Assessing learning: How can classroom-based teachers assess students’ competencies in numeracy?

ABSTRACT

This paper examines a procedure measuring student competencies in numeracy using school-based assessments, and demonstrates how the procedure informs the school system on quality improvement. The sample consisted of 7648 students, attending three different types of urban schools including government, formal private and low cost private in poor informal settlements in Kenya. The numeracy tool measures six curriculum outcome areas. Each outcome area is defined by 2–11 measured items based on the emphasis given to an area in the curriculum. Within each of the outcome areas, items are also hypothesised to measure categories of the cognitive domain of learning. Using the Rasch, we examine the item difficulties, person location and differential item functioning. The paper provides important implications to provision of evidence to inform teaching in poor urban informal settlements in Kenya and this can also be replicated in other sub-Saharan African countries.

Abbreviations: APHRC: African Population and Health Research Center; CTT: Classical Test Theory; DIF: Differential Item Functioning; ICC: Item Characteristics Curve; INMS: Infit Mean Square; IRT: Item Response Theory; PASEC: Programme d’Analyse des Systèmes Educatifs de la Confemen/ The Programme for the Analysis of Education Systems; QUEST: The interactive test analysis system (software); RUMM: Rasch Unidimensional Measurement Models (software); SACMEQ: Southern and Eastern African Consortium for Monitoring Education Quality; SSA: Sub-Saharan Africa

KEYWORDS:

• Numeracy
• teachers
• assessment
• competence
• student

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the important contribution of the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) staff who participated at various stages of the development of this paper including data collection and processing, as well as giving valuable comments during the internal review process. We are also grateful to our partners including the Ministry of Education for providing us with introductory letters to the District Education Officers and school head teachers. Last but not least we are very grateful to the head teachers, teachers and learners who participated in this study. However, the views presented in this paper are only those of the authors and not necessarily shared by those mentioned.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation [grant number 2011–6393].

Notes on contributors

Moses W. Ngware

Moses W. Ngware is Senior Research Scientist and leader of the Education and Youth Empowerment unit at the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), Nairobi, Kenya. He is also Honorary Senior Lecturer at School of Public Health, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, where he supervises doctoral students. His current research work focuses on what is happening inside the classroom as well as examining the effects of education interventions in sub Saharan Africa. Ngware has a PhD in Economics of Education from Egerton University, Kenya

Njora Hungi

Njora Hungi is Research Scientist at APHRC and has a Ph.D. in Education Measurement. He provides intellectual leadership in the areas of tests and measurement, and learning outcomes. Before joining APHRC, he served as the technical manager at the Southern and Eastern African Consortium for Monitoring Education Quality (SACMEQ).

Maurice Mutisya

Maurice Mutisya` is Data Analyst at the APHRC. Maurice has special interest in understanding the linkages between education and health. He is driven by the need to contribute to the development of marginalized populations and also influence policies and practices that can lead to improvement of their well-being