SABER STUDENT ASSESSMENT Mauritania Country Report 2013

Mauritania SABER Country Report STUDENT ASSESSMENT 2013 Key Policy Areas for Student Assessment Status 1. Classroom Assessment In Mauritania, formal, system-level documents provide guidelines for classroom assessment. Along with the system-level document, there is an official curriculum document which specifies what students are expected to learn and to what level of performance. While there are some system-level mechanisms to ensure that teachers develop skills and expertise in classroom assessment, classroom assessment practices are known to be of moderate quality and only ad hoc mechanisms are in place to monitor the quality of the practices. 2. Examinations The School Leaving Examination has been administered to grade 13 students since 1974 in Original Literature, Modern Literature, Natural Sciences, Mathematics, and technical subjects. Results are used to certify student completion of the school cycle and to determine selection to higher-education institutions, and are officially recognized by certification and selection systems in both Mauritania and abroad. While there is one systematic mechanism in place to ensure the quality of the examination, inappropriate behavior surrounding the examination process is high. At the same time, only one mechanism, a permanent oversight committee, is in place to monitor the consequences of the examination for stakeholder groups. 3. National Large-Scale Assessment (NLSA) The Assessment of Learning Achievement was administered for the first time in 1999. Since then, it has been operating on a regular basis, each time assessing a representative random sample of students from different grades and subject areas. In Mauritania, a formal, publicly available policy document authorizes the NLSA and there is a written plan for future NLSA activities. In addition, although funding for the NLSA is provided on an irregular basis by non-government sources, it covers all core NLSA activities. While the NLSA office is adequately staffed to carry out the assessment effectively, NLSA results are poorly disseminated and there are no mechanisms in place to monitor its consequences. 4. International Large-Scale Assessment (ILSA) In the last ten years, Mauritania has participated in MLA II (2003) and PASEC (2004) and has taken concrete steps to participate in PASEC 2015 and TIMSS 2015. Although funding for ILSA is mainly provided by loans or external donors, it covers all core ILSA activities. The ILSA team typically attends international meetings on ILSAs; however, no opportunities to learn about ILSAs are offered in Mauritania. While Mauritania-specific results are regularly disseminated in Mauritania, it is not clear that decisions based on ILSA results have had a positive impact on students’ achievement levels. THE WORLD BANK MAURITANIA ǀ SABER-STUDENT ASSESSMENT SABER COUNTRY REPORT |2013 Introduction systems: the types/purposes of assessment activities and the quality of those activities. Mauritania has focused on increasing student learning outcomes by improving the quality of education in the country. An effective student assessment system is an Assessment types and purposes important component to improving education quality and learning outcomes as it provides the necessary Assessment systems tend to be comprised of three information to meet stakeholders’ decision-making main types of assessment activities, each of which needs. In order to gain a better understanding of the serves a different purpose and addresses different strengths and weaknesses of its existing assessment information needs. These three main types are: classroom assessment, examinations, and large-scale, system, Mauritania has decided to benchmark this system level assessments. system using standardized tools developed under The World Bank’s Systems Approach for Better Education Classroom assessment provides real-time information Results (SABER) program. SABER is an evidence-based to support ongoing teaching and learning in individual program to help countries systematically examine and strengthen the performance of different aspects of their classrooms. Classroom assessments use a variety of education systems. formats, including observation, questioning, and paper- and-pencil tests, to evaluate student learning, generally on a daily basis. What is SABER-Student Assessment? Examinations provide a basis for selecting or certifying SABER-Student Assessment is a component of the students as they move from one level of the education SABER program that focuses specifically on system to the next (or into the workforce). All eligible benchmarking student assessment policies and systems. students are tested on an annual basis (or more often if The goal of SABER-Student Assessment is to promote the system allows for repeat testing). Examinations stronger assessment systems that contribute to cover the main subject areas in the curriculum and improved education quality and learning for all. usually involve essays and multiple-choice questions. National governments and international agencies are Large-scale, system-level assessments provide feedback increasingly recognizing the key role that assessment of on the overall performance of the education system at student learning plays in an effective education system. particular grades or age levels. These assessments The importance of assessment is linked to its role in: typically cover a few subjects on a regular basis (such as (i) providing information on levels of student every 3 to 5 years), are often sample based, and use learning and achievement in the system; multiple-choice and short-answer formats. They may be (ii) monitoring trends in education quality over national or international in scope. time; (iii) supporting educators and students with real- Appendix 1 summarizes the key features of these main time information to improve teaching and types of assessment activities. learning; and (iv) holding stakeholders accountable for results. SABER-Student Assessment methodology The SABER-Student Assessment framework is built on the available evidence base for what an effective assessment system looks like. The framework provides guidance on how countries can build more effective student assessment systems. The framework is structured around two main dimensions of assessment SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 2 MAURITANIA ǀ SABER-STUDENT ASSESSMENT SABER COUNTRY REPORT |2013 Quality drivers of an assessment system Table 1: Framework for building an effective assessment system, with indicator areas The key considerations when evaluating a student assessment system are the individual and combined quality of assessment activities in terms of the adequacy of the information generated to support decision making. There are three main drivers of information quality in an assessment system: enabling context, system alignment, and assessment quality. Enabling context refers to the broader context in which the assessment activity takes place and the extent to which that context is conducive to, or supportive of, the assessment. It covers such issues as the legislative or policy framework for assessment activities; institutional The indicators are identified based on a combination of and organizational structures for designing, carrying criteria, including: out, or using results from the assessment; the availability of sufficient and stable sources of funding; x professional standards for assessment; and the presence of trained assessment staff. x empirical research on the characteristics of effective assessment systems, including analysis of the System alignment refers to the extent to which the characteristics that differentiate between the assessment is aligned with the rest of the education assessment systems of low- versus high-performing system. This includes the degree of congruence nations; and between assessment activities and system learning x theory — that is, general consensus among goals, standards, curriculum, and pre- and in-service experts that it contributes to effective teacher training. assessment. Assessment quality refers to the psychometric quality of Levels of development the instruments, processes, and procedures for the assessment activity. It covers such issues as design and The World Bank has developed a set of implementation of assessment activities, analysis and standardized questionnaires and rubrics for collecting interpretation of student responses to those activities, and evaluating data on the three assessment types and the appropriateness of how assessment results are and related quality drivers. reported and used. The questionnaires are used to collect data on the Crossing the quality drivers with the different characteristics of the assessment system in a particular assessment types/purposes provides the framework country. The information from the questionnaires is and broad indicator areas shown in Table 1. This then applied to the rubrics in order to judge the framework is a starting point for identifying indicators development level of the country’s assessment system that can be used to review assessment systems and in different areas. plan for their improvement. The basic structure of the rubrics for evaluating data collected using the standardized questionnaires is summarized in Appendix 2. The goal of the rubrics is to provide a country with some sense of the development level of its assessment activities compared to best or recommended practice in each area. For each indicator, the rubric displays four development SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER

Load more