Key Policy Areas for Student Assessment Statuswbgfiles.worldbank.org/.../SAS/SABER_SA_Ghana_CR_Final_2013.pdf · Key Policy Areas for Student Assessment Status 1. ... certification

THE WORLD BANK

Ghana

STUDENT ASSESSMENT SABER Country Report2013

Key Policy Areas for Student Assessment Status1. Classroom Assessment

National syllabi, which are formal documents authorized by the Ministry of Education, include guidelines for classroom assessment. There are some system-level mechanisms in place to ensure that teachers develop skills and expertise in classroom assessment; however, there are limited resources(such as tools and materials) available to teachers for conducting classroom assessment activities. Classroom assessment practices are generally known to be weak, and there are limited formal mechanisms in place to monitor their quality.

2. ExaminationsThe Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) is taken by students in Grade 9 for school cycle completion and admission to senior high school. The West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) is administered to students at the end of senior high school, and is used for certification of senior high school completion and admission to an institution of higher education. There is regular funding allocated to the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), which oversees both examinations. Funding covers all core examination activities as well as research and development and staff training. In addition, there is an adequate number of full-time and part-time staff to carry out the examinations effectively, with minimal issues.

3. National Large-Scale Assessment (NLSA)The National Education Assessment (NEA) has been operating on a regular schedule (2005, 2007, 2009, 2011). There is regular (continuous and predictable) funding for the exercise, albeit allocated by non-government sources (specifically, USAID). This funding covers core NEA activities, but notresearch and development. The NEA measures performance against the national curriculum, and is largely accepted by stakeholder groups. However, the office in charge of carrying out the NEA is inadequately staffed to effectively carry out the assessment.

4. International Large-Scale Assessment (ILSA) Ghana has participated in TIMSS 2003, 2007, and 2011. However, Ghana will not participate in TIMSS 2015, and there is no policy document that addresses the country's future participation in ILSAs. Funding for participation in TIMSS has come from World Bank loans. Although TIMSS results have been used for tracking the impact of reforms and informing curriculum improvement, it is still unclear whether decisions based on the results have had a positive impact on student achievement levels.

THE WORLD BANK

GHANA STUDENT ASSESSMENT SABER COUNTRY REPORT |2013

SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 2

Introduction Ghana has focused on increasing student learning outcomes by improving the quality of education in the country. An effective student assessment system is an important contribution to improving education quality and learning outcomes as it provides the necessary information to meet stakeholders’ decision-making needs. In order to gain a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of its existing assessment system, Ghana decided to benchmark this system using standardized tools developed under The World Bank’s Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) program. SABER is an evidence-based program to help countries systematically examine and strengthen the performance of different aspects of their education systems. What is SABER-Student Assessment? SABER-Student Assessment is a component of the SABER program that focuses specifically on benchmarking student assessment policies and systems. The goal of SABER-Student Assessment is to promote stronger assessment systems that contribute to improved education quality and learning for all. National governments and international agencies are increasingly recognizing the key role that assessment of student learning plays in an effective education system. The importance of assessment is linked to its role in: (i) providing information on levels of student

learning and achievement in the system; (ii) monitoring trends in education quality over

time; (iii) supporting educators and students with real-

time information to improve teaching and learning; and

(iv) holding stakeholders accountable for results.

SABER-Student Assessment methodology The SABER-Student Assessment framework is built on the available evidence base for what an effective assessment system looks like. The framework provides guidance on how countries can build more effective student assessment systems. The framework is structured around two main dimensions of assessment systems: the types/purposes of assessment activities and the quality of those activities. Assessment types and purposes Assessment systems tend to be comprised of three main types of assessment activities, each of which serves a different purpose and addresses different information needs. These three main types are: classroom assessment, examinations, and large-scale, system level assessments. Classroom assessment provides real-time information to support ongoing teaching and learning in individual classrooms. Classroom assessments use a variety of formats, including observation, questioning, and paper-and-pencil tests, to evaluate student learning, generally on a daily basis. Examinations provide a basis for selecting or certifying students as they move from one level of the education system to the next (or into the workforce). All eligible students are tested on an annual basis (or more often if the system allows for repeat testing). Examinations cover the main subject areas in the curriculum and usually involve essays and multiple-choice questions. Large-scale, system-level assessments provide feedback on the overall performance of the education system at particular grades or age levels. These assessments typically cover a few subjects on a regular basis (such as every 3 to 5 years), are often sample based, and use multiple-choice and short-answer formats. They may be national or international in scope. Appendix 1 summarizes the key features of these main types of assessment activities.



Quality drivers of an assessment system

The key considerations when evaluating a student assessment system are the individual and combined quality of assessment activities in terms of the adequacy of the information generated to support decision making. There are three main drivers of information quality in an assessment system: enabling context, system alignment, and assessment quality. Enabling context refers to the broader context in which the assessment activity takes place and the extent to which that context is conducive to, or supportive of, the assessment. It covers such issues as the legislative or policy framework for assessment activities; institutional and organizational structures for designing, carrying out, or using results from the assessment; the availability of sufficient and stable sources of funding; and the presence of trained assessment staff. System alignment refers to the extent to which the assessment is aligned with the rest of the education system. This includes the degree of congruence between assessment activities and system learning goals, standards, curriculum, and pre- and in-service teacher training. Assessment quality refers to the psychometric quality of the instruments, processes, and procedures for the assessment activity. It covers such issues as design and implementation of assessment activities, analysis and interpretation of student responses to those activities, and the appropriateness of how assessment results are reported and used. Crossing the quality drivers with the different assessment types/purposes provides the framework and broad indicator areas shown in Table 1. This framework is a starting point for identifying indicators that can be used to review assessment systems and plan for their improvement.

Table 1: Framework for building an effective assessment system, with indicator areas

The indicators are identified based on a combination of criteria, including: professional standards for assessment; empirical research on the characteristics of effective assessment systems, including analysis of the characteristics that differentiate between the assessment systems of low- versus high-performing nations; and theory — that is, general consensus among experts that it contributes to effective assessment. Levels of development The World Bank has developed a set of standardized questionnaires and rubrics for collecting and evaluating data on the three assessment types and related quality drivers. The questionnaires are used to collect data on the characteristics of the assessment system in a particular country. The information from the questionnaires is then applied to the rubrics in order to judge the development level of the country’s assessment system in different areas. The basic structure of the rubrics for evaluating data collected using the standardized questionnaires is summarized in Appendix 2. The goal of the rubrics is to provide a country with some sense of the development level of its assessment activities compared to best or recommended practice in each area. For each indicator, the rubric displays four development levels—Latent, Emerging, Established, and Advanced. These levels are



artificially constructed categories chosen to represent key stages on the underlying continuum for each indicator. Each level is accompanied by a description of what performance on the indicator looks like at that level.

Latent is the lowest level of performance; it represents absence of, or deviation from, the desired attribute. Emerging is the next level; it represents partial presence of the attribute. Established represents the acceptable minimum standard. Advanced represents the ideal or current best practice.

A summary of the development levels for each assessment type is presented in Appendix 3. In reality, assessment systems are likely to be at different levels of development in different areas. For example, a system may be Established in the area of examinations, but Emerging in the area of large-scale, system-level assessment, and vice versa. While intuition suggests that it is probably better to be further along in as many areas as possible, the evidence is unclear as to whether it is necessary to be functioning at Advanced levels in all areas. Therefore, one might view the Established level as a desirable minimum outcome to achieve in all areas, but only aspire beyond that in those areas that most contribute to the national vision or priorities for education. In line with these considerations, the ratings generated by the rubrics are not meant to be additive across assessment types (that is, they are not meant to be added to create an overall rating for an assessment system; they are only meant to produce an overall rating for each assessment type). The methodology for assigning development levels is summarized in Appendix 4. Education in Ghana Ghana is a lower-middle-income country in Sub-Saharan Africa. GDP per capita (current US$) is $1,570, and average annual growth from 2001 to 2011 was 4 percent, although growth in 2011 reached over 14 percent.

In order to sustain its impressive growth and further its goals of poverty reduction, Ghana recognizes the need to improve access to and quality of basic education. Ghana has made significant progress in primary school enrollment, which has risen from 61 percent in 2002 to 84 percent in 2011 (net enrollment rates). The abolition of school fees, and the introduction of capitation grants in the 2005-2006 school year, were among the initiatives that helped to facilitate enrollment gains. Additionally, secondary school enrollment reached 58 percent in 2011, while tertiary enrollment was 12 percent (gross enrollment rates). Ghana’s commitment to education is reflected in its government expenditure, of which 24 percent is spent on education. Ghana’s Education Strategic Plan for 2003-2015 laid out a number of policies to further improve access to and quality of basic education, including through increased provision of teaching and learning materials, improved teacher recruitment, preparation, and deployment, and the development of a reliable student assessment system. Detailed information was collected on Ghana’s student assessment system using the SABER-Student Assessment questionnaires and rubrics. It is important to remember that these tools primarily focus on benchmarking a country’s policies and arrangements for assessment activities at the system or macro level. Additional data would need to be collected to determine actual, on-the-ground practices in Ghana, particularly by teachers and students in schools. The following sections discuss the findings by each assessment type, accompanied by suggested policy options. The suggested policy options were determined in collaboration with key local stakeholders based on Ghana’s immediate interests and needs. Detailed, completed rubrics for each assessment type are provided in Appendix 5.



Classroom Assessment In Ghana, national syllabi, which are formal system-level documents authorized by the Ministry of Education, include guidelines for classroom assessment (referred to as school-based assessment). Every school is provided with one copy of each syllabus. However, there are not enough copies of the syllabi for all teachers to access. There are scarce system-wide resources available to teachers for conducting classroom assessment activities. While the national syllabi outline what students are expected to learn in different subject areas at different grade and age levels, they do not contain information on tools or approaches that teachers can use to monitor or accommodate differences in student learning levels. Other useful resources for classroom assessment activities, such as scoring criteria or rubrics for evaluating students’ work, and item banks or pools with examples of multiple-choice or open-ended test questions, also are not available to teachers. There are some system-level mechanisms in place to ensure that teachers develop skills and expertise in classroom assessment, including pre- and in-service teacher training, and opportunities to participate in conferences and workshops. All teacher training programs include a required course on classroom assessment, and teacher supervision includes a component focused on classroom assessment. However, there are no on-line training resources on classroom assessment. Classroom assessment activities are known to be weak. They commonly rely on multiple-choice, selection-type questions, and are mainly about recalling information. Teachers typically do not use explicit or a priori criteria for scoring or grading students' work. Uneven application of standards for grading students' work is also a serious problem as is grade inflation. Classroom assessment activities are commonly used as administrative or control tools rather than as a pedagogical resource. At the same time, assessment practices tend to be aligned with the curricular

framework and provide some useful feedback to students in this regard. Apart from classroom assessment being a required component of a teacher’s performance evaluation, and of school inspection (which is the responsibility of head teachers and circuit supervisors), there are limited systematic mechanisms in place to monitor the quality of classroom assessment practices. Classroom assessment information is required to be disseminated to all key stakeholders. Schools are required to report on an individual student's performance to district education offices and Ministry of Education officials, parents, students, and School Management Committees (SMC). (Despite this, parents in particular are often poorly informed about students’ grades). SMCs, along with school heads, are expected to hold School Performance Appraisal Meetings (SPAM) to discuss, among other topics, a school's reports on assessment activities. There are adequate required uses (at least on paper) of classroom assessment to support student learning, including its use as an input for external examination results, diagnosing student learning issues, providing feedback to students on their learning, informing parents about their child's learning, planning next steps in instruction, and grading students for internal classroom uses. Suggested policy options:

1. Introduce a variety of resources and materials at the system level to support teachers in their classroom assessment activities. For example, ensure that students’ cumulative record books for each of the levels of pre-tertiary education are standardized and allow teachers and schools to keep meaningful assessment records on students’ learning and progress across the education levels.

2. Introduce a variety of system-level mechanisms to

ensure that teachers develop skills and expertise in classroom assessment. For example, introduce legislation for instituting yearly in-service teacher training opportunities in classroom assessment

Level of development



that are made available to all teachers on a regular basis. Additionally, review existing pre-service training mechanisms and adjust them to ensure that teachers receive sufficient training in classroom assessment.

3. Improve the quality of classroom assessment

practices by clearly communicating to teachers criteria for evaluating students’ work as currently the syllabi do not specify these. Additionally, ensure that classroom assessment practices focus on higher-order thinking skills, and train teachers to apply a variety of assessment mechanisms, including observation, oral questioning and feedback, or student presentations, in addition to multiple-choice, selection-type questions, to evaluate students’ knowledge and skills. Also, introduce guidelines for conducting classroom assessment given the specific needs of student groups, including overage children; children from poor families; children from families with little exposure to education; and children in poor, remote, rural communities and deprived districts. In addition, develop products and training opportunities to clearly specify to teachers the purposes and uses of classroom assessment information, including the importance of even application of standards for grading students’ work, informing parents of students’ grades, and using classroom assessment as a pedagogical resource. Likewise, introduce monitoring mechanisms to ensure that teachers’ classroom assessment practices are aligned with official purposes and uses of classroom assessment activities.

4. Introduce varied and systematic mechanisms to monitor the quality of classroom assessment practices. For example, allocate government funding for conducting system-wide reviews on the quality of classroom assessment practices in Ghana and for identifying steps on how to improve them. Additionally, strengthen supervision mechanisms by ensuring that head teachers, curriculum leaders, and circuit supervisors focus on evaluating and strengthening teachers’ classroom assessment practices.



Examinations The Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) is administered to students in Grade 9 for student certification for school cycle completion and student selection to senior high school. Subjects assessed include the English Language, Ghanaian Language and Culture, Social Studies, Integrated Science, Mathematics, Basic Design and Technology, Information and Communication Technology, French (optional), and Religious and Moral Education. In addition to the BECE, the West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) is administered to Grade 12 student at the end of senior high school. Students take the WASSCE in topics relevant to their fields of study, with results used for certifying senior high school completion and determining selection to university or other higher-education institutions. Results are also used for monitoring education quality levels and planning education policy reforms. The legislative assembly of the Gold Coast authorized the BECE and WASSCE through West African Examination Council (WAEC) Ordinance No. 40 of 1951. WAEC is a semi-autonomous council, accountable to the Ministry of Education, that has been in charge of running the BECE and WASSCE since 1990. BECE was first administered in 1990 and WASSCE was first administered in 1993. The policy document authorizing these examinations describes their purpose; authorized uses of the results; procedures to investigate and address security breaches, cheating, or other forms of inappropriate behavior; who can sit for the examinations; rules about preparation for the examinations; alignment with curricula and standards; and the format of the examination questions. The policy document does not outline the governance structure or distribution of power and responsibilities among key entities; funding sources; or procedures for special or disadvantaged student populations. There are coordinated attempts to improve the examinations by stakeholder groups. For example, WAEC provides opportunities for researchers to make presentations at monthly seminars and workshops on

the examinations, and WAEC leadership discusses recommendations directly related to improving the examinations. WAEC receives regular funding from the Ministries of Education of the participating countries as well as through the collection of student fees. This funding covers all core examination activities, as well as long- or medium-term planning of program milestones, staff training, and research and development. WAEC has state-of-the-art facilities and is adequately staffed with full- and part-time staff to carry out the examinations effectively. Apart from some cases of examination malpractice, largely due to the laxity of some supervisors, there have been minimal issues in carrying out the examinations effectively. University graduate programs and university courses on educational measurement and evaluation provide opportunities that prepare individuals for work on both the BECE and WASSCE. University of Cape Coast (UCC) offers a post-graduate program in educational measurement and evaluation; and UCC, University of Education, Winneba (UEW), and colleges of education offer introductory courses in educational measurement and evaluation. Funding is available to staff of examination units and centers as well as lecturers in universities for attending international programs, courses, and workshops on educational measurement and evaluation. Teachers are involved in some examination-related tasks, including scoring and supervising the examinations. Teachers are generally hired as temporary or part-time staff to perform these examination-related activities. There are up-to-date, compulsory courses and workshops on the exams available to teachers who are appointed as examiners (marking scripts) and item writers (chief examiners). There is a clear understanding of what the BECE and WASSCE measure, although some stakeholder groups question the meaning of the results. For example, in the case of BECE, some parents complain that even though their children may receive good aggregate scores, they do not receive a passing grade or obtain placement in their first-choice schools. This situation occurs due to the fact that the number of students receiving a passing grade on the BECE depends on the number of places available in particular high schools (and not on the




students’ mastery of the material being tested). Stakeholder groups also expressed concern about the use of WASSCE results when the National Council for Tertiary Education advised against admitting students with D7 grades (low-passing grades) into university. This created concern among the heads of private universities that had admitted a number of students with D7 grades. Although inappropriate behavior surrounding the examination process is high, in the case of the WASSCE, stakeholder groups perceive the exam as credible because there is no alternative to it for selection to tertiary education, and because stakeholder groups do not believe the scale of malpractice to be large enough to affect the credibility of the results. Inappropriate behavior for both the BECE and WASSCE has included leakage of the content of an examination paper or part of a paper prior to the examination; impersonation (when an individual other than the registered candidate takes the examination); copying from other candidates; using unauthorized materials such as prepared answers and notes; collusion among candidates via mobile phones, passing of papers or equivalent; issuing forged certificates or altering results information; and provision of external assistance via the supervisor or mobile phone. Both BECE and WASSCE results are used by most stakeholder groups in an appropriate way, although some candidates fake their examination results when applying for further education or jobs. WAEC is taking steps to prevent the use of fake result slips for admission to higher education institutions and other fraudulent practices by issuing certificates that contain security features. Only limited systematic mechanisms, including internal and external reviews, and field testing, are in place to ensure the quality of the BECE and WASSCE. Comprehensive materials are available to prepare for both examinations. These materials are accessible by virtually all students (over 90 percent) in a variety of learning contexts. However, there are very limited options for students who do not perform well on the examinations. At the same time, a permanent oversight committee and an expert review group are in place to

help ensure positive consequences of both examinations for students and the education system. Suggested policy options:

1. Provide teachers with a wider range of opportunities to be involved in examination-related tasks, such as selecting or creating examination questions and scoring guides.

