The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) is moving ahead with plans to implement the Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment (CPEA) in May as part of a pilot programme.
The assessment implications were discussed last week during three days of consultations with local stakeholders including Ministry of Education officials, principals, teachers and parents.
“This is different for the very reason that it focuses on formative assessment and it allows for many more areas of students’ learning to be assessed,” said Maureen Grazette, Curriculum Development Officer at CXC.
“Students will be given credits in a continuous way instead of the one shot process that exists with the current assessment practices in schools.”
CXC has said the CPEA, to be introduced in Dominica, Grenada and Anguilla, is in response to calls from Caribbean leaders for a regional primary exit examination that assesses key areas of literacy including language, mathematics, civics and science.
According to council, the CPEA will assist with “the quality measures in the education system and offer a common measure across schools and countries in the region.”
The assessment also aims to help students achieve at higher levels of education by setting foundations for a seamless transition to secondary education, Grazette noted.
“There is a recognition that sometimes students go on to that second level of education without the necessary pre-requisites in order to do well,” she stated.
“So one of the essential ingredients in this programme is the identification of the core literacies that students must have in order to cope with the core programmes for the secondary level exams,” she said further.
(Source http://www.caribbean360.com/index.php/news/dominica_news/548609.html#axzz1jklZzS3u)
