Monitoring Student Progress in Mathematics and Science
Evaluation of student achievement is an essential component of mathematics education. It is necessary to give teachers feedback on the methods and approaches used and to assist in planning for new learning (formative assessment), as well as to assess student readiness for new learning and to find out what they have learned (summative assessment). Diagnostic assessment procedures enable teachers to become aware of individual student difficulties and plan learning activities specifically designed to meet these learning needs. Mathematics assessment focuses both on what students know and can do, and on how they think about mathematics. It involves a broad range of tasks and problems, and requires the application of a number of mathematical ideas. Assessments evaluate student skills, such as the ability to communicate findings, present an argument, and explain an intuitive approach to a problem.
Assessment is an integral part of the normal teaching and learning program and involves multiple techniques, including written, oral, and demonstration formats. Group and team activities also are periodically assessed. Teachers avoid giving tests that focus only on a narrow range of skills, such as the correct application of standard algorithms (procedures), for example. While assessing skills is important, a consequence of isolating skills and knowledge in a narrow assessment procedure is that students tend to learn only in that way, approaching mathematics as a set of separate skills and concepts with little obvious connection to other aspects of learning or to the world.
Assessment in science reflects a similar philosophy. In Years 4 to 6, science testing is based on performance task assessment principles. Students are presented with hands-on investigative tasks or experiments to perform, and are assessed on the following: the manner in which they approach tasks, individually and as a group; the skills they employ during the process (e.g., data analysis, prediction, interpretation, measurement, application, data recording, and presentation); and the conclusions they reach following their investigations. During this process, students are asked to make predictions, employ fair investigative strategies, conduct multiple trials, interpret and record results, and apply their findings to real life situations. To provide students with information about progress, teachers report on what students achieve and how well they achieved it. Teachers also give feedback (oral or written), indicating what students have done well and how they can use this feedback to improve.
In Years 4 and 5, students take school- or college-based mid-year examinations and national end-of-year examinations in Maltese, English, mathematics, religion, and social studies, as well as a science assessment. In Year 6 (the final year of primary education), students take the national End of Primary Benchmark assessment in June, which covers Maltese, mathematics, and English. For all of the above mentioned examinations, papers are graded to recognize different abilities.
At the secondary level, student learning is monitored by both formative and summative assessment. There are different examinations in each grade because students are tracked according to their ability level. The summative assessment process is similar to that for primary education with a mid-year and an annual examination. At the end of secondary education, students may choose to take Secondary Education Certificate examinations in the subjects they have studied. The Secondary Education Certificate covers all subjects taught in Maltese schools, and is a requirement for proceeding to further general education.