2. Introduce varied and systematic mechanisms to

ensure the quality of the examinations. For example, through capacity building, improve the quality of test questions developed by WAEC to ensure that the examinations adequately assess knowledge, application, and reasoning. Additionally, fund research and analysis of the examination results to ensure that their use is as intended.

3. Ensure the credibility of the examinations by

putting in place appropriate preventive and reactive measures against inappropriate behaviors that are clearly communicated to all key stakeholders, and that are monitored and consistently enforced. For example, strengthen protocol around the confidentiality of the examination paper in order to prevent its leakage prior to administration, and introduce provisions that make it more difficult for candidates to use mobile phones to receive assistance while taking the examination.

4. Provide more options for students who do not

perform well on the examinations, including the options to repeat a grade or opt for a less selective school.

5. Introduce a greater variety of mechanisms to

monitor the consequences of the examinations. For example, conduct a review to ensure that the use of examination results is fully aligned with the intended purposes and uses. Additionally, provide funding for independent research on the impact of the examinations, and regularly conduct focus groups or surveys with key stakeholders.



National Large-Scale Assessment (NLSA)

The National Education Assessment (NEA) is a stable NLSA program that has been operating on a regular basis for several years (2005, 2007, 2009, 2011). The assessment is administered to a representative sample of students in English language and mathematics in Grades 3 and 6. The Education Sector Plan for 2003-2015, authorized in 2004 by the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service, called for the establishment of such a program to monitor the quality of basic education in the country. The Ghana All Children Reading Plan, which will soon be shared with stakeholders, outlines the plan for the NEA in the next five years. Most stakeholder groups support the NEA. Policymakers, teacher unions, educators, students, think tanks, NGOs, and universities all support the NEA, while the media and employers tend to be neutral towards it. There is regular (continuous and predictable) funding for the NEA program, albeit allocated by non-government sources (specifically, USAID). Funding covers assessment design and administration, data analysis (which is generally carried out by a contracted USAID supplier who conducts the analysis with the Government of Ghana) and reporting, long- and medium-term planning of program milestones, and staff training. Funding does not cover research and development activities. There are no courses or workshops to provide teachers with the opportunity to learn about the NEA. The Assessment Services Unit (ASU) is a permanent unit specifically created to run the NEA program. However, the office is inadequately staffed to effectively carry out the required assessment activities. Although there is a permanent, full-time staff of six people, it is insufficient to meet the needs of the program. The NEA measures performance against national curriculum guidelines and learning standards. This measurement focus is largely accepted by stakeholder groups. Additionally, there is both regular independent and regular internal review by qualified experts of the

alignment between the assessment instrument and what it is supposed to measure. Special plans are made to ensure that students in hard-to-reach areas are covered by the NEA; however, students in Special Schools (schools for children with visual impairments, hearing impairments, and severe learning needs) do not participate in the NEA. Additionally, some mechanisms are in place to ensure the technical quality of the assessment instrument. A comprehensive technical report on the instrument is produced, but its circulation is restricted. NEA results are disseminated within twelve months after the assessment is administered. Dissemination includes workshops for key stakeholders on the results. At the same time, there is very little public engagement around the results because, although there is a large dissemination effort to stakeholders at the Ministry of Education, the media often are not involved. The Ministry of Education and other development partners have used the NEA results in ways consistent with the stated purposes of the assessment. Additionally, expert review groups are in place to monitor the consequences of the NEA in terms of how the data are used to improve education quality. Box 1 describes the School Education Assessment (SEA), another type of NLSA administered in Ghana that is meant to support educators at the school level to improve instruction.

Box 1: School Education Assessment (SEA)


In Ghana, the School Education Assessment (SEA) was administered to students in Grades 2 and 4 in 2006, 2008, and 2010. Its primary purposes were to monitor education quality at the system level, enhance student accountability, and support schools and teachers. The SEA measured student performance in English language and mathematics, with results indicating the degree of attainment of specific curricular objectives in the two subjects. SEA results supported schools and teachers in identifying areas of the curriculum that require improvement at the school level; however, they were not intended for comparison across schools and regions. Parents were able to access results of the SEA through Circuit Supervisors at the School Performance Appraisal Meetings (SPAMs).



Suggested policy options:

1. Introduce government funding, possibly initially in combination with donor funding, for carrying out key NLSA activities, such as design, administration, analysis, and reporting of results.

2. Review the structure of the ASU, as well as hiring

timelines and practices, to ensure that it has sufficient staff and resources, particularly during the key stages of the NLSA process.

3. Provide teachers with opportunities to learn

about the NLSA. For example, introduce a compulsory, regularly updated, high quality measurement and evaluation course, which addresses the NLSA and its use for monitoring students’ learning, in all in-service teacher training opportunities offered through teacher education universities and for all pre-service teacher training offered through Colleges of Education.

4. Introduce products, such as technical documents

and reports with assessment results that are directly targeted and disseminated to key stakeholder groups. Additionally, introduce system-level mechanisms to ensure dissemination of those products to stakeholder groups at, among others, the district, cluster, and community levels. For example, host media briefings to discuss the results and work with media to feature results in diverse outlets.

5. Clearly define a strategy and concrete goals for

monitoring student learning through the NLSA and introduce measures to monitor progress over time. Mechanisms may include providing funding for independent research on the impact of the NLSA, as well as instituting a permanent oversight committee.



International Large-Scale Assessment (ILSA) Ghana participated in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) at the Grade 8 level in 2003, 2007, and 2011. However, Ghana will not participate in TIMSS 2015 and there is no policy document that addresses the country’s future participation in ILSAs. To date, funding for participation in ILSAs has been provided by loans, such as a 13 million USD ten-year loan facility from the World Bank for Ghana's participation in TIMSS 2003, 2007, and 2011. This loan facility covered all core activities of the ILSA as well as research and development. There is a team at the TIMSS National Centre, along with math and science experts, that is responsible for carrying out the TIMSS exercise in Ghana. The team is sufficiently staffed, both in terms of the quantity and quality of staff, because Circuit Supervisors working in the District Education Offices are selected and trained to help with carrying out the assessment exercise. The TIMSS National Coordinator has taken part in a “Capacity in Assessment” course and has been invited by other TIMSS participating countries to join their training on ILSA. Nonetheless, issues that have been identified in the carrying out of the TIMSS exercise in Ghana include errors or delays in the printing or layout of the test booklets, and errors or delays in scoring student responses to questions. The ILSA team has attended some international workshops and meetings, an average of nine per assessment cycle. Higher attendance has been prevented by visa issues. Ghana offers opportunities to learn about TIMSS to a wide audience of interested parties. For example, seminars are organized at the Ministry of Education for key stakeholders, including the media. The Ministry of Education also supports a series of in-service education and training workshops organized by the TIMSS

National Team for Junior High School mathematics and science teachers across the country. To date, Ghana has met all technical standards required to have its data presented in the main displays of the TIMSS international reports. The TIMSS 2003 and 2007 national and international reports were widely disseminated in Ghana, and articles by well-known academics that drew on these results were published in journals. The TIMSS 2011 report is underway and will be disseminated in the same manner as the previous years' (2003 and 2007) reports. Additionally, results for TIMSS 2003 and 2007 were provided to some, but not all, schools and educators. The media coverage of TIMSS 2003 and 2007 results has been limited, although there have been editorials, columns, and several small articles commenting on the results. Although there is general recognition that Ghana’s results improved from TIMSS 2003 to TIMSS 2007, there has been little discussion in the country about how this happened. Although TIMSS results have been used for tracking the impact of reforms on student achievement levels, informing curriculum improvement, and informing other assessment activities in Ghana, it is not yet clear that decisions based on TIMSS results have had an overall positive impact on students' achievement levels. Suggested policy options:

1. Develop and make publically available a policy document that addresses Ghana’s participation in ILSAs.

2. Introduce regular government funding for ILSA

activities, particularly for core ILSA activities. 3. Ensure that the Assessment Services Unit (ASU) is

adequately staffed to carry out ILSA activities to a high standard. This could be done by enhancing the capacity and efficacy of ASU staff in, for example, scoring student responses to questions and designing the layout of the test booklets.




4. Introduce a system-level strategy and monitoring mechanisms to ensure that ILSA information is communicated effectively to all key stakeholders. For example, include provisions for all schools and educators to receive feedback on ILSA results, and make national reports based on the ILSA results available online so that they may reach a wider audience.

5. Introduce mechanisms to ensure that results from

the ILSA are used in a variety of ways to inform decision making in Ghana, such as to inform

teacher training programs and resource allocation decisions.

6. Introduce funding for research on Ghana’s

participation in ILSAs, including in TIMSS, to evaluate the impact of ILSAs on teaching and learning in the country and to identify how ILSA results can better inform decisions that can improve student achievement levels.



Appendix 1: Assessment Types and Their Key Differences

Classroom Large-scale assessment Surveys

Examinations

National International Exit Entrance

Purpose To provide immediate feedback to inform classroom instruction

To provide feedback on overall health of the system at particular grade/age level(s), and to monitor trends in learning

To provide feedback on the comparative performance of the education system at particular grade/age level(s)

To certify students as they move from one level of the education system to the next (or into the workforce)

To select students for further educational opportunities

Frequency Daily For individual subjects offered on a regular basis (such as every 3-5 years)

For individual subjects offered on a regular basis (such as every 3-5 years)

Annually and more often where the system allows for repeats

Annually and more often where the system allows for repeats

Who is tested?

All students Sample or census of students at a particular grade or age level(s)

A sample of students at a particular grade or age level(s)

All eligible students

All eligible students

Format Varies from observation to questioning to paper-and-pencil tests to student performances

Usually multiple choice and short answer

Usually multiple choice and short answer

Usually essay and multiple choice

Usually essay and multiple choice

Coverage of curriculum

All subject areas Generally confined to a few subjects

Generally confined to one or two subjects

Covers main subject areas

Covers main subject areas

Additional information collected from students?

Yes, as part of the teaching process

Frequently Yes Seldom Seldom

Scoring Usually informal and simple

Varies from simple to more statistically sophisticated techniques

Usually involves statistically sophisticated techniques





Appendix 2: Basic Structure of Rubrics for Evaluating Data Collected on a Student Assessment System

Dimension

Development Level

LATENT(Absence of, or deviation from,

attribute)

EMERGING (On way to meeting minimum standard)

ESTABLISHED (Acceptable

minimum standard)

ADVANCED (Best practice) Justification

EC—ENABLING CONTEXTEC1—Policies

EC2—Leadership, public engagement

EC3—Funding

EC4—Institutional arrangements

EC5—Human resources

SA—SYSTEM ALIGNMENTSA1—Learning/quality goals

SA2—Curriculum

SA3—Pre-, in-service teacher training

AQ—ASSESSMENT QUALITY

AQ1—Ensuring quality (design, administration, analysis)

AQ2—Ensuring effective uses



Appendix 3: Summary of the Development Levels for Each Assessment Type

Assessment Type LATENT EMERGING ESTABLISHED ADVANCED

Absence of, or deviation from, the attribute

On way to meeting minimum standard

Acceptable minimum standard

Best practice

CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT

There is no system-wide institutional capacity to support and ensure the quality of classroom assessment practices.

There is weak system-wide institutional capacity to support and ensure the quality of classroom assessment practices.

There is sufficient system-wide institutional capacity to support and ensure the quality of classroom assessment practices.

There is strong system-wide institutional capacity to support and ensure the quality of classroom assessment practices.

EXAMINATIONS

There is no standardized examination in place for key decisions.

There is a partially stable standardized examination in place, and a need to develop institutional capacity to run the examination. The examination typically is of poor quality and is perceived as unfair or corrupt.

There is a stable standardized examination in place. There is institutional capacity and some limited mechanisms to monitor it. The examination is of acceptable quality and is perceived as fair for most students and free from corruption.

There is a stable standardized examination in place and institutional capacity and strong mechanisms to monitor it. The examination is of high quality and is perceived as fair and free from corruption.

NATIONAL (OR SYSTEM-LEVEL) LARGE-SCALE ASSESSMENT

There is no NLSA in place.

There is an unstable NLSA in place and a need to develop institutional capacity to run the NLSA. Assessment quality andimpact are weak.

There is a stable NLSA in place. There is institutional capacity and some limited mechanisms to monitor it. The NLSA is of moderate quality and its information is disseminated, but not always used in effective ways.

There is a stable NLSAin place and institutional capacity and strong mechanisms to monitor it. The NLSA is of high quality and its information is effectively used to improve education.

INTERNATIONAL LARGE-SCALE ASSESSMENT

There is no history of participation in an ILSA nor plans to participate in one.

Participation in an ILSA has been initiated, but there still is need to develop institutional capacity to carry out the ILSA.

There is more or less stable participation in an ILSA. There is institutional capacity to carry out the ILSA. The information from the ILSA is disseminated, but not always used in effective ways.

There is stable participation in an ILSA and institutional capacity to run the ILSA. The information from the ILSA is effectively used to improve education.



Appendix 4: Methodology for Assigning Development Levels

1. The country team or consultant collects information about the assessment system in the country. 2. Based on the collected information, a level of development and score is assigned to each dimension in the rubrics:

Latent = 1 score point Emerging = 2 score points Established = 3 score points Advanced = 4 score points

3. The score for each quality driver is computed by aggregating the scores for each of its constituent dimensions. For example: The quality driver, ‘Enabling Context,’ in the case of ILSA, has 3 dimensions on which a hypothetical country receives the following scores: Dimension A = 2 points; Dimension B = 2 points; Dimension C = 3 points. The hypothetical country’s overall score for this quality driver would be: (2+2+3)/3 = 2.33 4. A preliminary level of development is assigned to each quality driver. 5. The preliminary development level is validated using expert judgment in cooperation with the country team and The World Bank Task Team Leader.

For scores that allow a margin of discretion (i.e., to choose between two levels of development), a final decision has to be made based on expert judgment. For example, the aforementioned hypothetical country has an ‘Enabling Context’ score of 2.33, corresponding to a preliminary level of development of ‘Emerging or Established.’ Based on qualitative information not captured in the rubric, along with expert judgment, the country team chooses ‘Emerging’ as the most appropriate level. 6. Scores for certain key dimensions under ‘Enabling Context’ (in the case of EXAM, NLSA, and ILSA) and under ‘System Alignment’ (in the case of CLASS) were set as ceiling scores, i.e., the overall mean score for the particular assessment type cannot be greater than the score for these key dimensions. These key variables include formal policy, regular funding, having a permanent assessment unit, and the quality of assessment practices.

