Speeches
Speech by Ms Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of National Development and Ministry of Education, at the PERI Holistic Assessment Seminar 2010 on Tuesday, 13 July 2010 at 9.00 am at Agora Hall, Republic Polytechnic
Colleagues from MOE
Principals and Vice Principals
Teachers
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good morning. I am very happy to be here with you at the inaugural PERI Holistic Assessment Seminar 2010.
Background
In October 2008, the Primary Education Review and Implementation (PERI) Committee was appointed to study and recommend the priorities, programmes and resources needed to enhance primary education and bring it to the next level. The committee recognised the need to maintain strong fundamentals even as we proposed recommendations to raise the quality of learning and teaching for a well-balanced primary education.
The recommendations covered two broad areas. Firstly, to balance the acquisition of knowledge with the development of skills and values through increased use of engaging pedagogies; more holistic assessment to support pupils’ learning and development; and a stronger emphasis on non-academic aspects within the curriculum. Secondly, to provide more resources in the areas of manpower, funding and infrastructure to support the proposed changes.
These proposed changes seek to develop our children to be confident persons, self-directed learners and caring citizens, while equipping them with enduring knowledge and values and the necessary 21st century skills and dispositions. The PERI recommendations were accepted by the Ministry of Education in April 2009.
Holistic Assessment to Support Learning and Development
Since July last year, MOE has been partnering 16 primary schools, the PERI Holistic Assessment Prototype (or HAPpe) schools, to plan and prototype Holistic Assessment models and strategies at Primary 1 and Primary 2. This prototyping will enable us to draw key learning points from the schools’ experiences before expanding to more schools.
The prototyping schools focused their efforts on building children’s confidence and desire to learn by using age-appropriate assessment in the lower primary years. Instead of a heavy emphasis on year-end pen-and-paper examinations, they used a range of assessment modes and bite-sized forms of assessment for richer feedback on learning. We will be sharing their experiences with all primary schools at this seminar and many subsequent platforms.
We learnt a few important lessons from the journey taken by the 16 prototype schools. First, the child should be our focus. In the design of pedagogy and assessment, we must be guided by the developmental needs of our children. We need to provide them with age-appropriate assessment tasks to build their confidence and motivation. To ensure that the scope and frequency of assessment are manageable, each prototype school has developed level-wide assessment plans with the children in mind. Second, communication with parents is key. When parents understand the changes and the rationale behind Holistic Assessment, they will be reassured and supportive. Third, teachers need to be supported in developing appropriate assessment tasks and providing feedback.
Examples of Holistic Assessment
Holistic assessment aims to support the development of the whole child and requires careful planning. In the school’s assessment plan which systematically sets out what is to be assessed and when to assess, care must be taken to ensure a good balance of assessments across various areas of learning. There should also be a balance between assessments that provide feedback and do not count towards a final grade, and assessments that are graded to check for mastery of learning. The school’s assessment plan enables teachers to plan and coordinate. At the same time, it should be communicated to parents in order to harness their understanding and support.
A significant change in teachers’ professional practice in the prototype schools is the stronger link that teachers make between pedagogies, assessment and feedback. For example, in English, where the teachers want pupils to develop confidence and effective communication skills, dramatisation, role-play and show-and-tell activities are used to build children’s speech and presentation skills. The children get to practise speaking individually and in groups. They are shown the rubrics, the indicators and the levels of attainment for the skills they are practising. The teachers involve the children in using the indicators for self assessment and peer assessment. During the actual assessment, each child receives feedback from the teacher which is also shown to the parents. The child, teacher and parent are clear about the child’s strengths and areas for improvement. This is different from traditional oral assessment, where the child gets a grade or mark without any feedback. Here’s a Primary 2 class at St Anthony’s Primary where peer assessment is practised.
