AGRICULTURAL PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT IN SCHOOLS IN BOTSWANA

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INTRODUCTION

It is important that an education system should strive to provide quality education to the students. Quality of education is not what the students are told by their teachers to do but what they do to create knowledge of their own. To evaluate if students have learnt something, they have to be assessed. Assessment seems to be the most difficult and unpleasant part of the teaching profession. It is not every teacher who can assess and provide quality information needed for making sound policies to enhance learning. This chapter introduces the study of enhancing quality of Agriculture performance assessment in schools in Botswana. Section 1.2 gives background to the study situating it within the framework of policy reforms. Section 1.3 discusses the problem and rationale leading to the conduct of this study. Section 1.4 outlines definition of terms as they are used in this study. Section 1.5 outlines the research approach, followed by Section 1.6 which gives the aim and research questions for the study. Section 1.7 describes the significance of the study and finally Section 1.8 gives a brief outline of each chapter.

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

The United Nations and Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation [UNESCO] (2004) declared that the quality of education was declining universally, despite having advocated universal basic education for all school-age going children during the early 1990s. Since then a number of countries committed themselves and have made significant progress in providing education for all (UNESCO, 2004), with Botswana achieving much in terms of access to education, with “Apparent Intake Ratio (AIR) for both six and seven year olds being more than 100%1 , which indicates a high degree of access to primary education” (MO&SD, 2003, p.15), taking into consideration that 42.4 million school- aged children in Africa were out of school by 2002 (UNESCO, 2002). However, emphasis on enrolment without provision of sufficient resources to match the large class sizes has resulted in decline in the quality of education.
Recently, emphasis has been directed to quality of education, as evidenced by ratifications of many international conventions, such as The Rights of the Child (United Nations, 2001a), The Dakar Framework for Action (UNESCO, 2000), and the Millennium Development Goals (UN, 2000). Though quality seems to be an elusive concept (Doty 1996), in assessment it is considered to be “the provision of the information of highest validity and optimum reliability suited to a particular purpose and context” (Harlen, 1994, p. 13). According to Grisay and Mählck (1991) (cited in Kellaghan & Geaney, 2003), quality in education begins with the development of the relevant curriculum, and improvement of teacher preparation and the methods of assessing pupils (p.13). To evaluate if quality education has taken place, assessment of the curriculum is instituted, hence quality of the educational system is measured by student achievement (Kellagan & Greaney, 2003), not by the physical and human resources provided (Pittman, 2003). The quality of what is going on in the classroom is of greater importance than the number of children who participate in the education process.
The notion of merely filling spaces called ‘schools’ with children called ‘learners’, does not address even the quantitative objectives (UNESCO, 2004). UNESCO therefore defined education as being concerned with processes and outcomes that are defined qualitatively. However, this type of education has been elusive, as evidenced by the number of countries lagging behind or declining in achieving quality, including developed ones, (Greaney & Kellagan, 2001; UNESCO, 2004; Walker, 2006). In order to address the question of quality in education effectively, firstly it has to be realized that education concerns itself not only with cognitive development, but also with accumulation of particular values, attitudes, and skills. Good quality education should fulfil the acquisition of all these. Secondly, quality instruction has to be accompanied by appropriate quality assessment strategies (Stiggins, 1997), thus assessment is inseparable from the teaching and learning process. The teacher is needed for mentoring, coaching and assessing students while actively engaged in the activities that result in them acquiring knowledge and skills.
Stiggins identified five specific standards that quality assessment has to satisfy, one of which alludes to the appropriate assessment format to be used (Stiggins, 1997, p. 167): A sound assessment examines students’ achievement through the use of a method that is capable of reflecting valued targets. We have different kinds of achievement to assess, and as such have to use different kinds of assessment methods to reflect them – select response, essays, performance assessment, structured responses, direct personal communication with students. The implication here is that quality learning should be learner-centred and formatively assessed. Research has revealed that cooperative learning, which is a learner-centred approach, encourages students’ interaction and development of investigative skills (Greenwood & Gaunt, 1994). Since assessment is essentially finding out the worth of what students do, it is logical that they should be assessed as they work either alone or in groups.
The Government of Botswana has since committed itself to providing accessible quality education to all (Government of Botswana, 1994; Ministry of Education & Skills Development [MoE&SD], 2000); Ministry of Finance and Development Planning [MFDP], 1991, 1997, 2003) to mould the child to fit in the participation of future social and economic activities of the country. This was evidenced by two commissions, instituted in 1977 and 1993, which both recommended Continuous Assessment (CA) to be part of a student’s final grade. Unfortunately, during the late 1970’s, manpower supply was in serious shortage, hence the implementation of the recommendations were not followed as initially intended. For example, the concentration after the first recommendation was on expanding access to primary education so as to acquire strong foundation in education. Quality was then, though imperative, inadvertently subjected to secondary treatment, given prevalent financial and human resource constraints (Government of Botswana, 1993). The Government learned from the first National Commission on Education that just providing equitable access to education was a necessary but not sufficient goal. The second commission, which culminated in The Revised National Policy on Education (RNPE) of 1994, clearly indicated government intentions to improve the quality of education as well as assessment through…