GHAN

A S

TUDE

NT

ASSE

SSM

ENT

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SYST

EMS

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OAC

H FO

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TTER

EDU

CATI

ON

RES

ULT

S 17

Appe

ndix

5: S

ABER

-Stu

dent

Ass

essm

ent R

ubri

cs fo

r Gh

ana

This

appe

ndix

pro

vide

s the

com

plet

ed S

ABER

-Stu

dent

Ass

essm

ent r

ubric

s for

eac

h ty

pe o

f ass

essm

ent a

ctiv

ity in

Gha

na. I

n ea

ch ro

w o

f the

rubr

ic, t

he re

leva

nt

sele

ctio

n is

indi

cate

d by

a th

ick

bord

er a

nd a

n as

teris

k. T

he se

lect

ion

may

incl

ude

a su

pers

crip

t num

ber t

hat r

efer

s to

the

just

ifica

tion

or e

xpla

natio

n of

the

sele

ctio

n (a

s ind

icat

ed b

y a

thic

k bo

rder

and

an

aste

risk)

, whi

ch is

pro

vide

d in

the

“Dev

elop

men

t lev

el ra

ting

just

ifica

tions

” se

ctio

n at

the

end

of e

ach

rubr

ic. I

f a

row

incl

udes

a su

pers

crip

t but

not

a th

ick

bord

er a

nd a

n as

teris

k, su

ch su

pers

crip

t ind

icat

es th

at in

suffi

cien

t inf

orm

atio

n w

as a

vaila

ble

to d

eter

min

e th

e re

leva

nt

sele

ctio

n in

the

row

.

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S 18

GH

ANA

Clas

sroo

m A

sses

smen

t

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S 19

ENAB

LIN

G CO

NTE

XT A

ND

SYS

TEM

ALI

GNM

ENT

Ove

rall

polic

y an

d re

sour

ce fr

amew

ork

with

in w

hich

clas

sroo

m a

sses

smen

t act

ivity

take

s pla

ce in

a co

untr

y or

syst

em, a

nd th

e de

gree

to w

hich

clas

sroo

m

asse

ssm

ent a

ctiv

ity is

cohe

rent

with

oth

er co

mpo

nent

s of t

he e

duca

tion

syst

em.

LATE

NT

EMER

GIN

G ES

TABL

ISH

ED

ADVA

NCE

D

ENAB

LIN

G CO

NTE

XT A

ND

SYS

TEM

ALI

GNM

ENT

1:

Sett

ing

clea

r gu

idel

ines

for

clas

sroo

m a

sses

smen

t

Ther

e is

no s

yste

m-le

vel d

ocum

ent

that

pr

ovid

es

guid

elin

es

for

clas

sroo

m

asse

ssm

ent.

Ther

e is

an in

form

al s

yste

m-le

vel d

ocum

ent

that

pr

ovid

es

guid

elin

es

for

clas

sroo

m

asse

ssm

ent.

Ther

e is

a fo

rmal

sys

tem

-leve

l doc

umen

t th

at p

rovi

des

guid

elin

es f

or c

lass

room

as

sess

men

t.1

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

The

avai

labi

lity

of

the

docu

men

t is

rest

ricte

d. 2

Th

e do

cum

ent i

s wid

ely

avai

labl

e.

ENAB

LIN

G CO

NTE

XT A

ND

SYS

TEM

ALI

GNM

ENT

2:

Alig

ning

clas

sroo

m a

sses

smen

t with

syst

em le

arni

ng g

oals

Ther

e ar

e no

sys

tem

-wid

e re

sour

ces

for

teac

hers

for c

lass

room

ass

essm

ent.

Ther

e ar

e sc

arce

sys

tem

-wid

e re

sour

ces

for

teac

hers

for c

lass

room

ass

essm

ent. 3

Ther

e ar

e so

me

syst

em-w

ide

reso

urce

s fo

r tea

cher

s for

cla

ssro

om a

sses

smen

t.3 Th

ere

are

a va

riety

of

sy

stem

-wid

e re

sour

ces

avai

labl

e fo

r te

ache

rs

for

clas

sroo

m a

sses

smen

t.

Ther

e is

no

offic

ial

curr

icul

um

or

stan

dard

s doc

umen

t. Th

ere

is an

offi

cial

cur

ricul

um o

r st

anda

rds

docu

men

t, bu

t it

is no

t cl

ear

wha

t st

uden

ts

are

expe

cted

to

lear

n or

to

wha

t le

vel

of

perf

orm

ance

.

Ther

e is

an

offic

ial

curr

icul

um

or

stan

dard

s do

cum

ent

that

spe

cifie

s w

hat

stud

ents

are

exp

ecte

d to

lear

n, b

ut t

he

leve

l of

pe

rfor

man

ce

requ

ired

is no

t cl

ear.4

Ther

e is

an

offic

ial

curr

icul

um

or

stan

dard

s do

cum

ent

that

spe

cifie

s w

hat

stud

ents

are

exp

ecte

d to

lea

rn a

nd t

o w

hat l

evel

of p

erfo

rman

ce.

ENAB

LIN

G CO

NTE

XT A

ND

SYS

TEM

ALI

GNM

ENT

3:

Hav

ing

effe

ctiv

e hu

man

res

ourc

es to

carr

y ou

t cla

ssro

om a

sses

smen

t act

iviti

es

Ther

e ar

e no

sys

tem

-leve

l m

echa

nism

s to

ens

ure

that

tea

cher

s de

velo

p sk

ills

and

expe

rtise

in c

lass

room

ass

essm

ent.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

ere

are

som

e sy

stem

-leve

l m

echa

nism

s to

en

sure

th

at

teac

hers

de

velo

p sk

ills

and

expe

rtise

in c

lass

room

as

sess

men

t.5

Ther

e ar

e a

varie

ty

of

syst

em-le

vel

mec

hani

sms

to

ensu

re

that

te

ache

rs

deve

lop

skill

s an

d ex

pert

ise in

cla

ssro

om

asse

ssm

ent.

* *

*

* *

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S 20

ASSE

SSM

ENT

QU

ALIT

Y Q

ualit

y of

clas

sroo

m a

sses

smen

t des

ign,

adm

inist

ratio

n, a

naly

sis, a

nd u

se.

LATE

NT

EMER

GIN

G ES

TABL

ISH

ED

ADVA

NCE

D

ASSE

SSM

ENT

QU

ALIT

Y 1:

En

suri

ng th

e qu

alit

y of

clas

sroo

m a

sses

smen

t

Clas

sroo

m

asse

ssm

ent

prac

tices

su

ffer

from

wid

espr

ead

wea

knes

ses

or t

here

is

no i

nfor

mat

ion

avai

labl

e on

cla

ssro

om

asse

ssm

ent p

ract

ices

.

Clas

sroo

m

asse

ssm

ent

prac

tices

ar

e kn

own

to b

e w

eak.

6 Cl

assr

oom

as

sess

men

t pr

actic

es

are

know

n to

be

of m

oder

ate

qual

ity.

Clas

sroo

m

asse

ssm

ent

prac

tices

ar

e kn

own

to b

e ge

nera

lly o

f hig

h qu

ality

.

Ther

e ar

e no

mec

hani

sms

to m

onito

r the

qu

ality

of

cl

assr

oom

as

sess

men

t pr

actic

es.

Ther

e ar

e ad

hoc

mec

hani

sms

to m

onito

r th

e qu

ality

of

cl

assr

oom

as

sess

men

t pr

actic

es.

Ther

e ar

e lim

ited

syst

emat

ic m

echa

nism

s to

m

onito

r th

e qu

ality

of

cl

assr

oom

as

sess

men

t pra

ctic

es.7

Ther

e ar

e va

ried

and

syst

emat

ic

mec

hani

sms

in

plac

e to

m

onito

r th

e qu

ality

of

cl

assr

oom

as

sess

men

t pr

actic

es.

ASSE

SSM

ENT

QU

ALIT

Y 2:

En

suri

ng e

ffect

ive

uses

of c

lass

room

ass

essm

ent

Clas

sroo

m a

sses

smen

t inf

orm

atio

n is

not

requ

ired

to

be

diss

emin

ated

to

ke

y st

akeh

olde

rs.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Cl

assr

oom

as

sess

men

t in

form

atio

n is

requ

ired

to b

e di

ssem

inat

ed to

som

e ke

y st

akeh

olde

rs.

Clas

sroo

m

asse

ssm

ent

info

rmat

ion

is re

quire

d to

be

diss

emin

ated

to

all

key

stak

ehol

ders

.8

Ther

e ar

e no

req

uire

d us

es o

f cla

ssro

om

asse

ssm

ent t

o su

ppor

t stu

dent

lear

ning

. Th

ere

are

limite

d re

quire

d us

es

of

clas

sroo

m

asse

ssm

ent

to

supp

ort

stud

ent l

earn

ing.

Ther

e ar

e ad

equa

te

requ

ired

uses

of

cl

assr

oom

as

sess

men

t to

su

ppor

t st

uden

t le

arni

ng, e

xclu

ding

its

use

as a

n in

put f

or e

xter

nal e

xam

inat

ion

resu

lts.

Ther

e ar

e ad

equa

te

requ

ired

uses

of

cl

assr

oom

as

sess

men

t to

su

ppor

t st

uden

t le

arni

ng,

incl

udin

g its

use

as

an

inpu

t for

ext

erna

l exa

min

atio

n re

sults

. 9

*

*

* *

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ULT

S 21

Clas

sroo

m A

sses

smen

t: Developmen

t-level rating j

ustifications

1.

Ther

e is

a se

t of

nat

iona

l syl

labi

(fo

rmal

sys

tem

-leve

l doc

umen

ts a

utho

rized

by

the

Min

istry

of

Educ

atio

n), w

hich

incl

ude

com

preh

ensiv

e gu

idel

ines

for

cl

assr

oom

ass

essm

ent,

refe

rred

to a

s sch

ool-b

ased

ass

essm

ent.

Thes

e in

clud

e th

e Cu

rric

ulum

Res

earc

h an

d De

velo

pmen

t Div

ision

Tea

chin

g Sy

llabi

from

200

7 fo

r a)

Mat

hem

atic

s (P

rimar

y 1-

6), b

) Nat

ural

Sci

ence

(Prim

ary

1-3)

, c) I

CT (P

rimar

y 1-

6), d

) Mat

hem

atic

s (Ju

nior

Hig

h Sc

hool

1-3

), e)

Inte

grat

ed S

cien

ce (J

unio

r Hig

h Sc

hool

1-3

), f)

Chris

tian

Relig

ious

Stu

dies

(Sen

ior H

igh

Scho

ol 1

-3),

and

g) E

nglis

h La

ngua

ge (S

enio

r Hig

h Sc

hool

1-4

).

2. E

very

sch

ool i

s pr

ovid

ed w

ith o

ne c

opy

of e

ach

sylla

bus.

How

ever

, the

re a

re n

ot e

noug

h co

pies

of t

he s

ylla

bi fo

r al

l tea

cher

s to

acc

ess.

At

the

Seni

or H

igh

Scho

ol le

vel,

sylla

bi a

re m

ade

avai

labl

e on

CD,

alth

ough

not

all

scho

ols

have

tec

hnol

ogic

al c

apab

ility

to

acce

ss t

hem

. The

CDs

are

also

dist

ribut

ed t

o Di

stric

t Ed

ucat

ion

offic

es a

nd a

re m

ade

avai

labl

e on

line

on th

e Gh

ana

Educ

atio

n Se

rvice

web

site,

alth

ough

mos

t sch

ools

lack

inte

rnet

con

nect

ivity

to a

cces

s the

web

site.

Ad

ditio

nally

, the

sylla

bi a

re a

vaila

ble

in c

olle

ges o

f edu

catio

n an

d in

in-s

ervi

ce c

ours

es fo

r tea

cher

s. 3.

The

nat

iona

l syl

labi

out

line

wha

t stu

dent

s are

exp

ecte

d to

lear

n in

diff

eren

t sub

ject

are

as a

t diff

eren

t gra

de/a

ge le

vels.

How

ever

, tex

tboo

ks o

r wor

kboo

ks a

nd

scor

ing

crite

ria a

re n

ot a

vaila

ble

for t

each

ers f

or th

eir c

lass

room

act

iviti

es.

4. T

he n

atio

nal s

ylla

bi o

utlin

e w

hat

stud

ent

at d

iffer

ent

grad

e/ag

e le

vels

are

expe

cted

to

lear

n, b

ut t

hey

do n

ot t

ake

into

acc

ount

indi

vidu

al d

iffer

ence

s in

st

uden

t abi

lity

leve

ls.

5. S

yste

m-le

vel m

echa

nism

s to

ensu

re th

at te

ache

rs d

evel

op sk

ills a

nd e

xper

tise

in c

lass

room

ass

essm

ent i

nclu

de p

re-s

ervi

ce te

ache

r tra

inin

g, in

-ser

vice

teac

her

trai

ning

, req

uire

men

ts fo

r a c

ours

e on

cla

ssro

om a

sses

smen

t in

all c

olle

ges o

f edu

catio

n, o

ppor

tuni

ties t

o pa

rtic

ipat

e in

con

fere

nces

and

wor

ksho

ps, a

nd te

ache

r su

perv

ision

. How

ever

, the

re a

re n

o on

-line

res

ourc

es a

vaila

ble

on c

lass

room

ass

essm

ent.

Addi

tiona

lly, n

ot a

ll te

ache

rs h

ave

oppo

rtun

ities

to

part

icip

ate

in

conf

eren

ces (

few

er th

an 0

.005

per

cent

of t

each

ers a

t eac

h le

vel p

artic

ipat

e) a

nd se

cond

ary

scho

ol te

ache

rs h

ave

very

litt

le in

-ser

vice

trai

ning

. 6.

Cla

ssro

om a

sses

smen

t act

iviti

es a

re k

now

n to

be

wea

k. It

is v

ery

com

mon

that

cla

ssro

om a

sses

smen

t act

iviti

es re

ly m

ainl

y on

mul

tiple

-cho

ice,

sel

ectio

n-ty

pe

ques

tions

, and

are

mai

nly

abou

t rec

allin

g in

form

atio

n. T

each

ers

very

com

mon

ly d

o no

t use

exp

licit

or a

prio

ri cr

iteria

for s

corin

g or

gra

ding

stu

dent

s' w

ork

and

unev

en a

pplic

atio

n of

sta

ndar

ds fo

r gr

adin

g st

uden

ts' w

ork

is a

serio

us p

robl

em. G

rade

infla

tion

is a

serio

us p

robl

em, a

nd p

aren

ts a

re o

ften

poor

ly in

form

ed

abou

t st

uden

ts' g

rade

s. C

lass

room

ass

essm

ent

activ

ities

are

ver

y co

mm

only

use

d as

adm

inist

rativ

e or

con

trol

too

ls ra

ther

tha

n as

a p

edag

ogic

al r

esou

rce.

Ho

wev

er, a

sses

smen

t pr

actic

es a

re g

ener

ally

alig

ned

with

the

cur

ricul

ar fr

amew

ork

and

clas

sroo

m a

sses

smen

t ac

tiviti

es g

ener

ally

pro

vide

use

ful f

eedb

ack

to

stud

ents

. It i

s also

not

com

mon

to o

bser

ve e

rror

s in

the

scor

ing

or g

radi

ng o

f stu

dent

s' w

ork.

7.

Cla

ssro

om a

sses

smen

t is a

requ

ired

com

pone

nt o

f a te

ache

r's p

erfo

rman

ce e

valu

atio

n an

d of

scho

ol in

spec

tion

or te

ache

r sup

ervi

sion.

8.

Sch

ools

or t

each

ers

are

requ

ired

to r

epor

t on

an

indi

vidu

al s

tude

nt's

perf

orm

ance

to

scho

ol d

istric

t/M

inist

ry o

f Edu

catio

n of

ficia

ls, p

aren

ts, s

tude

nts,

and

Sc

hool

Man

agem

ent

Com

mitt

ees

(SM

C). S

MCs

, alo

ng w

ith s

choo

l hea

ds, a

re e

xpec

ted

to h

old

Scho

ol P

erfo

rman

ce A

ppra

isal M

eetin

gs (

SPAM

) to

disc

uss

a

GHAN

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SYST

EMS

APPR

OAC

H FO

R BE

TTER

EDU

CATI

ON

RES

ULT

S 22

scho

ol's

perf

orm

ance

on

the

Scho

ol R

epor

t Car

d, re

port

s fr

om a

sses

smen

t act

iviti

es, a

s w

ell a

s st

rate

gies

to im

prov

e fu

ture

sch

ool p

erfo

rman

ce. S

PAM

invo

lve

scho

ol te

ache

rs a

nd th

e en

tire

com

mun

ity, w

ith C

ircui

t Sup

ervi

sors

in a

tten

danc

e.

9. C

lass

room

ass

essm

ent a

ctiv

ities

are

requ

ired

for d

iagn

osin

g st

uden

t lea

rnin

g iss

ues,

pro

vidi

ng fe

edba

ck to

stud

ents

on

thei

r lea

rnin

g, in

form

ing

pare

nts a

bout

th

eir c

hild

's le

arni

ng, p

lann

ing

next

step

s in

inst

ruct

ion,

gra

ding

stud

ents

for i

nter

nal c

lass

room

use

s, a

nd p

rovi

ding

inpu

t to

an e

xter

nal e

xam

inat

ion

prog

ram

.

