Developing a Classroom-Based Assessment System for Accelerated Learning

• In Event: Sustaining and Institutionalizing Classroom Assessments in Liberia’s Accelerated Learning Program

Proposal

STS developed leveled placement and summative assessment materials for AQE that will be used to place, promote, and transition learners participating in ALP.
At the beginning of the AQE school year, learners entering the program take a placement assessment to evaluate their understanding of key skills in mathematics and language arts. The assessment provides teachers and principals with key data to inform placement into the most appropriate AQE level for each child. At the end of the year, all learners take the ALP leveled completion assessments, which evaluate their mastery of the curriculum content in mathematics and language arts; level II and III learners also take science and social studies assessments.
Prior to developing the placement and completion assessment items, STS created curriculum crosswalks to capture the mathematics, science, language arts, and social studies content and skills outlined in both the conventional school’s and ALP’s curriculums. One assessment was developed for each grade level to ensure curriculum coverage; items were combined into the ALP levels after piloting.
The pilot was designed to validate the reliability and accuracy of the assessments’ questions. Because the AQE lessons cover core skills in the MoE’s primary school curriculum, and because a key goal for the project is the transition of learners from the ALP into the country’s formal school system, the placement assessments need to cover grade-level skills and knowledge so that educators can place learners into the most appropriate AQE level. To verify that the assessments accurately guide the placement process, pilots were administered to students in the formal school system.
The team developed and piloted the following tools for grades 1–6:
• Oral Reading Passage and Comprehension Questions
• Language Arts Written Assessment
• Mathematics Written Assessment
• Science Written Assessment (grades 3–6)
• Social Studies Written Assessment (grades 3–6)
The oral reading passages were grade-level specific and included a short story for the learners to read out loud to an assessor. Each passage was accompanied by five corresponding comprehension questions, which were designed to be administered orally immediately following the reading exercise. After the individual reading assessments were completed, the written assessments were administered in a group setting; assessors asked each question out loud to students in grade 1 and grade 2, and students in grade 3–6 read the questions independently. STS designed the written portion of the assessment so that each item was scored as “correct,” “incorrect,” or “did not respond.”
Following the pilots, STS worked closely with the Teaching and Learning Material team and Monitoring and Evaluation team to finalize assessments. The team eliminated items and combined two grade-level pilot assessments to create the AQE leveled assessments. Through this process, the team grouped similar skills and included items from both grade levels to maintain curriculum coverage. In some cases, the team removed similar or duplicative items across grades.

Author

• Laura Conrad, School-to-School International