Members of the Grade Six Achievement Test Review Committee discuss the status of a review, at a recent JIS 'Think Tank'. From left are assistant chief education officer, Student Assessment Unit, Sharon Neil; Alton Davis; project manager/chairperson; Jean Hastings; and assistant chief education officer, Core Curriculum Unit, Winston Forrest. - Contributed
There have been improvements in student performance since the introduction of the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), according to assistant chief education officer at the Student Assessment Unit in the Ministry of Education, Sharon Neil.
"I think the ministry is trying to be responsive, by putting these assessments in place, to provide teachers with tools that will guide them to impact on the performance of the students in the GSAT," she said.
Success
"I think we have been seeing some success in this regard because since the GSAT was first implemented nationally in 1999, we have seen some gross gains in student's performance," she told JIS News in an interview.
"The national means have been creeping up slightly in some subjects, more than others, over the last six years, for example, and I think that is attributable to the fact that teachers are using the information coming from the national assessments to help them to plan instruction and to address students learning needs," she explained.
Second phase
Mrs Neil said that the GSAT review, which is in its second phase, should now focus on teachers making use of the material available to them.
"Where I think our focus needs to go, as we continue the revision of the GSAT, is to put in place other measures to ensure that more teachers are using the data that is available to them to drive the improvement in their schools," she pointed out.
She also noted that although GSAT is being criticised by different stakeholders as being difficult, students are doing extremely well.
Criticism
"The criticism is taken that GSAT might be difficult for some students, (but) some students are doing exceptionally well. That sometimes create a challenge for us in placement because of the competition and, very often, there is not much to differentiate the students at the top because they are performing so very well," she said.
"So we should not look at this criticism of the GSAT as being too difficult, but recognise that yes, it may be difficult for some students who are not performing at the expected level, but there are many students who are doing extremely well on the GSAT," she emphasised.
The Student Assessment Unit ensures that national assessments are valid, reliable and fair to all students.