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SYST

EMS

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OAC

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EDU

CATI

ON

RES

ULT

S 23

GH

ANA

Exam

inat

ions

– B

asic

Edu

catio

n Ce

rtifi

cate

Exa

min

atio

n (B

ECE)

GHAN

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SYST

EMS

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RES

ULT

S 24

ENAB

LIN

G CO

NTE

XT

Ove

rall

fram

ewor

k of

pol

icies

, lea

ders

hip,

org

aniza

tiona

l str

uctu

res,

fisca

l and

hum

an re

sour

ces i

n w

hich

ass

essm

ent a

ctiv

ity ta

kes p

lace

in a

coun

try

or sy

stem

an

d th

e ex

tent

to w

hich

that

fram

ewor

k is

cond

uciv

e to

, or s

uppo

rtiv

e of

, the

ass

essm

ent a

ctiv

ity.

LATE

NT

EMER

GIN

G ES

TABL

ISH

ED

ADVA

NCE

D

ENAB

LIN

G CO

NTE

XT 1

:

Sett

ing

clea

r po

licie

s

No

stan

dard

ized

exam

inat

ion

has

take

n pl

ace.

Th

e st

anda

rdize

d ex

amin

atio

n ha

s be

en

oper

atin

g on

an

irreg

ular

bas

is.

The

exam

inat

ion

is a

stab

le p

rogr

am th

at

has b

een

oper

atin

g re

gula

rly.1

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion

Ther

e is

no

polic

y do

cum

ent

that

au

thor

izes t

he e

xam

inat

ion.

Th

ere

is an

in

form

al

or

draf

t po

licy

docu

men

t th

at

auth

orize

s th

e ex

amin

atio

n.

Ther

e is

a fo

rmal

pol

icy

docu

men

t th

at

auth

orize

s the

exa

min

atio

n.2

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

e po

licy

docu

men

t is

not

avai

labl

e to

th

e pu

blic

.3 Th

e po

licy

docu

men

t is

avai

labl

e to

the

pu

blic

. Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

The

polic

y do

cum

ent

addr

esse

s so

me

key

aspe

cts o

f the

exa

min

atio

n. 4

The

polic

y do

cum

ent

addr

esse

s al

l ke

y as

pect

s of t

he e

xam

inat

ion.

ENAB

LIN

G CO

NTE

XT 2

: H

avin

g st

rong

lead

ersh

ip

All

stak

ehol

der

grou

ps s

tron

gly

oppo

se

the

exam

inat

ion

or a

re in

diffe

rent

to it

. M

ost

stak

ehol

der

grou

ps

oppo

se

the

exam

inat

ion.

M

ost

stak

ehol

ders

gro

ups

supp

ort

the

exam

inat

ion.

Al

l st

akeh

olde

r gr

oups

su

ppor

t th

e ex

amin

atio

n. 5

Ther

e ar

e no

att

empt

s to

im

prov

e th

e ex

amin

atio

n by

stak

ehol

der g

roup

s.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

ere

are

inde

pend

ent

atte

mpt

s to

im

prov

e th

e ex

amin

atio

n by

sta

keho

lder

gr

oups

.

Ther

e ar

e co

ordi

nate

d at

tem

pts

to

impr

ove

the

exam

inat

ion

by s

take

hold

er

grou

ps.6

Effo

rts

to i

mpr

ove

the

exam

inat

ion

are

not

wel

com

ed

by

the

lead

ersh

ip

in

char

ge o

f the

exa

min

atio

n

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Ef

fort

s to

im

prov

e th

e ex

amin

atio

n ar

e ge

nera

lly w

elco

med

by

the

lead

ersh

ip in

ch

arge

of t

he e

xam

inat

ion.

7

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

*

*

*

*

**

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A S

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PORT

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EMS

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H FO

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ON

RES

ULT

S 25

(CO

NTI

NU

ED)

LA

TEN

T EM

ERGI

NG

ESTA

BLIS

HED

AD

VAN

CED

ENAB

LIN

G CO

NTE

XT 3

: H

avin

g re

gula

r fu

ndin

g

Ther

e is

no f

undi

ng a

lloca

ted

for

the

exam

inat

ion.

Th

ere

is irr

egul

ar f

undi

ng a

lloca

ted

for

the

exam

inat

ion.

Th

ere

is re

gula

r fun

ding

allo

cate

d fo

r the

ex

amin

atio

n.8

Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Fu

ndin

g co

vers

som

e co

re e

xam

inat

ion

activ

ities

: de

sign,

ad

min

istra

tion,

da

ta

proc

essin

g or

repo

rtin

g.

Fund

ing

cove

rs

all

core

ex

amin

atio

n ac

tiviti

es:

desig

n,

adm

inist

ratio

n,

data

pr

oces

sing

and

repo

rtin

g.9

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Fu

ndin

g do

es n

ot c

over

res

earc

h an

d de

velo

pmen

t. Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

Fund

ing

cove

rs

rese

arch

an

d de

velo

pmen

t. 10

ENAB

LIN

G CO

NTE

XT 4

: H

avin

g st

rong

org

aniz

atio

nal s

truc

ture

s

The

exam

inat

ion

offic

e do

es n

ot e

xist

or

is ne

wly

est

ablis

hed.

Th

e ex

amin

atio

n of

fice

is ne

wly

es

tabl

ished

. Th

e ex

amin

atio

n of

fice

is a

stab

le

orga

niza

tion.

11

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

The

exam

inat

ion

offic

e is

not

acco

unta

ble

to

an

exte

rnal

bo

ard

or

agen

cy.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

e ex

amin

atio

n of

fice

is ac

coun

tabl

e to

an

ext

erna

l boa

rd o

r age

ncy.

12

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Exam

inat

ion

resu

lts a

re n

ot r

ecog

nize

d by

any

cer

tific

atio

n or

sele

ctio

n sy

stem

. Ex

amin

atio

n re

sults

are

rec

ogni

zed

by

cert

ifica

tion

or s

elec

tion

syst

em i

n th

e co

untr

y. 13

Exam

inat

ion

resu

lts a

re r

ecog

nize

d by

on

e ce

rtifi

catio

n or

sel

ectio

n sy

stem

in

anot

her c

ount

ry.

Exam

inat

ion

resu

lts a

re r

ecog

nize

d by

tw

o or

mor

e ce

rtifi

catio

n or

sel

ectio

n sy

stem

in a

noth

er c

ount

ry.

The

exam

inat

ion

offic

e do

es n

ot h

ave

the

requ

ired

faci

litie

s to

car

ry o

ut t

he

exam

inat

ion.

The

exam

inat

ion

offic

e ha

s so

me

of t

he

requ

ired

faci

litie

s to

ca

rry

out

the

exam

inat

ion.

The

exam

inat

ion

offic

e ha

s al

l of

the

re

quire

d fa

cilit

ies

to

carr

y ou

t th

e ex

amin

atio

n.

The

exam

inat

ion

offic

e ha

s st

ate

of t

he

art

faci

litie

s to

ca

rry

out

the

exam

inat

ion.

14

(CO

NTI

NU

ED)

* *

*

**

*

*

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A S

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PORT

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SYST

EMS

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OAC

H FO

R BE

TTER

EDU

CATI

ON

RES

ULT

S 26

LATE

NT

EMER

GIN

G ES

TABL

ISH

ED

ADVA

NCE

D

ENAB

LIN

G CO

NTE

XT 5

:

Hav

ing

effe

ctiv

e hu

man

res

ourc

es

Ther

e is

no

staf

f to

ca

rry

out

the

exam

inat

ion.

Th

e ex

amin

atio

n of

fice

is in

adeq

uate

ly

staf

fed

to

effe

ctiv

ely

carr

y ou

t th

e ex

amin

atio

n, is

sues

are

per

vasiv

e.

The

exam

inat

ion

offic

e is

adeq

uate

ly

staf

fed

to

carr

y ou

t th

e ex

amin

atio

n ef

fect

ivel

y, w

ith m

inim

al is

sues

.15

The

exam

inat

ion

offic

e is

adeq

uate

ly

staf

fed

to

carr

y ou

t th

e as

sess

men

t ef

fect

ivel

y, w

ith n

o iss

ues.

The

coun

try

does

not

offe

r opp

ortu

nitie

s th

at

prep

are

for

wor

k on

th

e ex

amin

atio

n.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

e co

untr

y of

fers

som

e op

port

uniti

es

that

pr

epar

e fo

r w

ork

on

the

exam

inat

ion.

16

The

coun

try

offe

rs

a w

ide

rang

e of

op

port

uniti

es t

hat

prep

are

for

wor

k on

th

e ex

amin

atio

n.

**

GHAN

A S

TUDE

NT

ASSE

SSM

ENT

SA

BER

COU

NTR

Y RE

PORT

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SYST

EMS

APPR

OAC

H FO

R BE

TTER

EDU

CATI

ON

RES

ULT

S 27

SYST

EM A

LIGN

MEN

T De

gree

to w

hich

the

asse

ssm

ent i

s coh

eren

t with

oth

er co

mpo

nent

s of t

he e

duca

tion

syst

em.

LATE

NT

EMER

GIN

G ES

TABL

ISH

ED

ADVA

NCE

D

SYST

EM A

LIGN

MEN

T 1:

Al

igni

ng e

xam

inat

ions

wit

h le

arni

ng g

oals

and

opp

ortu

nitie

s to

lear

n

It is

not

clea

r w

hat

the

exam

inat

ion

mea

sure

s.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

ere

is a

clea

r un

ders

tand

ing

of w

hat

the

exam

inat

ion

mea

sure

s.17

Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

Wha

t th

e ex

amin

atio

n m

easu

res

is qu

estio

ned

by

som

e st

akeh

olde

r gr

oups

.18

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

W

hat

is m

easu

red

by t

he e

xam

inat

ion

is la

rgel

y ac

cept

ed b

y st

akeh

olde

r gro

ups.

Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

Mat

eria

l to

prep

are

for

the

exam

inat

ion

is m

inim

al a

nd i

t is

only

acc

essib

le t

o ve

ry fe

w st

uden

ts.

Ther

e is

som

e m

ater

ial t

o pr

epar

e fo

r the

ex

amin

atio

n th

at i

s ac

cess

ible

to

som

e st

uden

ts.

Ther

e is

com

preh

ensiv

e m

ater

ial

to

prep

are

for

the

exam

inat

ion

that

is

acce

ssib

le to

mos

t stu

dent

s.

Ther

e is

com

preh

ensiv

e m

ater

ial

to

prep

are

for

the

exam

inat

ion

that

is

acce

ssib

le to

all

stud

ents

.19

SYST

EM A

LIGN

MEN

T 2:

Pr

ovid

ing

teac

hers

wit

h op

port

uniti

es to

lear

n ab

out t

he e

xam

inat

ion

Ther

e ar

e no

cou

rses

or

wor

ksho

ps o

n ex

amin

atio

ns a

vaila

ble

to te

ache

rs.

Ther

e ar

e no

up

-to-

date

co

urse

s or

w

orks

hops

on

exam

inat

ions

ava

ilabl

e to

te

ache

rs.

Ther

e ar

e up

-to-

date

vol

unta

ry c

ours

es

or w

orks

hops

on

exam

inat

ions

ava

ilabl

e to

teac

hers

.

Ther

e ar

e up

-to-

date

com

pulso

ry c

ours

es

or

wor

ksho

ps

on

exam

inat

ions

fo

r te

ache

rs. 2

0

Teac

hers

ar

e ex

clud

ed

from

al

l ex

amin

atio

n-re

late

d ta

sks.

Te

ache

rs

are

invo

lved

in

ve

ry

few

ex

amin

atio

n-re

late

d ta

sks.

Te

ache

rs

are

invo

lved

in

so

me

exam

inat

ion-

rela

ted

task

s. 2

1 Te

ache

rs

are

invo

lved

in

m

ost

exam

inat

ion-

rela

ted

task

s.

*

*

* *

*

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A S

TUDE

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PORT

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EMS

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OAC

H FO

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TTER

EDU

CATI

ON

RES

ULT

S 28

ASSE

SSM

ENT

QU

ALIT

Y De

gree

to w

hich

the

asse

ssm

ent m

eets

qua

lity

stan

dard

s, is

fair,

and

is u

sed

in a

n ef

fect

ive

way

. LA

TEN

T EM

ERGI

NG

ESTA

BLIS

HED

AD

VAN

CED

ASSE

SSM

ENT

QU

ALIT

Y 1:

En

suri

ng q

ualit

y

Ther

e is

no t

echn

ical

rep

ort

or o

ther

do

cum

enta

tion.

Th

ere

is so

me

docu

men

tatio

n on

the

ex

amin

atio

n, b

ut i

t is

not

in a

for

mal

re

port

form

at.

Ther

e is

a co

mpr

ehen

sive

tech

nica

l re

port

but

with

rest

ricte

d ci

rcul

atio

n. 2

2 Th

ere

is a

com

preh

ensiv

e, h

igh

qual

ity

tech

nica

l rep

ort

avai

labl

e to

the

gen

eral

pu

blic

.

Ther

e ar

e no

mec

hani

sms

in p

lace

to

ensu

re th

e qu

ality

of t

he e

xam

inat

ion.

Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

Ther

e ar

e lim

ited

syst

emat

ic m

echa

nism

s in

pla

ce t

o en

sure

the

qua

lity

of t

he

exam

inat

ion.

23

Ther

e ar

e va

ried

and

syst

emat

ic

mec

hani

sms

in

plac

e to

en

sure

th

e qu

ality

of t

he e

xam

inat

ion.

ASSE

SSM

ENT

QU

ALIT

Y 2:

En

suri

ng fa

irne

ss

Inap

prop

riate

beh

avio

r su

rrou

ndin

g th

e ex

amin

atio

n pr

oces

s is h

igh.

24

Inap

prop

riate

beh

avio

r su

rrou

ndin

g th

e ex

amin

atio

n pr

oces

s is m

oder

ate.

In

appr

opria

te b

ehav

ior

surr

ound

ing

the

exam

inat

ion

proc

ess i

s low

. In

appr

opria

te b

ehav

ior

surr

ound

ing

the

exam

inat

ion

proc

ess i

s mar

gina

l.

The

exam

inat

ion

resu

lts l

ack

cred

ibili

ty

for a

ll st

akeh

olde

r gro

ups.

Th

e ex

amin

atio

n re

sults

are

cre

dibl

e fo

r so

me

stak

ehol

der g

roup

s.

The

exam

inat

ion

resu

lts a

re c

redi

ble

for

all s

take

hold

er g

roup

s.25

Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

The

maj

ority

of

the

stud

ents

(ov

er 5

0%)

may

not

take

the

exam

inat

ion

beca

use

of

lang

uage

, ge

nder

, or

oth

er e

quiv

alen

t ba

rrie

rs.

A sig

nific

ant

prop

ortio

n of

st

uden

ts

(10%

-50%

) may

not

take

the

exam

inat

ion

beca

use

of l

angu

age,

gen

der,

or o

ther

eq

uiva

lent

bar

riers

.

A sm

all p

ropo

rtio

n of

stu

dent

s (le

ss th

an

10%

) m

ay

not

take

th

e ex

amin

atio

n be

caus

e of

lan

guag

e, g

ende

r, or

oth

er

equi

vale

nt b

arrie

rs.

All

stud

ents

can

tak

e th

e ex

amin

atio

n;

ther

e ar

e no

lang

uage

, ge

nder

or

othe

r eq

uiva

lent

bar

riers

.26

(CO

NTI

NU

ED)

* *

*

*

*

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PORT

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SYST

EMS

APPR

OAC

H FO

R BE

TTER

EDU

CATI

ON

RES

ULT

S 29

LA

TEN

T EM

ERGI

NG

ESTA

BLIS

HED

AD

VAN

CED

ASSE

SSM

ENT

QU

ALIT

Y 3:

Us

ing

exam

inat

ion

info

rmat

ion

in a

fair

way

Exam

inat

ion

resu

lts a

re n

ot u

sed

in a

pr

oper

way

by

all s

take

hold

er g

roup

s.

Exam

inat

ion

resu

lts a

re u

sed

by s

ome

stak

ehol

der g

roup

s in

a pr

oper

way

. Ex

amin

atio

n re

sults

are

use

d by

mos

t st

akeh

olde

r gro

ups i

n a

prop

er w

ay. 2

7 Ex

amin

atio

n re

sults

ar

e us

ed

by

all

stak

ehol

der g

roup

s in

a pr

oper

way

.

Stud

ent n

ames

and

resu

lts a

re p

ublic

. Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

Stud

ents

’ res

ults

are

con

fiden

tial. 2

8 Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

ASSE

SSM

ENT

QU

ALIT

Y 4:

En

suri

ng p

ositi

ve c

onse

quen

ces o

f the

exa

min

atio

n

Ther

e ar

e no

opt

ions

for

stu

dent

s w

ho

do n

ot p

erfo

rm w

ell o

n th

e ex

amin

atio

n,

or s

tude

nts

mus

t le

ave

the

educ

atio

n sy

stem

.

