accessed. These skills are particularly important for our pupils to have when they move into the Secondary & Tertiary levels of education. Thus our Benchmarking system that we follow needs to assess whether our pupils have these skills in place!

Why Benchmark? Marketing tool? Evaluating standards Analysing skills Provide teachers with feedback School positioning academically Why Benchmark? You should not be using Benchmark results as a Marketing tool although a number of schools do publish the results.( It should be more about a diagnostic feedback to the school as to the pupils performance in the different subjects.) Benchmarking should primarily be about evaluating standards in the main subjects in order to achieve excellence in these subjects. Identifying areas that require attention and those that do not. In order to achieve excellence we need to analyse the skills that the pupils are acquiring in the main subject areas & see where the strengths & weaknesses lie. Provide teachers with feedback – should be sitting as grades/subjects and analysing your schools performance ; look at strengths & weaknesses. Ultimately you are looking at the product you are providing the parents. Need to look at Benchmarks that provide this type of diagnostic feedback. Tool to see where your school is positioned academically in relation to others both nationally & internationally.

National Benchmark Conquesta Olympiad Mathematics Olympiad- AMESA Challenge National Science Olympiad I.E.B. Shared Assessment – Maths, English, Afrikaans, Natural Science etc.(for Grade 7) I.E.B. Core skills assessment – Grade 3, 6 & 9 Own school Benchmark – Mathematics & English (In –house school bench mark) We are going to look at some of the assessments that are available nationally, that we can use in order to benchmark our schools. At this point I would just like to mention that the Department of Basic Education have implemented an assessment called the Annual National Assessments in order to assess the basic skills of literacy and numeracy of learners in Public schools. These tests are set by the Department of Basic Education and all learners in each grade will write the test. This ANA has been implemented to establish at what levels the learners are performing at in 2011. The idea is that the ANA will give the department a benchmark against which they can measure future performance. Ultimately you as a school need to select the type of assessment that would be the most appropriate type for your pupils and school! Always valuable to look at all types of Benchmark – An interesting form of Internal benchmark would be where you get your English & Mathematics teachers to set a standardised English & Maths paper that their Grade can write at the end of Term 1 or mid year. (Based on what you feel pupils in that particular Grade should be capable of at that stage.) This would be a good diagnostic tool to ensure that you keep records of averages attained over a number of years.

CONQUESTA Let’s take a closer look at the Conquesta

Conquesta Olympiad Duration Grade 4 – All papers 60 minutes ; 30 questions Grade 5 -7 All papers 90 minutes ; 50 questions Cost Once off Enrolment Fee of R10 per student plus R9 per subject chosen Dates 4 Term schools – mid August 3 Term schools – mid September Conquesta papers are written in sessions of 1 hr with 30 questions in Grade 4 & in sessions of 1 ½ hrs with 50 questions in Grades 5-7! Papers are well priced at R9 per subject with a once off enrolment fee of R10 per student Papers written in August for 4 term schools & in September for 3 term schools

Advantages of conquesta Easy to write Multiple choice Grade 1 – Grade 7 Variety of subjects Children receive certificates School gets quantitative results and can see how they performed in relation to other schools. In form of National averages Advantages of Conquesta: Easy to write Multiple choice Tests offered from Grade 1 – 7 Variety of subjects offered Children are sent certificates School receives quantitative results & can determine how the school performed in relation to other schools. Seen in the form of National averages

Disadvantages of conquesta Multiple choice often ends up as a multiple guess! Timing Layout can be confusing for the child Feedback to schools No breakdown given – skills Top results are only calculated from the 10 highest percentages Multiple choice often multiple guess Certain sections of work tested often not covered at the time of the assessment by teachers. Layout of paper can be confusing for the pupils. Feedback given to schools & teachers is not very good – simply a % . No feedback given as regards child’s particular areas of strength & weakness. Feedback given is not specific. Is no breakdown given as to the skills assessed & the pupils/schools performance in these areas. Top results only calculated from 10 highest percentages achieved per subject per grade.

Maths & Science assessments Currently South Africa is statistically ranked as one of the weakest countries in Sciences and Mathematics particularly in the junior grades. In seeking to address this status it is imperative that an understanding and love of Mathematics and Science is inculcated in the younger learners.

