1. The research was carried out between 1996 and 1998 with the aim of developing a methodology for assessing and monitoring children’s learning in developing countries.
2. The study was framed by the multi-disciplinary theoretical framework of socio-cultural research, and drew specifically on the methodological orientation of ‘action’ and ‘intervention’ in research.
3. In this case, 30 teachers in each country (Malawi and Sri Lanka) took part in a ‘system of activities’ in which they developed appropriate protocols for classroom-based assessment, designed and administered a variety of novel assessment tasks, collected evidence of children’s work and discussed these collectively in groups, and recorded and profiled children’s achievements in Mathematics and literacy.
4. The study found that in both countries teachers had reasonably good intuitive knowledge of learners and learning, but inadequate systems for collecting and interpreting evidence of achievement in literacy and Mathematics.
5. Once they were exposed to the ‘intervention’ process of the research, it became clear that teachers, despite enormous resource constraints, were able to establish standards and norms based on their professional experiences, develop procedures for assessment, administer assessment tasks and put together portfolios of evidence and assemble a profile of learner achievements.
6. The challenges to achieving this should not be under-estimated and do, of course, vary between socio-cultural contexts.
7. Four sets of profiles were developed in both English and the national languages of the different countries. These were:
|
Oracy profiles |
(English and Chichewa in Malawi; English, Sinhala and Tamil in
Sri Lanka) |
|
Reading profiles |
(as above) |
|
Writing profiles |
(as above) |
|
Mathematics profiles |
(Pupils in Malawi were assessed in English and in Sri Lanka
they were assessed in Sinhala and Tamil) |
9. In Sri Lanka, 20.3% of children achieved the expected level in English, 20% did so in Tamil and 20.7% in Sinhala.
10. The assessment of reading in Malawi shows that 32.4% of children achieved the expected level of reading texts in English and 34.4% in the reading of texts in Chichewa.
11. In Sri Lanka, the teacher-based expectation that at least 50% of children would achieve a level 3 in the reading of English, Sinhala and Tamil texts was not borne out.
12. The writing profiles of children in Malawi are strong, with 40.5% achieving a level 3 in English and 42.8% in Chichewa.
13. By contrast, the writing profiles in Sri Lanka were weak in English. Only 2.5% of children achieved a level 3, but this was unsurprising as the pattern of teaching English is, in the first instance, to develop the communicative competencies in speaking and reading.
14. However, the profiles for writing in Sinhala and Tamil were more encouraging, though falling below teacher expectations (only 39% achieved a level 3 in Sinhala and 38.7% in Tamil).
15. The Mathematics profile, in both countries, shows that under 40% of learners achieve a level 3. In general, learners, in both countries, showed a high level of success in computational problems in which ‘rules’ were used, but were less successful in word-based problem-solving, diagnosis and measurement.
16. The study concludes that the ‘activity-based intervention’ methodology is a useful approach to developing insights into learning and teaching, and for monitoring education quality.