Ther

e ar

e ve

ry

limite

d op

tions

fo

r st

uden

ts w

ho d

o no

t per

form

wel

l on

the

exam

inat

ion.

29

Ther

e ar

e so

me

optio

ns fo

r stu

dent

s who

do

not

per

form

wel

l on

the

exam

inat

ion.

Th

ere

is a

varie

ty o

f opt

ions

for

stud

ents

w

ho

do

not

perf

orm

w

ell

on

the

exam

inat

ion.

Ther

e ar

e no

mec

hani

sms

in p

lace

to

mon

itor

the

cons

eque

nces

of

th

e ex

amin

atio

n.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

ere

are

som

e m

echa

nism

s in

pla

ce t

o m

onito

r th

e co

nseq

uenc

es

of

the

exam

inat

ion.

30

Ther

e is

a va

riety

of m

echa

nism

s in

pla

ce

to

mon

itor

the

cons

eque

nces

of

th

e ex

amin

atio

n.

* *

*

*

GHAN

A S

TUDE

NT

ASSE

SSM

ENT

SA

BER

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NTR

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PORT

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SYST

EMS

APPR

OAC

H FO

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ON

RES

ULT

S 30

Exam

inat

ions

– B

asic

Edu

catio

n Ce

rtifi

cate

Exa

min

atio

n (B

ECE)

: Developmen

t-level rating j

ustifications

1. T

he B

asic

Edu

catio

n Ce

rtifi

cate

Exa

min

atio

n (B

ECE)

was

firs

t adm

inist

ered

in 1

990.

Its p

rimar

y pu

rpos

es a

re fo

r stu

dent

cer

tific

atio

n fo

r gra

de o

r sch

ool c

ycle

co

mpl

etio

n an

d st

uden

t sel

ectio

n to

seco

ndar

y sc

hool

. Sec

onda

ry p

urpo

ses i

nclu

de sc

hool

or e

duca

tor a

ccou

ntab

ility

and

pro

mot

ing

com

petit

ion

amon

g sc

hool

s. S

tude

nts i

n Gr

ade

9 ar

e as

sess

ed in

Eng

lish

Lang

uage

, Gha

naia

n La

ngua

ge a

nd C

ultu

re, S

ocia

l Stu

dies

, Int

egra

ted

Scie

nce,

Mat

hem

atic

s, B

asic

Des

ign

and

Tech

nolo

gy, I

nfor

mat

ion

and

Com

mun

icat

ion

Tech

nolo

gy, F

renc

h (o

ptio

nal),

and

Rel

igio

us a

nd M

oral

Edu

catio

n.

2. T

he le

gisla

tive

asse

mbl

y of

the

Gold

Coa

st a

utho

rized

the

exam

inat

ion

thro

ugh

Wes

t Afr

ican

Exa

min

atio

n Co

unci

l (W

AEC)

Ord

inan

ce N

o. 4

0 of

195

1.

3. T

he p

olic

y do

cum

ent i

s not

ava

ilabl

e to

the

publ

ic. H

owev

er, c

erta

in in

form

atio

n ab

out t

he p

olic

y do

cum

ent i

s mad

e av

aila

ble

on th

e ht

tp:/

/ww

w.g

hana

wae

c.or

g/ a

nd h

ttp:

//w

ww

.gha

naw

eb.c

om/G

hana

Hom

ePag

e/ed

ucat

ion/

wae

c.ht

ml w

ebsit

es.

4.Th

e po

licy

docu

men

t des

crib

es th

e pu

rpos

e of

the

exam

inat

ion,

des

crib

es a

utho

rized

use

of r

esul

ts, o

utlin

es p

roce

dure

s to

inve

stig

ate

and

addr

ess s

ecur

ity

brea

ches

, che

atin

g, o

r oth

er fo

rms o

f ina

ppro

pria

te b

ehav

ior,

spec

ifies

who

can

sit f

or th

e ex

amin

atio

n, id

entif

ies r

ules

abo

ut p

repa

ratio

n, e

xpla

ins a

lignm

ent

with

cur

ricul

a an

d st

anda

rds,

and

exp

lain

s the

form

at o

f the

exa

min

atio

n qu

estio

ns. T

he p

olic

y do

cum

ent d

oes n

ot o

utlin

e go

vern

ance

, dist

ribut

ion

of p

ower

, re

spon

sibili

ties a

mon

g ke

y en

titie

s, fu

ndin

g so

urce

s, o

r out

line

the

proc

edur

es fo

r spe

cial

/disa

dvan

tage

d st

uden

ts.

5. T

here

is a

n in

suffi

cien

t am

ount

of i

nfor

mat

ion

to b

e ab

le to

iden

tify

a de

velo

pmen

t lev

el ra

ting.

6.

The

re a

re c

oord

inat

ed a

ttem

pts t

o im

prov

e th

e ex

amin

atio

n by

stak

ehol

der g

roup

s.

7. E

ffort

s to

impr

ove

the

exam

inat

ion

are

gene

rally

wel

com

ed b

y th

e le

ader

ship

in c

harg

e of

the

exam

inat

ion.

8.

The

re is

regu

lar f

undi

ng a

lloca

ted

by th

e go

vern

men

t and

from

stud

ent f

ees f

or th

e ex

amin

atio

n.

9. F

undi

ng c

over

s lon

g - o

r med

ium

- ter

m p

lann

ing

of p

rogr

am m

ilest

ones

and

staf

f tra

inin

g.

10. F

undi

ng c

over

s res

earc

h an

d de

velo

pmen

t. 11

. WAE

C is

a se

mi-a

uton

omou

s cou

ncil

that

has

bee

n in

cha

rge

of ru

nnin

g th

e ex

amin

atio

n sin

ce 1

990.

12

. WAE

C is

acco

unta

ble

to th

e M

inist

ry o

f Edu

catio

n.

13. E

xam

inat

ion

resu

lts a

re o

ffici

ally

reco

gnize

d in

Gha

na.

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SYST

EMS

APPR

OAC

H FO

R BE

TTER

EDU

CATI

ON

RES

ULT

S 31

14. W

AEC

has c

ompu

ters

for a

ll te

chni

cal s

taff,

a se

cure

bui

ldin

g, se

cure

stor

age

faci

litie

s, a

cces

s to

adeq

uate

com

pute

r ser

vers

, an

abili

ty to

bac

kup

data

, and

ad

equa

te c

omm

unic

atio

n to

ols.

15. T

here

is a

n ad

equa

te n

umbe

r (in

term

s of q

ualit

y an

d qu

antit

y) o

f ful

l-tim

e an

d pa

rt-t

ime

staf

f. Pa

rt-t

ime

staf

f mem

bers

are

resp

onsib

le fo

r act

iviti

es su

ch a

s pa

per s

ettin

g, m

arki

ng, a

nd sc

ript c

heck

ing.

The

re h

ave

been

min

imal

issu

es in

car

ryin

g ou

t the

exa

min

atio

n ef

fect

ivel

y, a

lthou

gh th

ere

has b

een

conf

usio

n in

in

terp

reta

tion

of th

e gr

adin

g sy

stem

and

cas

es o

f exa

min

atio

n m

alpr

actic

es, l

arge

ly d

ue to

the

laxi

ty o

f sup

ervi

sors

. 16

. Uni

vers

ity g

radu

ate

prog

ram

s and

uni

vers

ity c

ours

es o

n ed

ucat

iona

l mea

sure

men

t and

eva

luat

ion

prov

ide

oppo

rtun

ities

that

pre

pare

for w

ork

on th

e ex

amin

atio

n. U

nive

rsity

of C

ape

Coas

t (U

CC) h

as a

pos

t gra

duat

e pr

ogra

m in

edu

catio

nal m

easu

rem

ent a

nd e

valu

atio

n, a

nd U

CC, U

nive

rsity

of E

duca

tion,

W

inne

ba (U

EW),

and

colle

ges o

f Edu

catio

n of

fer c

ours

es in

intr

oduc

tory

edu

catio

nal m

easu

rem

ent a

nd e

valu

atio

n. A

lso, f

undi

ng is

ava

ilabl

e fo

r att

endi

ng

inte

rnat

iona

l pro

gram

s, c

ours

es, a

nd w

orks

hops

on

educ

atio

nal m

easu

rem

ent a

nd e

valu

atio

n, w

hich

is la

rgel

y av

aila

ble

to st

aff o

f Exa

min

atio

n un

its a

nd

cent

res,

as w

ell a

s lec

ture

rs in

uni

vers

ities

. 17

. The

exa

min

atio

n m

easu

res t

he n

atio

nal s

choo

l cur

ricul

um g

uide

lines

or s

tand

ards

as t

he e

xam

inat

ion

sylla

bus i

s des

igne

d ba

sed

on th

e te

achi

ng sy

llabu

ses

of v

ario

us n

atio

ns, i

nclu

ding

Gha

na.

18

. Som

e st

akeh

olde

r gro

ups q

uest

ion

wha

t the

exa

min

atio

n m

easu

res.

For

exa

mpl

e, so

me

pare

nts c

ompl

ain

that

thei

r chi

ldre

n re

ceiv

e go

od a

ggre

gate

scor

es,

but d

o no

t obt

ain

plac

emen

t in

the

scho

ols o

f the

ir fir

st c

hoic

e. T

he so

-cal

led

"pas

s" in

BEC

E is

defin

ed a

s gai

ning

an

aggr

egat

e sc

ore

in th

e ra

nge

of 6

-30

in th

e be

st si

x su

bjec

ts w

ith a

gra

de 5

or b

ette

r in

the

core

subj

ects

(Mat

hem

atic

s, E

nglis

h, In

tegr

ated

Sci

ence

, and

Soc

ial S

tudi

es).

How

ever

, onl

y th

e ra

w B

ECE

exam

sc

ore

is us

ed fo

r sel

ectio

n/pl

acem

ent t

o se

nior

hig

h sc

hool

, and

the

num

ber o

f stu

dent

s who

rece

ive

a "p

ass"

in B

ECE

depe

nds o

n th

e nu

mbe

r of p

lace

s ava

ilabl

e in

seni

or h

igh

scho

ols.

19. T

he m

ater

ial i

s wid

ely

acce

ssib

le b

y al

l stu

dent

s (ov

er 9

0 pe

rcen

t) in

a v

arie

ty o

f lea

rnin

g co

ntex

ts. E

xam

ples

of t

he ty

pes o

f que

stio

ns th

at a

re o

n th

e ex

amin

atio

n ar

e av

aila

ble

for s

ale

to th

e pu

blic

. Inf

orm

atio

n on

how

to p

repa

re fo

r the

exa

min

atio

n is

avai

labl

e on

line,

and

a re

port

on

the

stre

ngth

s and

w

eakn

esse

s in

stud

ent p

erfo

rman

ce is

sent

to k

ey st

akeh

olde

rs a

nd a

vaila

ble

for s

ale

onlin

e.

20. T

here

are

up-

to-d

ate

com

pulso

ry c

ours

es o

r wor

ksho

ps o

n ex

amin

atio

ns fo

r tea

cher

s. T

each

ers w

ho a

re in

volv

ed in

invi

gila

tion

and

supe

rvisi

on o

f exa

ms

atte

nd w

orks

hops

bef

ore

the

exam

s at e

xam

cen

ters

. Also

, tea

cher

s who

are

invo

lved

in sc

orin

g th

e co

nstr

ucte

d re

spon

se p

aper

s of t

he e

xam

are

trai

ned

at

Coor

dina

tion

wor

ksho

ps.

21. T

each

ers a

re h

ired

as te

mpo

rary

/par

t-tim

e st

aff f

or a

dmin

ister

ing,

supe

rvisi

ng, a

nd sc

orin

g th

e ex

amin

atio

n.

22. T

here

is a

com

preh

ensiv

e te

chni

cal r

epor

t, ho

wev

er, i

ts c

ircul

atio

n is

rest

ricte

d.

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SYST

EMS

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OAC

H FO

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CATI

ON

RES

ULT

S 32

23. I

nter

nal r

evie

w o

r obs

erva

tion

by o

ffici

als o

f the

Dist

rict D

irect

orat

e of

Edu

catio

n, e

xter

nal r

evie

w o

r obs

erva

tion

by W

AEC

offic

ials,

and

pilo

t or f

ield

test

ing

by th

e W

AEC

Test

Dev

elop

men

t Div

ision

are

in p

lace

to e

nsur

e th

e qu

ality

of t

he e

xam

inat

ion.

24

. Ina

ppro

pria

te b

ehav

iors

incl

ude:

leak

age

of th

e co

nten

t of a

n ex

amin

atio

n pa

per o

r par

t of a

pap

er p

rior t

o th

e ex

amin

atio

n, im

pers

onat

ion

(whe

n an

in

divi

dual

oth

er th

an th

e re

gist

ered

can

dida

te ta

kes t

he e

xam

inat

ion)

, cop

ying

from

oth

er c

andi

date

s, us

ing

unau

thor

ized

mat

eria

ls su

ch a

s pre

pare

d an

swer

s an

d no

tes,

collu

sion

amon

g ca

ndid

ates

via

mob

ile p

hone

s, p

assin

g of

pap

er, o

r equ

ival

ent,

issui

ng fo

rged

cer

tific

ates

or a

lterin

g re

sults

info

rmat

ion,

and

the

prov

ision

of e

xter

nal a

ssist

ance

via

the

supe

rviso

r, m

obile

pho

ne, e

tc. S

ensit

izatio

n pr

ogra

ms a

re b

eing

org

anize

d fo

r sta

keho

lder

s to

addr

ess t

he in

appr

opria

te

beha

vior

s.

25. S

take

hold

er g

roup

s per

ceiv

e th

e ex

am a

s cre

dibl

e.

26. A

ll st

uden

ts c

an ta

ke th

e ex

amin

atio

n; th

ere

are

no la

ngua

ge, g

ende

r or o

ther

equ

ival

ent b

arrie

rs.

27. E

xam

inat

ion

resu

lts a

re u

sed

by m

ost s

take

hold

er g

roup

s in

a pr

oper

way

. How

ever

, som

e ca

ndid

ates

fake

thei

r res

ults

whe

n ap

plyi

ng fo

r fur

ther

edu

catio

n or

jobs

. 28

. Onl

y th

e st

uden

t and

per

sons

with

a le

gitim

ate,

pro

fess

iona

l int

eres

t in

the

test

take

r can

kno

w th

e re

sults

. 29

. Stu

dent

s who

do

not p

erfo

rm w

ell o

n th

e ex

amin

atio

n m

ay re

take

the

exam

inat

ion

(in th

e fo

llow

ing

year

(s))

or a

tten

d re

med

ial o

r pre

para

tory

cou

rses

in

orde

r to

prep

are

to re

take

it.

30. T

here

is a

per

man

ent o

vers

ight

com

mitt

ee a

nd e

xper

t rev

iew

gro

ups t

o m

onito

r the

con

sequ

ence

s of t

he e

xam

inat

ion.

GHAN

A S

TUDE

NT

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SSM

ENT

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PORT

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13

SYST

EMS

APPR

OAC

H FO

R BE

TTER

EDU

CATI

ON

RES

ULT

S 33

GH

ANA

Exam

inat

ions

– W

est A

fric

an S

econ

dary

Sch

ool C

ertif

icat

e Ex

am (W

ASSC

E)

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A S

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NT

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PORT

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SYST

EMS

APPR

OAC

H FO

R BE

TTER

EDU

CATI

ON

RES

ULT

S 34

ENAB

LIN

G CO

NTE

XT

Ove

rall

fram

ewor

k of

pol

icies

, lea

ders

hip,

org

aniza

tiona

l str

uctu

res,

fisca

l and

hum

an re

sour

ces i

n w

hich

ass

essm

ent a

ctiv

ity ta

kes p

lace

in a

coun

try

or sy

stem

an

d th

e ex

tent

to w

hich

that

fram

ewor

k is

cond

uciv

e to

, or s

uppo

rtiv

e of

, the

ass

essm

ent a

ctiv

ity.

LATE

NT

EMER

GIN

G ES

TABL

ISH

ED

ADVA

NCE

D

ENAB

LIN

G CO

NTE

XT 1

:

Sett

ing

clea

r po

licie

s

No

stan

dard

ized

exam

inat

ion

has

take

n pl

ace.

Th

e st

anda

rdize

d ex

amin

atio

n ha

s be

en

oper

atin

g on

an

irreg

ular

bas

is.