AMESA CHALLENGE Aims: Intended as a vehicle to enhance the quality of the teaching and learning of Mathematics. To generate an interest in Mathematics. To promote problem solving in Mathematics education. To emphasise the importance of reading in mathematical activity. To provide a diagnostic tool to enable teachers to identify learners’ problem areas Aims Intended as a vehicle to enhance the quality of the teaching and learning of Mathematics. To generate an interest in Mathematics. To promote problem solving in Mathematics education. To emphasise the importance of reading in mathematical activity. To provide a diagnostic tool to enable teachers to identify learners’ problem areas.

What is the challenge about? Structure Creative Multiple Choice Nature Conceptual Knowledge Application of Knowledge Skills Problem solving, reasoning, communication and general mathematical thinking. Format & Organisation First & final rounds Dates. Memorandums provided for teachers Cost First round free, final round requires a R5.00 donation to AMESA Awards Certificates awarded for averages of 50% and above Questions are set in a creative manner using multiple choice form of questioning. It is not intended as yet another scholastic test. The questions are aimed at conceptual knowledge, the application of knowledge in new situations, problem solving, reasoning, communication and general mathematical thinking. It consists of a first round and final round.( First round in August & Final round in September. Each paper is an hour long and consists of 25 multiple choice questions. Teachers mark the answers themselves using the memorandum provided Final round is for learners who achieve 60% and higher in the first round.

NATIONAL SCIENCE OLYMPIAD The Olympiads are run Nationally by the National Science Olympiad & the KZN wing of SAASTE (The South African Association of Science and Technology Educators) Caters for Natural Science (Grade 4-9), Life and Physical Sciences (Grade 10&11) and costs only R15 to participate. ALL pupils should be encouraged to write the PRACTICE round (which is free) the school can use these results to select candidates for the final rounds. This costs R15. Questions are Objective type questions based on core knowledge and concepts. Intend to encourage the application of skills, creative thinking and problem solving. 15 multiple choice questions need to be answered in one hour. The Final Round of the Olympiads for 2011 will be held on 06 September 2011. All learners who participate in the final round only will receive certificates of participation at least.

Ieb core skills test

Background Assessment Used in Grade 6 & 9 Purpose To determine academic proficiency of learners at the end of Grade 6 & 9 Benchmark Formative diagnostic intention Positive, qualitative impact on teaching This is an assessment instrument used in both Grade 6 & 9. It was developed to determine whether the Grade 6 learners (at the end of the Intermediate Phase) and the Grade 9 learners (at the end of the Senior Phase) have attained sufficient academic proficiency to engage with the demands of the following years. The results of the test provide diagnostic information about a learner’s level of operation in relation to the taxonomy levels addressed in the assessment. (Level 1 Knowledge question; Level 2 comprehension question; Level 3 Application question; Level 4 – Question type often neglected in the classroom. Require the learner to make choices based on reasoned arguments, predict or draw conclusions etc. (Higher order skills) Certainly provide a positive, qualitative effect on teaching.

Focus on skills and outcomes Design of the test Non curriculum based Focus on skills and outcomes Duration Marking Process IEB Workshops It is non-curriculum based. It focuses on skills and outcomes of learning that are developed in one or more specific learning areas. The focus is on the skills required in life and society that are expressed through the Critical and Development Outcomes of the National Qualifications Framework in South Africa. These include visual literacy, critical reading of texts, acquiring information from a variety of sources, problem solving, manipulation of data etc. It is written in July It is written in two one hour sessions with a short break of 15 minutes between the sessions. Teachers are given the marking guidelines and mark it themselves. Marked scripts are sent to IEB for moderation by September and schools results in November. IEB offers workshops on the core skills, one that facilitates the marking of learners’ scripts and the other deals with the interpretation of school’s results to inform curriculum design and delivery. Cost R80 per learner

International benchmarking assessments

International benchmark tests IBT (International Benchmark Test) ICAS – (International Competitions & Assessments for Schools) IBT (International Benchmark Test) developed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) ICAS – (International Competitions & Assessments for Schools) developed by the University on New South Wales – this is also known as SIAT (Schools International Assessment Tests)

Subjects offered IBT SIAT English (Grades 3 – 10) Mathematics (Grades 3 – 10) Science (Grades 3 – 8) SIAT English (Grades 3 – 12) Mathematics (Grades 3 – 12) Science (Grades 3 – 12) These two forms of assessment are very similar as you will see when comparing them!

