Press Releases
PERI Holistic Assessment Seminar 2010 — 16 Schools Share Holistic Assessment Practices and Resources
Sixteen Holistic Assessment Prototype (HAPpe1) Schools shared their holistic assessment journey and showcased their schools’ practices and assessment resources at the inaugural PERI Holistic Assessment Seminar 2010 on 13 July 2010 at Republic Polytechnic.
Themed “Holistic Development, Transformative Assessment”, the seminar emphasised the important role of assessment to support pupils’ holistic development. “Transformative Assessment” reflects MOE’s commitment in enabling primary schools to harness the potential of assessment to improve learning and teaching.
Since July 2009, MOE has been working very closely with the HAPpe schools in implementing Holistic Assessment. HAPpe schools were supported with differentiated professional development and assessment resources for school leadership teams and teachers. MOE also conducted school visits to ensure meaningful use of appropriate pedagogy, assessment and feedback processes, and networking sessions to enable schools to learn from each other.
A key recommendation for Holistic Assessment is to shift the focus of assessment towards building pupils’ confidence and desire to learn in both the academic and non-academic areas. The HAPpe schools have refined their assessment practices to reflect this emphasis. They have removed the semestral examinations (SAs) at Primary 1 and SA1 in Primary 2 to ease pupils’ transition into formal schooling. The schools have also gone beyond pen-and paper testing and adopted multiple assessment modes. Teachers also use assessment information to improve teaching and pupils’ learning. Holistic reporting is also adopted to provide parents with a more comprehensive picture of their children’s progress and learning throughout the year.
To further support schools in implementing holistic assessment, MOE launched the PERI Holistic Assessment Website at the seminar. The website provides teachers with a one-stop portal to access information, examples, resources and strategies, as well as exchange ideas on Holistic Assessment. Teachers can also access the “Pedagogy and Assessment Guide” which contains a toolkit with lesson exemplars and assessment strategies to help them develop assessment to support learning. Also available on the website are information and milestones of the PERI Holistic Assessment Journey and stories on the holistic assessment experience from the perspective of pupils, teachers and parents of the HAPpe schools.
A total of 1,600 school leaders, educators and classroom practitioners attended the seminar. The seminar featured 28 presentations of holistic assessment strategies and processes for various subjects and a poster exhibition by the 16 HAPpe schools. International assessment expert, Dr. Anne Davies, presented her research and work in various schools across North America. She also shared strategies for implementing assessment in classrooms and schools, and how to leverage on assessment to engage students in deep learning. Please refer to Annex A for Dr Davies’ biodata.
Footnote
- “HAPpe” is the acronym derived from “Holistic Assessment Prototype” and rhymes with the word “happy”. “HAPpe” thus aptly reflects one of the goals of Holistic Assessment — to build pupils’ confidence and desire to learn. ↵