The

exam

inat

ion

is a

stab

le p

rogr

am th

at

has b

een

oper

atin

g re

gula

rly.1

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion

Ther

e is

no

polic

y do

cum

ent

that

au

thor

izes t

he e

xam

inat

ion.

Th

ere

is an

in

form

al

or

draf

t po

licy

docu

men

t th

at

auth

orize

s th

e ex

amin

atio

n.

Ther

e is

a fo

rmal

pol

icy

docu

men

t th

at

auth

orize

s the

exa

min

atio

n.2

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

e po

licy

docu

men

t is

not

avai

labl

e to

th

e pu

blic

. 3 Th

e po

licy

docu

men

t is

avai

labl

e to

the

pu

blic

. Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

The

polic

y do

cum

ent a

ddre

sses

som

e ke

y as

pect

s of t

he e

xam

inat

ion.

4 Th

e po

licy

docu

men

t ad

dres

ses

all

key

aspe

cts o

f the

exa

min

atio

n.

ENAB

LIN

G CO

NTE

XT 2

: H

avin

g st

rong

lead

ersh

ip

All

stak

ehol

der

grou

ps s

tron

gly

oppo

se

the

exam

inat

ion

or a

re in

diffe

rent

to it

. M

ost

stak

ehol

der

grou

ps

oppo

se

the

exam

inat

ion.

M

ost

stak

ehol

ders

gro

ups

supp

ort

the

exam

inat

ion.

Al

l st

akeh

olde

r gr

oups

su

ppor

t th

e ex

amin

atio

n. 5

Ther

e ar

e no

att

empt

s to

im

prov

e th

e ex

amin

atio

n by

stak

ehol

der g

roup

s.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

ere

are

inde

pend

ent

atte

mpt

s to

im

prov

e th

e ex

amin

atio

n by

sta

keho

lder

gr

oups

.

Ther

e ar

e co

ordi

nate

d at

tem

pts

to

impr

ove

the

exam

inat

ion

by s

take

hold

er

grou

ps.6

Effo

rts

to i

mpr

ove

the

exam

inat

ion

are

not

wel

com

ed

by

the

lead

ersh

ip

in

char

ge o

f the

exa

min

atio

n

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Ef

fort

s to

im

prov

e th

e ex

amin

atio

n ar

e ge

nera

lly w

elco

med

by

the

lead

ersh

ip in

ch

arge

of t

he e

xam

inat

ion.

7

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

*

*

*

* *

**

GHAN

A S

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PORT

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SYST

EMS

APPR

OAC

H FO

R BE

TTER

EDU

CATI

ON

RES

ULT

S 35

(CO

NTI

NU

ED)

LATE

NT

EMER

GIN

G ES

TABL

ISH

ED

ADVA

NCE

D

ENAB

LIN

G CO

NTE

XT 3

: H

avin

g re

gula

r fu

ndin

g

Ther

e is

no f

undi

ng a

lloca

ted

for

the

exam

inat

ion.

Th

ere

is irr

egul

ar f

undi

ng a

lloca

ted

for

the

exam

inat

ion.

Th

ere

is re

gula

r fun

ding

allo

cate

d fo

r the

ex

amin

atio

n.8

Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Fu

ndin

g co

vers

som

e co

re e

xam

inat

ion

activ

ities

: de

sign,

ad

min

istra

tion,

da

ta

proc

essin

g or

repo

rtin

g.

Fund

ing

cove

rs

all

core

ex

amin

atio

n ac

tiviti

es:

desig

n,

adm

inist

ratio

n,

data

pr

oces

sing

and

repo

rtin

g.9

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Fu

ndin

g do

es n

ot c

over

res

earc

h an

d de

velo

pmen

t. Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

Fund

ing

cove

rs

rese

arch

an

d de

velo

pmen

t. 10

ENAB

LIN

G CO

NTE

XT 4

: H

avin

g st

rong

org

aniz

atio

nal s

truc

ture

s

The

exam

inat

ion

offic

e do

es n

ot e

xist

or

is ne

wly

est

ablis

hed.

Th

e ex

amin

atio

n of

fice

is ne

wly

es

tabl

ished

. Th

e ex

amin

atio

n of

fice

is a

stab

le

orga

niza

tion.

11

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

The

exam

inat

ion

offic

e is

not

acco

unta

ble

to

an

exte

rnal

bo

ard

or

agen

cy.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

e ex

amin

atio

n of

fice

is ac

coun

tabl

e to

an

ext

erna

l boa

rd o

r age

ncy.

12

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Exam

inat

ion

resu

lts a

re n

ot r

ecog

nize

d by

any

cer

tific

atio

n or

sele

ctio

n sy

stem

. Ex

amin

atio

n re

sults

are

rec

ogni

zed

by

cert

ifica

tion

or s

elec

tion

syst

em i

n th

e co

untr

y.

Exam

inat

ion

resu

lts a

re r

ecog

nize

d by

on

e ce

rtifi

catio

n or

sel

ectio

n sy

stem

in

anot

her c

ount

ry.

Exam

inat

ion

resu

lts a

re r

ecog

nize

d by

tw

o or

mor

e ce

rtifi

catio

n or

sel

ectio

n sy

stem

in a

noth

er c

ount

ry.13

The

exam

inat

ion

offic

e do

es n

ot h

ave

the

requ

ired

faci

litie

s to

car

ry o

ut t

he

exam

inat

ion.

The

exam

inat

ion

offic

e ha

s so

me

of t

he

requ

ired

faci

litie

s to

ca

rry

out

the

exam

inat

ion.

The

exam

inat

ion

offic

e ha

s al

l of

the

re

quire

d fa

cilit

ies

to

carr

y ou

t th

e ex

amin

atio

n.

The

exam

inat

ion

offic

e ha

s st

ate

of t

he

art

faci

litie

s to

ca

rry

out

the

exam

inat

ion.

14

* *

*

**

* *

GHAN

A S

TUDE

NT

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PORT

|20

13

SYST

EMS

APPR

OAC

H FO

R BE

TTER

EDU

CATI

ON

RES

ULT

S 36

(CO

NTI

NU

ED)

LATE

NT

EMER

GIN

G ES

TABL

ISH

ED

ADVA

NCE

D

ENAB

LIN

G CO

NTE

XT 5

:

Hav

ing

effe

ctiv

e hu

man

res

ourc

es

Ther

e is

no

staf

f to

ca

rry

out

the

exam

inat

ion.

Th

e ex

amin

atio

n of

fice

is in

adeq

uate

ly

staf

fed

to

effe

ctiv

ely

carr

y ou

t th

e ex

amin

atio

n, is

sues

are

per

vasiv

e.

The

exam

inat

ion

offic

e is

adeq

uate

ly

staf

fed

to

carr

y ou

t th

e ex

amin

atio

n ef

fect

ivel

y, w

ith m

inim

al is

sues

.15

The

exam

inat

ion

offic

e is

adeq

uate

ly

staf

fed

to

carr

y ou

t th

e as

sess

men

t ef

fect

ivel

y, w

ith n

o iss

ues.

The

coun

try

does

not

offe

r opp

ortu

nitie

s th

at

prep

are

for

wor

k on

th

e ex

amin

atio

n.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

e co

untr

y of

fers

som

e op

port

uniti

es

that

pr

epar

e fo

r w

ork

on

the

exam

inat

ion.

16

The

coun

try

offe

rs

a w

ide

rang

e of

op

port

uniti

es t

hat

prep

are

for

wor

k on

th

e ex

amin

atio

n.

**

GHAN

A S

TUDE

NT

ASSE

SSM

ENT

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BER

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NTR

Y RE

PORT

|20

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SYST

EMS

APPR

OAC

H FO

R BE

TTER

EDU

CATI

ON

RES

ULT

S 37

SYST

EM A

LIGN

MEN

T De

gree

to w

hich

the

asse

ssm

ent i

s coh

eren

t with

oth

er co

mpo

nent

s of t

he e

duca

tion

syst

em.

LATE

NT

EMER

GIN

G ES

TABL

ISH

ED

ADVA

NCE

D

SYST

EM A

LIGN

MEN

T 1:

Al

igni

ng e

xam

inat

ions

wit

h le

arni

ng g

oals

and

opp

ortu

nitie

s to

lear

n

It is

not

clea

r w

hat

the

exam

inat

ion

mea

sure

s.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

ere

is a

clea

r un

ders

tand

ing

of w

hat

the

exam

inat

ion

mea

sure

s.17

Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

Wha

t th

e ex

amin

atio

n m

easu

res

is qu

estio

ned

by

som

e st

akeh

olde

r gr

oups

.18

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

W

hat

is m

easu

red

by t

he e

xam

inat

ion

is la

rgel

y ac

cept

ed b

y st

akeh

olde

r gro

ups.

Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

Mat

eria

l to

prep

are

for

the

exam

inat

ion

is m

inim

al a

nd i

t is

only

acc

essib

le t

o ve

ry fe

w st

uden

ts.

Ther

e is

som

e m

ater

ial t

o pr

epar

e fo

r the

ex

amin

atio

n th

at i

s ac

cess

ible

to

som

e st

uden

ts.

Ther

e is

com

preh

ensiv

e m

ater

ial

to

prep

are

for

the

exam

inat

ion

that

is

acce

ssib

le to

mos

t stu

dent

s.

Ther

e is

com

preh

ensiv

e m

ater

ial

to

prep

are

for

the

exam

inat

ion

that

is

acce

ssib

le to

all

stud

ents

.19

SYST

EM A

LIGN

MEN

T 2:

Pr

ovid

ing

teac

hers

wit

h op

port

uniti

es to

lear

n ab

out t

he e

xam

inat

ion

Ther

e ar

e no

cou

rses

or

wor

ksho

ps o

n ex

amin

atio

ns a

vaila

ble

to te

ache

rs.

Ther

e ar

e no

up

-to-

date

co

urse

s or

w

orks

hops

on

exam

inat

ions

ava

ilabl

e to

te

ache

rs.

Ther

e ar

e up

-to-

date

vol

unta

ry c

ours

es

or w

orks

hops

on

exam

inat

ions

ava

ilabl

e to

teac

hers

.

Ther

e ar

e up

-to-

date

com

pulso

ry c

ours

es

or

wor

ksho

ps

on

exam

inat

ions

fo

r te

ache

rs. 2

0

Teac

hers

ar

e ex

clud

ed

from

al

l ex

amin

atio

n-re

late

d ta

sks.

Te

ache

rs

are

invo

lved

in

ve

ry

few

ex

amin

atio

n-re

late

d ta

sks.

Te

ache

rs

are

invo

lved

in

so

me

exam

inat

ion-

rela

ted

task

s. 2

1 Te

ache

rs

are

invo

lved

in

m

ost

exam

inat

ion-

rela

ted

task

s.

*

*

* *

*

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A S

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SYST

EMS

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OAC

H FO

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TTER

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CATI

ON

RES

ULT

S 38

ASSE

SSM

ENT

QU

ALIT

Y De

gree

to w

hich

the

asse

ssm

ent m

eets

qua

lity

stan

dard

s, is

fair,

and

is u

sed

in a

n ef

fect

ive

way

. LA

TEN

T EM

ERGI

NG

ESTA

BLIS

HED

AD

VAN

CED

ASSE

SSM

ENT

QU

ALIT

Y 1:

En

suri

ng q

ualit

y

Ther

e is

no t

echn

ical

rep

ort

or o

ther

do

cum

enta

tion.

Th

ere

is so

me

docu

men

tatio

n on

the

ex

amin

atio

n, b

ut i

t is

not

in a

for

mal

re

port

form

at.

Ther

e is

a co

mpr

ehen

sive

tech

nica

l re

port

but

with

rest

ricte

d ci

rcul

atio

n. 2

2 Th

ere

is a

com

preh

ensiv

e, h

igh

qual

ity

tech

nica

l rep

ort

avai

labl

e to

the

gen

eral

pu

blic

.

Ther

e ar

e no

mec

hani

sms

in p

lace

to

ensu

re th

e qu

ality

of t

he e

xam

inat

ion.

Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

Ther

e ar

e lim

ited

syst

emat

ic m

echa

nism

s in

pla

ce t

o en

sure

the

qua

lity

of t

he

exam

inat

ion.

23

Ther

e ar

e va

ried

and

syst

emat

ic

mec

hani

sms

in

plac

e to

en

sure

th

e qu

ality

of t

he e

xam

inat

ion.

ASSE

SSM

ENT

QU

ALIT

Y 2:

En

suri

ng fa

irne

ss

Inap

prop

riate

beh

avio

r su

rrou

ndin

g th

e ex

amin

atio

n pr

oces

s is h

igh.

24

Inap

prop

riate

beh

avio

r su

rrou

ndin

g th

e ex

amin

atio

n pr

oces

s is m

oder

ate.

In

appr

opria

te b

ehav

ior

surr

ound

ing

the

exam

inat

ion

proc

ess i

s low

. In

appr

opria

te b

ehav

ior

surr

ound

ing

the

exam

inat

ion

proc

ess i

s mar

gina

l.

The

exam

inat

ion

resu

lts l

ack

cred

ibili

ty

for a

ll st

akeh

olde

r gro

ups.

Th

e ex

amin

atio

n re

sults

are

cre

dibl

e fo

r so

me

stak

ehol

der g

roup

s.

The

exam

inat

ion

resu

lts a

re c

redi

ble

for

all s

take

hold

er g

roup

s.25

Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

The

maj

ority

of

the

stud

ents

(ov

er 5

0%)

may

not

take

the

exam

inat

ion

beca

use

of

lang

uage

, ge

nder

, or

oth

er e

quiv

alen

t ba

rrie

rs.

A sig

nific

ant

prop

ortio

n of

st

uden

ts

(10%

-50%

) may

not

take

the

exam

inat

ion

beca

use

of l

angu

age,

gen

der,

or o

ther

eq

uiva

lent

bar

riers

.

A sm

all p

ropo

rtio

n of

stu

dent

s (le

ss th

an

10%

) m

ay

not

take

th

e ex

amin

atio

n be

caus

e of

lan

guag

e, g

ende

r, or

oth

er

equi

vale

nt b

arrie

rs.

All

stud

ents

can

tak

e th

e ex

amin

atio

n;

ther

e ar

e no

lang

uage

, ge

nder

or

othe

r eq

uiva

lent

bar

riers

.26

(CO

NTI

NU

ED)

* *

*

*

*

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SYST

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RES

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S 39

LA

TEN

T EM

ERGI

NG

ESTA

BLIS

HED

AD

VAN

CED

ASSE

SSM

ENT

QU

ALIT

Y 3:

Us

ing

exam

inat

ion

info

rmat

ion

in a

fair

way

Exam

inat

ion

resu

lts a

re n

ot u

sed

in a

pr

oper

way

by

all s

take

hold

er g

roup

s.

Exam

inat

ion

resu

lts a

re u

sed

by s

ome

stak

ehol

der g

roup

s in

a pr

oper

way

. Ex

amin

atio

n re

sults

are

use

d by

mos

t st

akeh

olde

r gro

ups i

n a

prop

er w

ay. 2

7 Ex

amin

atio

n re

sults

ar

e us

ed

by

all

stak

ehol

der g

roup

s in

a pr

oper

way

.

Stud

ent n

ames

and

resu

lts a

re p

ublic

. Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

Stud

ents

’ res

ults

are

con

fiden

tial. 2

8 Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

ASSE

SSM

ENT

QU

ALIT

Y 4:

En

suri

ng p

ositi

ve c

onse

quen

ces o

f the

exa

min

atio

n

Ther

e ar

e no

opt

ions

for

stu

dent

s w

ho

do n

ot p

erfo

rm w

ell o

n th

e ex

amin

atio

n,

or s

tude

nts

mus

t le

ave

the

educ

atio

n sy

stem

.

Ther

e ar

e ve

ry

limite

d op

tions

fo

r st

uden

ts w

ho d

o no

t per

form

wel

l on

the

exam

inat

ion.

29

Ther

e ar

e so

me

optio

ns fo

r stu

dent

s who

do

not

per

form

wel

l on

the

exam

inat

ion.

Th

ere

is a

varie

ty o

f opt

ions

for

stud

ents

w

ho

do

not

perf

orm

w

ell

on

the

exam

inat

ion.

Ther

e ar

e no

mec

hani

sms

in p

lace

to

mon

itor

the

cons

eque

nces

of

th

e ex

amin

atio

n.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

ere

are

som

e m

echa

nism

s in

pla

ce t

o m

onito

r th

e co

nseq

uenc

es

of

the

exam

inat

ion.

30

Ther

e is

a va

riety

of m

echa

nism

s in

pla

ce

to

mon

itor

the

cons

eque

nces

of

th

e ex

amin

atio

n.

