CASE STUDY

Uses of assessment information to support student learning in

SINGAPORE

E S C H B O R N , G E R M A N Y – O C T O B E R 2 5 , 2 0 1 1

Using Student Assessment Results for Education Quality and Systems Strengthening

General Overview of Singapore and its Education System

Land

700 sq km

People

4.7 million

General Overview of Singapore and its Education System

GDP per capita in current U.S. dollars

1965 $510 2010 $43 300

General Overview of Singapore and its Education System

Students 500 000

Teachers 30 000

Principals & Vice-Principals 900

Schools 173 Primary Schools (Primary 1 – 6) 155 Secondary Schools (Secondary 1 – 4) 13 Junior Colleges (JC 1 – 2) 15 Mixed-Level Schools

The data refers to 1-12 school system. Pre-school is not part of the formaleducation system. The data excludes post-secondary education system whichincludes institutes of technical education, polytechnics and universities.

Canossa Convent Primary School Singapore

Universities

Polytechnics

Junior Colleges

Integrated Programmes

National Examination

Secondary Schools

National Examination

Institutes of Technical Education

Primary Schools

National Examination

A detailed schematic diagram of Singapore‟s education system is available in Education Statistics Digest http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/education-statistics-digest/

General Overview of Student Assessment Activities in Singapore

National examinations at the end of Grades 6, 10 and 12 are high stakes. G.C.E. Advanced Level Examination

(Grade 12)

School Assessment

G.C.E. Ordinary Level Examination (Grade 10)

School Assessment

Primary School Leaving Examination (Grade 6)

School AssessmentSchool assessment are typically teacher-created

tests and examinations that mirrors the demands of the national examinations.

International Assessment

Trends in Mathematics & Science Study 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011

Progress in International Reading Literacy Study 2001,2006, 2011

Program for International Student Achievement 2009

International assessments do not attract much public attention and has little influence on school

assessment.

General Overview of Student Assessment Activities in Singapore

Singapore‟s education system aspires to bemeritocratic, hence the reliance on national testresults.

Stake Holders Purpose of Assessment

Students and Parents Placement in subsequent stage and scholarships

Schools Benchmarking against other schools

Government Monitoring achievement of schools, ethnic groups andstudents from different home background

Employers As an indicator of ability of applicants

General Overview of Student Assessment Activities in Singapore

Singapore‟s education system is subjected to constant review. PERI (Primary Education Review & Implementation)

SERI (Secondary Education Review & Implementation)

The reports contain suggestions for improvement in the way assessment is done in Singapore.

The review of university education is on-going now and is due to be completed in 2013. 26% of each cohort gains admission to local publicly-

funded universities.

Presently, national examination results play an important role in university admission.

Focus and Key Questions for this Case Study

1. How is national examination information used to support student learning in Singapore?

2. How have the uses changed over time?

3. What were the mechanisms and drivers that allowed for those changes?

Findings

Supporting Student Learning: National Examination

There is a close match between the curriculum and nationalexamination. This is due to the consultative relationship betweenagencies responsible for the curriculum (Ministry of Education)and national examination (Singapore Examination and AssessmentBoard).

This ensures that the intended curriculum is implemented.

Findings

Supporting Student Learning: National Examination

Example: Mathematical problem solving forms a significant proportion of the nationalexamination because it is the focus of the curriculum framework.

Grade 6 National Examination

Findings

Supporting Student Learning: National Examination

Example: Mathematical problem solving forms a significant proportion of the nationalexamination because it is the focus of the curriculum framework.

Grade 6 National Examination

Findings

Supporting Student Learning: National Examination

“Identify areas that the school is underperforming in comparison to [the] nationalaverage (based on report given by MOE). Plan and strategize to improve. We alsolook into when the topic was first introduced and try and close the gap at the rootof the problem.”

Interview Data

Example: 2010 Grade 6 National Examination in Mathematics

School X

National Average

Quality Pass

42.9% 43.3%

Pass 79.0% 84.0%

The report also indicates how students in a schoolperformed in specific topics, in comparison tonational data.

Such data are used to improve the instructionalprogramme the following year. For example, School Xmay pay more attention to struggling students toimprove its percentage pass.

Findings

Supporting Student Learning: National Examination

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Placement of students in most suitable learning pathway

Findings Supporting Student Learning: Other Assessment LSM and LSP at Primary 1 & 2

Assessment at entry point to formal education determines if a student is given learning support in a small class and „specialist‟ help in core subjects – English language and Mathematics.

Foundation Subjects at Primary 5 & 6 and Normal Courses School-based examinations determines if a student will benefit more

from content differentiation. The least academically inclined students can study core subjects consisting of fewer topics and take more time.

Informal Remedial Lessons Across Levels Typically, twice a year, school-based examinations are used to identify

students who need „after-school‟ remedial lessons. Foundation Subjects & Normal Courses

Gifted Education Programme Selection Test at Primary 3 Two rounds of tests, the first for every student and the second on

invitation, are conducted to selected students for GEP in Primary 4 to Primary 6.

Findings

Shifting Landscape in the Use of Assessment

From … … to

Exclusive use of national examination results

Multiple ways of assessing students. While national examinations results remain significant, more tools are used now. Example: DSA

National examination results used for student placement.

National examination results used to support learning. Example: SpecialisedSchools

School-based assessment tended to mimic national examination.

School-based assessment are more holistic. Example: Holistic Assessment (HAPpe)

School were evaluated mostly on national examination results.

Schools are evaluated on a broad suite of criteria. Example: School Excellence Model

Findings

Mechanism & Drivers

Within Education

Curriculum sets direction (Thinking Schools, Learning Nation)

National examination provides the push in the direction

Professional development provides teachers with support to move in that direction (Professional Learning Communities)

Constant review to refine the system

Beyond Education

Inter-ministry committees involving key thinkers from the industry

Delinking education and politics (Lee, 2007)

Public opinions on impact of an examination-oriented society

References http://www.moe.gov.sg/publications/many-pathways/ is a historical account of education

in Singapore.

http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/education-statistics-digest/ contains Singapore‟s education statistics.

http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/syllabuses/ contains curriculum documents.

http://seab.gov.sg/ contains examination syllabuses.

http://www.primaryeducation.sg/holistic-development-of-your-child/holistic-assessment/ is about holistic assessment that is recommended by a review committee on primary education.

http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/press/2009/07/inaugural-international-educat.php is a press release of an International Education Roundtable, during which the Prime Minister made a remark about the need to take politics out of education.

http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/admissions/dsa-sec/ provides information on direct school admission, a route that places less emphasis on examination results.

http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/press/2010/09/more-pathways-secondary-schools.phpprovides information on specialised schools for the least academic students in the system.