TABLE OF CONTENTS :

• TABLE OF CONTENTS
• List of Tables
• List of Figures
• List of Acronyms
• Declaration of originality
• Summary
• Acknowledgements
• CHAPTER ONE AGRICULTURAL PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT IN SCHOOLS IN BOTSWANA
  • 1.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 1.2 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
  • 1.3 THE PROBLEM STATEMENT AND RATIONALE
  • 1.4 DEFINITION OF TERMS
  • 1.5 THE RESEARCH APPROACH
  • 1.6 THE AIM AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS
  • 1.7 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
    1.8 OUTLINE OF CHAPTERS 
• CHAPTR TWO THE CONTEXT OF BOTSWANA
  • 2.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 2.2 DEMOGRAPHY
  • 2.3 LANDSCAPE AND CLIMATE
  • 2.4 ECONOMY
  • 2.5 BOTSWANA’S EDUCATION SYSTEM
    • 2.5.1 Structure of the Education System
    • 2.5.2 Management of the Education Sector
    • 2.5.3 Education and Curricular Reform
  • 2.6 EXAMINATION OF SENIOR SECONDARY CURRICULUM
  • 2.7 TEACHING AGRICULTURE IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS
  • 2.8 ASSESSMENT IN AGRICULTURE
  • 2.9 ASSESSMENT OF PRACTICALS IN AGRICULTURE
  • 2.10 TEACHER TRAINING
  • 2.11 CONCLUSION
• CHAPTER THREE LITERATURE REVIEW AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
  • 3.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 3.2 THE ORIGINS OF PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT
  • 3.3 CONDITIONS FOR PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT
  • 3.4 QUALITY ASSURANCE OF PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT INTERNATIONALLY
  • 3.5 ISSUES IN PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT
  • 3.6 THE CONDUCT OF PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT IN BOTSWANA
  • 3.7 VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT INTERNATIONALLY
  • 3.7.1 Validity
  • 3.7.2 Reliability
  • 3.8 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY
    • 3.8.1 System-Level Factors
    • 3.8.2 School -Level Factors
  • 3.9 CONCLUSION
• CHAPTER FOUR RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
  • 4.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 4.2 PARADIGM UNDERLYING THIS STUDY
  • 4. 3 OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH DESIGN
  • 4.4 RESEARCH DESIGN FOR BASELINE SURVEY: PHASE ONE
  • 4.4.1 Research design
  • 4.4.2 Research methods
    • 4.4.2.1 Sample and Participants
    • 4.4.2.2 Instrument Development and data collection strategies
    • 4.4.2.3 Data Collection procedure
    • 4.4.3 Data Analysis
  • 4.5 RESEARCH DESIGN FOR THE INTERVENTION STUDY: PHASE TWO
  • 4.5.1 The nature of design-based research
    • 4.5.2 Research design
    • 4.5.3 The research process
    • 4.5.4 Data collection
    • 4.5.5 Data Analysis
  • 4.6 METHODOLOGICAL NORMS
  • 4.6.1 Dependability of the Results
  • 4.6.2 Ethical considerations
  • 4.7 CONCLUSION
• CHAPTER FIVE AGRICULTURE PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT PRACTICES IN BOTSWANA
  • 5.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 5.2 BIOGRAPHICAL DATA
  • 5.2.1 Teachers’ age and gender
  • 5.2.2 Teachers’ and school administrators’ experience
  • 5.2.3 Teachers’ and school administrators’ qualification and training
  • 5.2.4 Class size
  • 5.3 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT PRACTICES OF TEACHERS