* *

*

*

GHAN

A S

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SSM

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PORT

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SYST

EMS

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ULT

S 40

Exam

inat

ions

– W

est A

fric

an S

econ

dary

Sch

ool C

ertif

icat

e Ex

amin

atio

n (W

ASSC

E): Devel

opment-level

rating justifica

tions 1.

The

Wes

t Afr

ican

Sec

onda

ry S

choo

l Cer

tific

ate

Exam

inat

ion

(WAS

SCE)

is ta

ken

at th

e en

d of

seni

or h

igh

scho

ol in

Gha

na a

nd fo

ur o

ther

Ang

loph

one

coun

trie

s, w

hich

incl

ude

Nig

eria

, Sie

rra

Leon

e, L

iber

ia, a

nd G

ambi

a. W

ASSC

E w

as f

irst

adm

inist

ered

in D

ecem

ber

1993

and

cov

ers

core

sub

ject

s in

Sen

ior

High

Sch

ool,

whi

ch a

re E

nglis

h la

ngua

ge, M

athe

mat

ics,

Inte

grat

ed S

cien

ce, a

nd S

ocia

l Stu

dies

, and

ele

ctiv

e su

bjec

ts, w

hich

incl

ude

topi

cs r

elat

ed t

o Ag

ricul

ture

, Sci

ence

, Ge

nera

l Art

s, Bu

sines

s, an

d Vo

catio

nal.

Stud

ents

in G

rade

12

take

the

exam

in th

e to

pics

rele

vant

to th

eir c

hose

n fie

lds

of s

tudy

, with

resu

lts u

sed

in c

ertif

ying

se

nior

hig

h sc

hool

com

plet

ion

and

dete

rmin

ing

sele

ctio

n to

uni

vers

ity o

r oth

er h

ighe

r-ed

ucat

ion

inst

itutio

ns, a

s w

ell a

s fo

r mon

itorin

g ed

ucat

ion

qual

ity le

vels,

an

d pl

anni

ng e

duca

tion

polic

y re

form

s.

2. T

he W

est

Afric

an E

xam

inat

ion

Coun

cil (

WAE

C) O

rdin

ance

No.

40

of 1

951,

from

The

Leg

islat

ive

Asse

mbl

y of

the

Gol

d Co

ast,

auth

orize

d th

e ex

amin

atio

n in

19

51.

3.

The

polic

y do

cum

ent

is no

t av

aila

ble

to

the

publ

ic.

How

ever

, ce

rtai

n in

form

atio

n ab

out

the

polic

y do

cum

ent

is m

ade

avai

labl

e on

th

e ht

tp:/

/ww

w.g

hana

wae

c.or

g/ a

nd h

ttp:

//w

ww

.gha

naw

eb.c

om/G

hana

Hom

ePag

e/ed

ucat

ion/

wae

c.ht

ml w

ebsit

es.

4. T

he p

olic

y do

cum

ent d

escr

ibes

the

purp

ose

of th

e ex

amin

atio

n, d

escr

ibes

aut

horiz

ed u

se o

f res

ults

, out

lines

pro

cedu

res

to in

vest

igat

e an

d ad

dres

s se

curit

y br

each

es, c

heat

ing,

or

othe

r fo

rms

of in

appr

opria

te b

ehav

ior,

spec

ifies

who

can

sit

for

the

exam

inat

ion,

iden

tifie

s ru

les

abou

t pr

epar

atio

n, e

xpla

ins

alig

nmen

t w

ith c

urric

ula

and

stan

dard

s, a

nd e

xpla

ins

the

form

at o

f the

exa

min

atio

n qu

estio

ns. T

he p

olic

y do

cum

ent d

oes

not o

utlin

e go

vern

ance

, dist

ribut

ion

of p

ower

, re

spon

sibili

ties a

mon

g ke

y en

titie

s, fu

ndin

g so

urce

s, o

r out

line

the

proc

edur

es fo

r spe

cial

/disa

dvan

tage

d st

uden

ts.

5. P

olic

ymak

ers,

teac

hers

uni

ons,

edu

cato

rs, s

tude

nts,

par

ents

, med

ia, t

hink

-tank

s, N

GOs,

univ

ersit

ies,

and

em

ploy

ers a

ll st

rong

ly su

ppor

t the

WAE

C.

6.

Ther

e ar

e co

ordi

nate

d at

tem

pts

to im

prov

e th

e ex

amin

atio

n by

sta

keho

lder

gro

ups.

The

Con

fere

nce

of H

eads

of A

ssist

ed S

econ

dary

Sch

ools

(CHA

SS) h

as

take

n st

eps

to c

urb

exam

inat

ion

irreg

ular

ities

, and

pro

min

ent

educ

atio

nist

s, t

each

er u

nion

s, an

d re

sear

cher

s fr

om W

AEC

and

tert

iary

inst

itutio

ns, a

re r

aisin

g aw

aren

ess t

hrou

gh sp

eech

es, r

esea

rch,

and

mee

tings

.

7. W

AEC

prov

ides

opp

ortu

nitie

s fo

r res

earc

hers

to m

ake

pres

enta

tions

at m

onth

ly s

emin

ars

and

wor

ksho

ps, a

nd W

AEC

lead

ersh

ip d

iscus

ses

reco

mm

enda

tions

di

rect

ly re

late

d to

impr

ovin

g th

e ex

amin

atio

n.

8. A

ll pa

rtic

ipat

ing

WAE

C co

untr

ies c

ontr

ibut

e go

vern

men

t fun

ding

to W

AEC.

Fun

ding

is a

lso p

rovi

ded

thro

ugh

stud

ent f

ees.

9.

Fun

ding

also

cov

ers l

ong

- or m

ediu

m- t

erm

pla

nnin

g of

pro

gram

mile

ston

es, a

nd st

aff t

rain

ing.

10

. Fu

ndin

g co

vers

rese

arch

and

dev

elop

men

t.

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11.

WAE

C is

a se

mi-a

uton

omou

s cou

ncil

that

has

bee

n in

cha

rge

of ru

nnin

g th

e ex

amin

atio

n sin

ce 1

951.

12

. W

AEC

is ac

coun

tabl

e to

the

Min

istry

of E

duca

tion.

13

. Ex

amin

atio

n re

sults

are

offi

cial

ly re

cogn

ized

in G

hana

and

in th

e co

untr

ies o

f the

Wes

t Afr

ican

sub

regi

on.

14. W

AEC

has

com

pute

rs fo

r al

l tec

hnic

al s

taff,

a s

ecur

e bu

ildin

g, s

ecur

e st

orag

e fa

cilit

ies,

acce

ss t

o ad

equa

te c

ompu

ter

serv

ers,

abi

lity

to b

acku

p da

ta, a

nd

adeq

uate

com

mun

icat

ion

tool

s.

15.

Ther

e is

an a

dequ

ate

num

ber

(in t

erm

s of

qua

lity

and

quan

tity)

of

full-

time

and

part

-tim

e st

aff,

man

y of

who

m h

ave

rece

ived

tra

inin

g ov

erse

as o

n ex

amin

atio

n m

anag

emen

t. Pa

rt-t

ime

staf

f m

embe

rs t

ake

on w

ork

rela

ted

to p

aper

set

ting,

mar

king

, scr

ipt

chec

king

, etc

. The

re h

ave

been

min

imal

issu

es in

ca

rryi

ng o

ut th

e ex

amin

atio

n ef

fect

ivel

y, th

ough

ther

e ha

ve b

een

case

s of e

xam

inat

ion

mal

prac

tices

larg

ely

due

to th

e la

xity

of s

uper

viso

rs.

16.

Uni

vers

ity g

radu

ate

prog

ram

s an

d un

iver

sity

cour

ses

on e

duca

tiona

l mea

sure

men

t an

d ev

alua

tion

prov

ide

oppo

rtun

ities

tha

t pr

epar

e fo

r w

ork

on t

he

exam

inat

ion.

Uni

vers

ity o

f Ca

pe C

oast

(U

CC)

has

a po

st-g

radu

ate

prog

ram

in e

duca

tiona

l mea

sure

men

t an

d ev

alua

tion,

and

UCC

, U

nive

rsity

of

Educ

atio

n,

Win

neba

(UE

W),

and

colle

ges

of E

duca

tion

offe

r co

urse

s in

intr

oduc

tory

edu

catio

nal m

easu

rem

ent

and

eval

uatio

n. A

lso,

fund

ing

is av

aila

ble

for

atte

ndin

g in

tern

atio

nal p

rogr

ams,

cou

rses

, and

wor

ksho

ps o

n ed

ucat

iona

l mea

sure

men

t an

d ev

alua

tion,

whi

ch is

larg

ely

for

staf

f of E

xam

inat

ion

units

and

cen

tres

and

le

ctur

ers i

n un

iver

sitie

s who

hav

e re

sear

ched

or w

ritte

n pa

pers

. 17

. Th

e ex

amin

atio

n m

easu

res

the

inte

rnat

iona

lly r

ecog

nize

d an

d na

tiona

l sch

ool c

urric

ulum

gui

delin

es o

r st

anda

rds,

as

the

exam

inat

ion

sylla

bus

is de

signe

d ba

sed

on th

e te

achi

ng s

ylla

buse

s of

var

ious

nat

ions

, inc

ludi

ng G

hana

. How

ever

, mos

t tea

cher

s do

not

see

the

WAE

C ex

amin

atio

n sy

llabu

s, a

s it

is on

ly a

vaila

ble

to th

e ex

amin

ers.

The

exa

min

atio

n al

so m

easu

res

the

inte

rnat

iona

lly re

cogn

ized

curr

icul

um g

uide

lines

or s

tand

ards

. One

of t

he m

ajor

role

s of

WAE

C's

subj

ect

pane

ls fo

r th

e va

rious

WAS

SCE

subj

ects

is t

o en

sure

a g

ood

alig

nmen

t or

mat

ch b

etw

een

the

requ

irem

ents

of t

he W

AEC

exam

inat

ion

sylla

bus

and

the

CRDD

of

ficia

l cur

ricul

um.

18.

Som

e st

akeh

olde

r gro

ups

ques

tion

wha

t the

exa

min

atio

n m

easu

res.

For

exa

mpl

e, h

eads

of p

rivat

e un

iver

sitie

s ex

pres

sed

conc

ern

over

the

non-

acce

ptan

ce

of th

e D7

WAS

SCE

grad

es.

19. E

xam

ples

of t

he ty

pes o

f que

stio

ns th

at a

re o

n th

e ex

amin

atio

n ar

e av

aila

ble

for s

ale

to th

e pu

blic

. Som

e in

form

atio

n on

how

to p

repa

re fo

r the

exa

min

atio

n is

avai

labl

e on

line,

and

a re

port

on

the

stre

ngth

s and

wea

knes

ses i

n st

uden

t per

form

ance

is se

nt to

key

stak

ehol

ders

and

ava

ilabl

e fo

r sal

e on

line.

20

. W

orks

hops

are

org

anize

d by

WAE

C fo

r te

ache

rs w

ho a

re a

ppoi

nted

as

exam

iner

s (m

arki

ng s

crip

ts) a

nd it

em w

riter

s (c

hief

exa

min

ers)

. The

wor

ksho

ps a

re

need

-bas

ed, b

ut d

epen

d on

the

avai

labi

lity

of fu

nds a

t WAE

C. W

orks

hops

are

also

offe

red

to n

ewly

app

oint

ed st

aff.

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RES

ULT

S 42

21.

Teac

hers

are

hire

d on

ly a

s te

mpo

rary

/par

t-tim

e st

aff f

or a

dmin

ister

ing

the

exam

inat

ion,

sco

ring

the

exam

inat

ion,

and

sup

ervi

sing

exam

inat

ion

proc

edur

es.

Thei

r wor

k en

ds w

hen

the

task

s are

com

plet

ed, a

lthou

gh so

me

are

hire

d on

a re

gula

r bas

is.

22.

Ther

e is

a co

mpr

ehen

sive

tech

nica

l rep

ort,

but c

ircul

atio

n is

very

rest

ricte

d. T

he re

port

is n

ot a

vaila

ble

to th

e pu

blic

and

eve

n so

me

perm

anen

t sta

ff of

the

Coun

cil d

o no

t hav

e ac

cess

to it

. 23

. In

tern

al a

nd e

xter

nal r

evie

w o

r obs

erve

rs a

nd p

ilot o

r fie

ld te

stin

g ar

e in

pla

ce to

ens

ure

the

qual

ity o

f the

exa

min

atio

n.

24.

Inap

prop

riate

beh

avio

rs o

bser

ved

incl

ude:

leak

age

of th

e co

nten

t of a

n ex

amin

atio

n pa

per o

r par

t of a

pap

er p

rior t

o th

e ex

amin

atio

n, im

pers

onat

ion

whe

n an

indi

vidu

al o

ther

than

the

regi

ster

ed c

andi

date

take

s the

exa

min

atio

n, c

opyi

ng fr

om o

ther

can

dida

tes,

usin

g un

auth

orize

d m

ater

ials

such

as p

repa

red

answ

ers

and

note

s, c

ollu

sion

amon

g ca

ndid

ates

via

mob

ile p

hone

s, p

assin

g of

pap

er, o

r eq

uiva

lent

, iss

uing

forg

ed c

ertif

icat

es o

r al

terin

g re

sults

info

rmat

ion,

and

the

pr

ovisi

on o

f ext

erna

l ass

istan

ce v

ia th

e su

perv

isor,

mob

ile p

hone

, etc

. 25

. St

akeh

olde

r gro

ups

perc

eive

the

exam

as

cred

ible

bec

ause

ther

e is

no a

ltern

ativ

e fo

r sel

ectio

n to

tert

iary

edu

catio

n, a

nd b

ecau

se th

ey d

o no

t bel

ieve

the

scal

e of

mal

prac

tice

to b

e la

rge

enou

gh to

affe

ct th

e cr

edib

ility

of t

he re

sults

. In

2011

, WAE

C re

port

ed m

alpr

actic

es to

affe

ct 2

.83

perc

ent o

f the

tota

l num

ber o

f st

uden

ts w

ho p

artic

ipat

ed in

the

exam

. Add

ition

ally

, sta

keho

lder

s hav

e fa

ith in

the

resu

lts b

ecau

se o

ffend

ers a

re p

unish

ed se

vere

ly.

26.

All s

tude

nts c

an ta

ke th

e ex

amin

atio

n; th

ere

are

no la

ngua

ge, g

ende

r or o

ther

equ

ival

ent b

arrie

rs.

27.

Som

e ca

ndid

ates

fake

thei

r res

ults

whe

n ap

plyi

ng fo

r fur

ther

edu

catio

n or

jobs

; the

refo

re, W

AEC

prov

ides

serv

ices

for v

erifi

catio

n of

resu

lts to

org

aniza

tions

an

d in

stitu

tions

who

wan

t to

auth

entic

ate

the

exam

inat

ion

resu

lts o

f the

ir pr

ospe

ctiv

e st

uden

ts a

nd/o

r em

ploy

ees.

WAE

C is

taki

ng s

teps

to p

reve

nt th

e us

e of

fa

ke re

sults

' slip

s for

adm

issio

n to

hig

her i

nstit

utio

ns a

nd o

ther

frau

dule

nt p

ract

ices b

y iss

uing

cer

tific

ates

that

con

tain

som

e se

curit

y fe

atur

es.

28.

Onl

y th

e st

uden

t and

per

sons

with

a le

gitim

ate,

pro

fess

iona

l int

eres

t in

the

test

take

r can

kno

w th

e re

sults

. 29

. St

uden

ts w

ho d

o no

t per

form

wel

l on

the

exam

inat

ion

may

reta

ke th

e ex

amin

atio

n or

att

end

rem

edia

l or p

repa

rato

ry c

ours

es in

ord

er to

pre

pare

to re

take

it.

30

. Th

e Te

st D

evel

opm

ent D

ivisi

on (T

DD) o

f the

WAE

C ac

ts a

s a p

erm

anen

t ove

rsig

ht c

omm

ittee

and

exp

ert r

evie

w g

roup

.

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A S

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EMS

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ULT

S 43

GHAN

A Na

tiona

l (or

Sys

tem

-Lev

el) L

arge

-Sca

le A

sses

smen

t (NL

SA)

GHAN

A S

TUDE

NT

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SSM

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PORT

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SYST

EMS

APPR

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TTER

EDU

CATI

ON

RES

ULT

S 44

ENAB

LIN

G CO

NTE

XT

Ove

rall

fram

ewor

k of

pol

icies

, lea

ders

hip,

org

aniza

tiona

l str

uctu

res,

fisca

l and

hum

an re

sour

ces i

n w

hich

NLS

A ac

tivity

take

s pla

ce in

a co

untr

y or

syst

em a

nd th

e ex

tent

to w

hich

that

fram

ewor

k is

cond

uciv

e to

, or s

uppo

rtiv

e of

, the

NLS

A ac

tivity

. LA

TEN

T EM

ERGI

NG

ESTA

BLIS

HED

AD

VAN

CED

ENAB

LIN

G CO

NTE

XT 1

:

Sett

ing

clea

r po

licie

s for

NLS

A

No

NLS

A ex

erci

se h

as ta

ken

plac

e.