IBT SIAT Content of English papers Locating information Inferring, predicting, drawing conclusions and reasoning. Strands: Reading, comprehension, spelling, punctuation, grammar & vocabulary IBT Reading and language skills in a range of texts. reading for meaning in literary & factual texts Syntax and vocabulary SIAT IBT - Locating information; inferring ,predicting , concluding & reasoning. Reading, comprehension & language. SIAT - Reading and language skills in a range of texts. Students are required to locate, identify, interpret, infer and synthesise information in and about texts. reading for meaning in literary texts, reading for meaning in factual texts, textual devices, syntax, vocabulary

Example of SIAT English paper Grade 6 Example of SIAT English paper Grade 6. Use a variety of Reading material in the assessment.

Content covered in mathematics papers Interpreting data Inferring Predicting Drawing conclusions Reasoning & problem solving IBT Mathematical skills: Number and Arithmetic Algebra and Patterns Measures and Units Space and Geometry Chance and Data SIAT IBT Skills include the following: Interpreting data Inferring Predicting Drawing conclusions Reasoning & problem solving SIAT Mathematical skills in a range of contexts from the following areas: Number and Arithmetic Algebra and Patterns Measures and Units Space and Geometry Chance and Data

Example of SIAT mathematics paper Grade 6

Content covered in science papers Focus Areas: Life, Earth, Physical Various Skills Covered IBT Focus Areas: Earth and Beyond, Natural and Processed Materials, Life and Living and Energy and Change SIAT IBT The focus is on the following areas: Life Earth Physical Skills include: Observing and Measuring Interpreting Data Inferring Predicting Drawing Conclusions Reasoning and Problem Solving SIAT Scientific skills in the subject contexts of Earth and Beyond, Natural and Processed Materials, Life and Living, and Energy and Change, including: Knowledge Measuring and Observing Predicting/Concluding from Data Investigating Reasoning/Problem Solving

Duration Format & Dates Duration, Format & Dates iBT & SIAT COMPARISONS SIAT Costs (2010) Orders of less than 20 papers per grade, per subject = R120 each Orders of 20 papers or more per grade, per subject = R90 each Duration Format & Dates Duration: 55 minutes to 1 hour Format: Multiple Choice (40 – 55 items) Date: August IBT Costs (2011) R80 per learner per subject Duration, Format & Dates Duration: 50 minutes to 1 hour Format: Multiple choice (40 – 50 items) Date: September? Why the cost? Australia, scanning, delivery, certificates, analysis – these are the positive aspects of these assessments. Feedback is high quality directed at specific skills.

Feedback & results IBT Graphs Excel Spreadsheets School Report Individual Report Regional, National, International Placing Question by Question Analysis Certificates SIAT Graphs Excel Spreadsheets School Report Individual Report Regional Placing Question by Question Analysis Certificates IBT – Students receive an individual report which provides feedback on every question, a summary of strengths and weaknesses, and clear information showing how the student performed compared to other students in the school, in their country and in similar countries. Teachers receive comprehensive reports on the student’s performance which allows them to better target their teaching and learning activities.

Multiple choice testing The majority of benchmark tests use multiple choice testing technique Questions are graded Pupils should be exposed to this form of testing and should be practised in it Used in secondary and tertiary institutions Pupils should be confident in this technique and should have the necessary skills for it

conclusion As schools we are always looking towards improving our products and ensuring that our pupils are well equipped for high school and tertiary education. In order to achieve this we need to critically analyse our strengths and weaknesses curricularly. Benchmarking is an essential tool to measure where the school is on a regional, national & international level. It should not be seen as negative or threatening it should be viewed in a constructive and positive light.

“Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.” B F Skinner Thank you for listening to me & are there any questions?