Assessment in Other Parts of the World

Idealistically, I believe there is a place for also considering  Gardner’s view of multiple intelligences into consideration when looking at what children really know and can do well.   Evenmore, Steinberg’s view might be better suited for testing since most cognitive activities include some form of analytic, creative and/or practical skills.

            In The Gambia the West African Examinations Council administers The Gambia Basic Education Certificate Examination (GABECE), taken at the end of upper basic school (nine years), in addition to the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), taken at the end of the Senior Secondary School curriculum (12 years). The GABECE was first introduced in 2002, replacing the Junior School Leaving Certificate. The Senior Secondary School curriculum and the West African Senior School Certificate were adopted in 1998.

According to WAEC data, just over 14,200 students took WASSCE examinations in 2012, an increase of 14 percent versus 2011. Including the basic education examinations, a total of just over 115,000 Gambian students took WAEC administered examinations in 2012.

Basic education WAEC curriculum

In 2002, a new unified basic and compulsory education system was introduced to cover the first nine years of schooling. The nine years of basic education are divided into two cycles: lower basic and upper basic. Students transition automatically and without examination to lower secondary school at the end of the six years of the lower basic cycle. At the end of the lower secondary cycle, all students sit for the Basic Education Certificate Examination.

Students sitting for the GABECE take examinations in four core subjects, at least one elective ‘general’ subject from a pool of seven subjects, and at least one ‘pre-vocational subject’ from a pool of five. Students can take a maximum of three general and three pre-vocational subjects for a maximum load of 10 subjects. The four core subjects are:

·         English

·         Mathematics

·         Science

·         Social and Environmental Studies

Since 2008, the WAEC has also conducted the National Assessment Test for the Gambian government, which offers assessment data used to monitor learning and teaching standards in the core basic subject areas of the national curriculum, but does not determine student progression within the system. This census is taken annually by all students in grades 3, 5 and 8. The country’s lower basic school completion rates have increased from 39 percent in 1992 to 66 percent.

It looks like the subject areas and grade levels being tested are basically the same as we do here in the States however, I find it interesting how they also test 6 more subject areas which seems a pretty fair way of assessing what a student can do.

References

Berger, K. S. (2016). The developing person through childhood (7th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers, pp359-360.

http://wenr.wes.org/2015/03/school-examinations-curricula-anglophone-west-africa-gambia-ghana-liberia-nigeria-sierra-leone/