In Mathematics, after the teacher has taught some mathematical concepts or skills, the assessment task is intended to elicit children’s understanding of the concepts or ability to use the skills. For instance, in the use of Math journaling, pupils are required to express their understanding through drawing, Mathematical formula or words. It is thus useful in evaluating pupils’ understanding and giving an opportunity for teachers to provide feedback to the children.
How do pupils feel about these new assessment modes? Marcus Yeo, a Fairfield Methodist Primary 2 pupil said: “Assessment is not like a test, so scary. I can show my teacher what I can do and what I understand from the lesson. My teacher can also tell me immediately what mistakes I make. I like to be able to show my way of solving a problem.”
Holistic Reporting
In the prototype schools, the teachers use a wide variety of assessment methods and strategies to gather information on the pupils’ learning.Parents can expect to receive information and reports on their child’s progress periodically from the teachers. Parents will get a holistic picture of their child. Besides getting feedback on individual subjects, parents will also receive information on the child’s personal development.
Parents’ Comments on Holistic Assessment and Reporting
Parents play an active part in supporting their children’s learning and holistic development. The prototype schools have leveraged the potential of portfolios to communicate more meaningfully to parents about their children. Some schools get the children themselves to describe and explain their portfolios to their parents. During these conferencing sessions, the pupils will analyse, summarise and reflect on their own learning.
Let’s take a look at how parent-child-teacher conferencing, organised around the pupils’ portfolios, is conducted at Haig Girls’, and listen to some parents share their exPERIences and views on holistic assessment and reporting.
It is important that parents affirm their children’s efforts and are proud of their learning progress and achievements.
Supporting Teachers
Teachers play a critical role in providing quality assessment and learning for our children. MOE provided Primary 1 and Primary 2 teachers of the prototype schools with resource support as well as training in pedagogy and assessment. Principals and key personnel such as Level Heads, Subject Heads and Heads of Department attended planning workshops while teachers attended subject-based workshops. Network meetings were organised to facilitate professional exchange and sharing of good ideas among the prototype schools. Curriculum officers from MOE also visited the schools and provided consultancy and advice. MOE and schools co-developed materials, assessment exemplars and rubrics. These resources have been tried out in the prototype schools and will be shared with all primary schools.
During the Committee of Supply Debate in March this year, I mentioned that MOE would create a dedicated holistic assessment website to enable all teachers to access these resources. I am pleased to announce that the PERI Holistic Assessment website is ready and will be launched this morning.
The website is a one-stop portal that provides teachers with resources and materials from MOE and the prototype schools. A ‘Pedagogy and Assessment Guide’ that aims to help teachers implement holistic assessment is provided on-line. It contains a toolkit with lesson exemplars and assessment strategies to help teachers develop appropriate assessment tasks. Also available at the website is a collection of stories and reflections from the 16 prototype schools.
School Leadership
A whole-school approach is essential to implement Holistic Assessment. School leaders play an important role in doing the following: i) create and communicate a shared vision for Holistic Assessment; ii) build a school culture that promotes assessment for learning; iii) provide support for professional conversation and learning for the teachers; and iv) ensure a safe and supportive environment for teachers and their pupils. Let’s hear how a principal engages her staff and stakeholders in implementing holistic assessment successfully.
Conclusion
The theme for today’s seminar is “Holistic Development, Transformative Assessment”. It emphasises the important role of assessment to support our children’s holistic development. “Transformative assessment” reflects MOE’s commitment to enabling our primary schools to harness the potential of assessment to improve learning and teaching.
It is heartening to see the enthusiasm and fine efforts of the 16 prototype schools. I would like to congratulate these schools for their progress and achievements. They have developed a good range of effective pedagogic and assessment practices. I hope many primary schools will embark on their own Holistic Assessment journey next year. Effort and commitment are required from the schools and I am confident that our Principals and teachers will take on this initiative to enable pupils to enjoy learning and be confident individuals.
I wish everyone a most fruitful and enlightening seminar. Thank you.