  • 5.3.1 The mode of assessment
  • 5.3.2 Learning autonomy
    • 5.3.3 Assessment for Learning
    • 5.3.4 Availability of Resources
    • 5.3.5 Monitoring and Supervision
    • 5.3.6 Standardisation of marking
  • 5.3.7 Attitude towards performance assessment
  • 5.4 DISCUSSION
  • 5.5 CONCLUSION
  • 5.6 IMPLICATIONS FOR DESIGN OF INTERVENTION
• CHAPTER SIX DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF THE FIRST AND SECOND PROTOTYPES
  • 6.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 6.2 PRODUCT DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS
  • 6.3 DEVELOPMENT OF THE FIRST PROTOTYPE
    • 6.3.1 Description of tasks
    • 6.3.2 Skills equating
    • 6.3.3 Task Development
  • 6.4 FORMATIVE EVALUATION OF THE FIRST PROTOTYPE BY EXPERT GROUP
    • 6.4.1 Research Design
    • 6.4.2 Participants
    • 6.4.3 Data collection strategies
  • 6.5 EXPERTS’ VIEWS AND EXPERIENCES WITH THE FIRST PROTOTYPE
  • 6.6 CONCLUSION
  • 6.7 IMPLICATIONS FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT
  • 6.8 DESIGN OF THE SECOND PROTOTYPE – PILOT
  • 6.9 FORMATIVE EVALUATION OF THE SECOND PROTOTYPE
    • 6.9.1 Research design
    • 6.9.2 Participants
    • 6.9.3 Data collection strategies
    • 6.10 RESULTS OF THE EVALUATIONOF THE SECOND PROTOTYPE
  • 6.10.1 Lesson Observation
  • 6.10.2 Standardising marking
  • 6.10.3 Students’ understanding of standardised assessment materials
  • 6.10.4 Completion of the assessment instrument (Checklist)
  • 6.10.5 Record keeping
  • 6.11 CONCLUSION
  • 6.12 IMPLICATIONS FOR THE SUBSEQUENT DESIGN
• CHAPTER SEVEN DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF THE THIRD AND FOURTH PROTOTYPES
  • 7.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 7.2 DESIGN OF THE THIRD PROTOTYPE
  • 7.3 EVALUATION DESIGN OF THE TRY OUT
  • 7.3.1 Aim and research question
  • 7.3.2 Research design
  • 7.3.3 Participants
  • 7.3.4 Data Collection Strategies
  • 7.3.5 Procedure
  • 7.4 FINDINGS OF THE TRY OUT
  • 7.4.1 Participants’ experiences with the intervention
  • 7.4.2 Lesson Observations
  • 7.5 CHARACTERISTICS OF A PRACTICAL QUALITY ASSURANCE SYSTEM
• • 7.6 CONCLUSION
• CHAPTER EIGHT SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
  • 8.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 8.2 SUMMARY OF THE STUDY
  • 8.3 SUMMARY OF THE MAIN FINDINGS
  • 8.3.1 How is performance assessment currently conducted in Botswana schools?
• • 8.3.2 How does the current practice in schools compare with the policy and
  • procedures for performance assessment?
  • 8.3.3 How does Botswana’s experience compares with the international practice?
• • 8.3.4 How can quality assurance processes for performance assessment be developed to ensure valid and reliable marks?
  • 8.3.5 What are the characteristics of an effective quality assurance system for ensuring valid and reliable performance assessment nationally?
  • 8.4 REFLECTIONS ON THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
  • 8.5 REFLECTIONS ON THE RESEARCH APPROACH
  • 8.5.1 Methodological reflections
  • 8.5.2 Reflection on researcher’s role
  • 8.6 CONCLUSIONS
  • 8.7 RECOMMENDATIONS
  • 8.7.1 Policy
  • 8.7.2 Training and development
  • 8.7.3 Practice
  • 8.7.4 Further research
  • REFERENCES
  • APPENDICES

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