The

NLS

A ha

s be

en

oper

atin

g on

an

irr

egul

ar b

asis.

Th

e N

LSA

is a

stab

le p

rogr

am t

hat

has

been

ope

ratin

g re

gula

rly. 1

Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

Ther

e is

no p

olic

y do

cum

ent

pert

aini

ng

to N

LSA.

Th

ere

is an

in

form

al

or

draf

t po

licy

docu

men

t tha

t aut

horiz

es th

e N

LSA.

Th

ere

is a

form

al p

olic

y do

cum

ent

that

au

thor

izes t

he N

LSA.

2 Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

e po

licy

docu

men

t is

not

avai

labl

e to

th

e pu

blic

. Th

e po

licy

docu

men

t is

avai

labl

e to

the

pu

blic

.3 Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

Ther

e is

no p

lan

for N

LSA

activ

ity.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

ere

is a

gene

ral u

nder

stan

ding

that

the

NLS

A w

ill ta

ke p

lace

. Th

ere

is a

writ

ten

NLS

A pl

an f

or t

he

com

ing

year

s. 4

ENAB

LIN

G CO

NTE

XT 2

: H

avin

g st

rong

pub

lic e

ngag

emen

t for

NLS

A

All

stak

ehol

der

grou

ps s

tron

gly

oppo

se

the

NLS

A or

are

indi

ffere

nt to

it.

Som

e st

akeh

olde

r gr

oups

op

pose

th

e N

LSA.

M

ost

stak

ehol

ders

gro

ups

supp

ort

the

NLS

A. 5

Al

l sta

keho

lder

gro

ups s

uppo

rt th

e N

LSA.

(CO

NTI

NU

ED)

* * *

*

*

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S 45

LA

TEN

T EM

ERGI

NG

ESTA

BLIS

HED

AD

VAN

CED

ENAB

LIN

G CO

NTE

XT 3

: H

avin

g re

gula

r fu

ndin

g fo

r NL

SA

Ther

e is

no f

undi

ng a

lloca

ted

to t

he

NLS

A.

Ther

e is

irreg

ular

fun

ding

allo

cate

d to

th

e N

LSA.

6 Th

ere

is re

gula

r fu

ndin

g al

loca

ted

to t

he

NLS

A Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Fu

ndin

g co

vers

so

me

core

N

LSA

activ

ities

: des

ign,

adm

inist

ratio

n, a

naly

sis

and

repo

rtin

g.

Fund

ing

cove

rs a

ll co

re N

LSA

activ

ities

: de

sign,

ad

min

istra

tion,

an

alys

is an

d re

port

ing.

7

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Fu

ndin

g do

es n

ot c

over

res

earc

h an

d de

velo

pmen

t act

iviti

es.8

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Fu

ndin

g co

vers

re

sear

ch

and

deve

lopm

ent a

ctiv

ities

.

ENAB

LIN

G CO

NTE

XT 4

: H

avin

g st

rong

org

aniz

atio

nal s

truc

ture

s for

NLS

A

Ther

e is

no N

LSA

offic

e, a

d ho

c un

it or

te

am.

The

NLS

A of

fice

is a

tem

pora

ry a

genc

y or

gr

oup

of p

eopl

e.

The

NLS

A of

fice

is a

perm

anen

t ag

ency

, in

stitu

tion

or u

nit.9

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Po

litic

al c

onsid

erat

ions

reg

ular

ly h

ampe

r te

chni

cal c

onsid

erat

ions

. Po

litic

al

cons

ider

atio

ns

som

etim

es

ham

per t

echn

ical

con

sider

atio

ns. 1

0 Po

litic

al

cons

ider

atio

ns

neve

r ha

mpe

r te

chni

cal c

onsid

erat

ions

.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

e N

LSA

offic

e is

not

acco

unta

ble

to a

cl

early

reco

gniz

ed b

ody.

Th

e N

LSA

offic

e is

acco

unta

ble

to

a cl

early

reco

gniz

ed b

ody.

11

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

(CO

NTI

NU

ED)

* *

* * **

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S 46

LATE

NT

EMER

GIN

G ES

TABL

ISH

ED

ADVA

NCE

D

ENAB

LIN

G CO

NTE

XT 5

:

Hav

ing

effe

ctiv

e hu

man

res

ourc

es fo

r NL

SA

Ther

e is

no s

taff

allo

cate

d fo

r ru

nnin

g an

N

LSA.

Th

e N

LSA

offic

e is

inad

equa

tely

sta

ffed

to e

ffect

ivel

y ca

rry

out t

he a

sses

smen

t.12

The

NLS

A of

fice

is ad

equa

tely

sta

ffed

to

carr

y ou

t th

e N

LSA

effe

ctiv

ely,

w

ith

min

imal

issu

es.

The

NLS

A of

fice

is ad

equa

tely

sta

ffed

to

carr

y ou

t th

e N

LSA

effe

ctiv

ely,

with

no

issue

s.

The

coun

try

does

not

offe

r opp

ortu

nitie

s th

at

prep

are

indi

vidu

als

for

wor

k on

N

LSA.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

e co

untr

y of

fers

som

e op

port

uniti

es to

pr

epar

e in

divi

dual

s fo

r w

ork

on

the

NLS

A.13

The

coun

try

offe

rs

a w

ide

rang

e of

op

port

uniti

es t

o pr

epar

e in

divi

dual

s fo

r w

ork

on th

e N

LSA.

*

*

GHAN

A S

TUDE

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ASSE

SSM

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PORT

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EMS

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S 47

SYST

EM A

LIGN

MEN

T De

gree

to w

hich

the

NLSA

is co

here

nt w

ith o

ther

com

pone

nts o

f the

edu

catio

n sy

stem

. LA

TEN

T EM

ERGI

NG

ESTA

BLIS

HED

AD

VAN

CED

SYST

EM A

LIGN

MEN

T 1:

Al

igni

ng th

e NL

SA w

ith

lear

ning

goa

ls

It is

not

clea

r if

the

NLS

A is

base

d on

cu

rric

ulum

or l

earn

ing

stan

dard

s.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

e N

LSA

mea

sure

s pe

rfor

man

ce a

gain

st

curr

icul

um o

r lea

rnin

g st

anda

rds.

14

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Wha

t th

e N

LSA

mea

sure

s is

gene

rally

qu

estio

ned

by st

akeh

olde

r gro

ups.

Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

Wha

t th

e N

LSA

mea

sure

s is

ques

tione

d by

som

e st

akeh

olde

r gro

ups.

W

hat

the

NLS

A m

easu

res

is la

rgel

y ac

cept

ed b

y st

akeh

olde

r gro

ups.

15

Ther

e ar

e no

mec

hani

sms

in p

lace

to

ensu

re

that

th

e N

LSA

accu

rate

ly

mea

sure

s w

hat

it is

supp

osed

to

m

easu

re.

Ther

e ar

e ad

hoc

rev

iew

s of

the

NLS

A to

en

sure

th

at

it m

easu

res

wha

t it

is in

tend

ed to

mea

sure

.

Ther

e ar

e re

gula

r in

tern

al r

evie

ws

of t

he

NLS

A to

ens

ure

that

it m

easu

res

wha

t it

is in

tend

ed to

mea

sure

. 16

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

SYST

EM A

LIGN

MEN

T 2:

Pr

ovid

ing

teac

hers

wit

h op

port

uniti

es to

lear

n ab

out t

he N

LSA

Ther

e ar

e no

cou

rses

or

wor

ksho

ps o

n th

e N

LSA.

17

Ther

e ar

e oc

casio

nal

cour

ses

or

wor

ksho

ps o

n th

e N

LSA.

Th

ere

are

som

e co

urse

s or

wor

ksho

ps o

n th

e N

LSA

offe

red

on a

regu

lar b

asis.

Th

ere

are

wid

ely

avai

labl

e hi

gh q

ualit

y co

urse

s or

w

orks

hops

on

th

e N

LSA

offe

red

on a

regu

lar b

asis.

*

*

*

*

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S 48

ASSE

SSM

ENT

QU

ALIT

Y De

gree

to w

hich

the

NLSA

mee

ts te

chni

cal s

tand

ards

, is f

air,

and

is us

ed in

an

effe

ctiv

e w

ay.

LATE

NT

EMER

GIN

G ES

TABL

ISH

ED

ADVA

NCE

D

ASSE

SSM

ENT

QU

ALIT

Y 1:

En

suri

ng th

e qu

alit

y of

the

NLSA

No

optio

ns a

re o

ffere

d to

inc

lude

all

grou

ps o

f stu

dent

s in

the

NLS

A.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

At

leas

t on

e op

tion

is of

fere

d to

incl

ude

all g

roup

s of s

tude

nts i

n th

e N

LSA.

18

Diffe

rent

opt

ions

are

offe

red

to i

nclu

de

all g

roup

s of s

tude

nts i

n th

e N

LSA.

Ther

e ar

e no

mec

hani

sms

in p

lace

to

ensu

re th

e qu

ality

of t

he N

LSA.

Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

Ther

e ar

e so

me

mec

hani

sms

in p

lace

to

ensu

re th

e qu

ality

of t

he N

LSA.

19

Ther

e ar

e a

varie

ty o

f m

echa

nism

s in

pl

ace

to e

nsur

e th

e qu

ality

of t

he N

LSA.

Ther

e is

no t

echn

ical

rep

ort

or o

ther

do

cum

enta

tion

abou

t the

NLS

A.

Ther

e is

som

e do

cum

enta

tion

abou

t th

e te

chni

cal

aspe

cts

of t

he N

LSA,

but

it

is no

t in

a fo

rmal

repo

rt fo

rmat

.

Ther

e is

a co

mpr

ehen

sive

tech

nica

l re

port

but

with

rest

ricte

d ci

rcul

atio

n. 2

0 Th

ere

is a

com

preh

ensiv

e, h

igh

qual

ity

tech

nica

l rep

ort

avai

labl

e to

the

gen

eral

pu

blic

.

ASSE

SSM

ENT

QU

ALIT

Y 2:

En

suri

ng e

ffect

ive

uses

of t

he N

LSA

NLS

A re

sults

are

not

diss

emin

ated

. N

LSA

resu

lts a

re p

oorly

diss

emin

ated

. N

LSA

resu

lts

are

diss

emin

ated

in

an

ef

fect

ive

way

. 21

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

NLS

A in

form

atio

n is

not

used

or

is us

ed

in w

ays

inco

nsist

ent

with

the

pur

pose

s or

the

tec

hnic

al c

hara

cter

istic

s of

the

as

sess

men

t.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

N

LSA

resu

lts

are

used

by

so

me

stak

ehol

der

grou

ps

in

a w

ay

that

is

cons

isten

t w

ith

the

purp

oses

an

d te

chni

cal

char

acte

ristic

s of

th

e as

sess

men

t. 22

NLS

A in

form

atio

n is

used

by

al

l st

akeh

olde

r gr

oups

in

a

way

th

at

is co

nsist

ent

with

th

e pu

rpos

es

and

tech

nica

l ch

arac

teris

tics

of

the

asse

ssm

ent.

Ther

e ar

e no

mec

hani

sms

in p

lace

to

mon

itor t

he c

onse

quen

ces o

f the

NLS

A Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

Ther

e ar

e so

me

mec

hani

sms

in p

lace

to

mon

itor t

he c

onse

quen

ces o

f the

NLS

A.23

Th

ere

are

a va

riety

of

mec

hani

sms

in

plac

e to

mon

itor

the

cons

eque

nces

of

the

NLS

A.

* * * * * *

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S 49

Natio

nal (

or S

yste

m-L

evel

) Lar

ge S

cale

Ass

essm

ent (

NLSA

): Developmen

t-level rating j

ustifications

1. T

he N

atio

nal E

duca

tion

Asse

ssm

ent (

NEA

) was

hel

d in

200

5, 2

007,

200

9, a

nd 2

011.

A re

pres

enta

tive

rand

om sa

mpl

e of

stud

ents

(inc

ludi

ng th

ose

enro

lled

in

priv

ate

scho

ols)

in G

rade

s 3 a

nd 6

wer

e te

sted

in b

oth

Engl

ish la

ngua

ge a

nd M

athe

mat

ics,

with

the

purp

ose

of m

onito

ring

educ

atio

n qu

ality

at t

he sy

stem

leve

l, an

d in

form

ing

polic

y de

sign,

eva

luat

ion,

and

dec

ision

-mak

ing.

2.

The

Edu

catio

n Se

ctor

Pla

n (E

SP) f

or 2

003-

2015

, aut

horiz

ed in

200

4 by

the

Min

istry

of E

duca

tion

and

the

Ghan

a Ed

ucat

ion

Serv

ice

(GES

), ca

lled

for t

he

esta

blish

men

t of a

n as

sess

men

t sys

tem

to m

onito

r the

qua

lity

of b

asic

edu

catio

n.

3. T

he E

SP w

as d

istrib

uted

to st

akeh

olde

r ins

titut

ions

, uni

vers

ities

, and

pub

lic li

brar

ies.

Add

ition

ally

, sta

keho

lder

diss

emin

atio

n m

eetin

gs re

late

d to

the

polic

y do

cum

ent w

ere

held

. 4.

The

Gha

na A

ll Ch

ildre

n Re

adin

g Pl

an, w

hich

will

soon

be

shar

ed w

ith st

akeh

olde

rs, o

utlin

es a

sses

smen

ts p

lann

ed fo

r the

nex

t fiv

e ye

ars.

Ass

essm

ents

pla

nned

in

clud

e th

e N

EA (a

s wel

l as t

he E

arly

Gra

de R

eadi

ng A

sses

smen

t (EG

RA) a

nd th

e Ea

rly G

rade

Mat

hem

atic

s Ass

essm

ent (

EGM

A)).

5. P

olic

ymak

ers,

teac

her u

nion

s, e

duca

tors

, stu

dent

s, th

ink

tank

s and

NGO

s, an

d un

iver

sitie

s sup

port

the

NEA,

whi

le th

e m

edia

and

em

ploy

ers a

re n

eutr

al to

it.

6. T

here

is re

gula

r (co

ntin

uous

and

pre

dict

able

) fun

ding

allo

cate

d on

ly b

y no

n-go

vern

men

t sou

rces

, spe

cific

ally

by

USA

ID.

7. F

undi

ng c

over

s ass

essm

ent d

esig

n an

d ad

min

istra

tion,

dat

a an

alys

is an

d re

port

ing,

long

- or m

ediu

m-te

rm p

lann

ing

for p

rogr

am m

ilest

ones

, and

staf

f tra

inin

g.

8. F

undi

ng d

oes n

ot c

over

rese

arch

and

dev

elop

men

t act

iviti

es.

9. T

he N

LSA

offic

e, th

e As

sess

men

t Ser

vice

s Uni

t (AS

U), i

s a p

erm

anen

t uni

t cre

ated

for r

unni

ng th

e as

sess

men

t. 10

. Di

ssem

inat

ion

of N

EA re

sults

is so

met

imes

hin

dere

d by

pol

itica

l con

sider

atio

ns th

ough

resu

lts h

ave

been

pub

lishe

d by

inte

rnat

iona

l org

aniza

tions

. 11

. The

Ass

essm

ent S

ervi

ces U

nit (

ASU

) is a

ccou

ntab

le to

the

Depu

ty D

irect

or-G

ener

al fo

r Qua

lity

& A

cces

s and

the

Dire

ctor

of t

he C

urric

ulum

Res

earc

h an

d De

velo

pmen

t Div

ision

(CRD

D) in

the

GES,

the

Divi

sion

resp

onsib

le fo

r pre

-ter

tiary

edu

catio

n in

the

Min

istry

of E

duca

tion.

12

. Th

ere

is pe

rman

ent o

r ful

l-tim

e st

aff,

but i

t is i

nsuf

ficie

nt to

mee

t the

nee

ds o

f the

NEA

. ASU

som

etim

es re

lies o

n CR

DD st

aff f

or a

sses

smen

t act

iviti

es.

13.

The

Uni

vers

ity o

f Cap

e Co

ast o

ffers

an

M.P

hil.

prog

ram

in E

duca

tiona

l Mea

sure

men

t and

Eva

luat

ion.

Add

ition

ally

, fun

ding

has

bee

n m

ade

avai

labl

e fo

r te

ache

rs, e

duca

tion

offic

ers,

and

lect

urer

s for

att

endi

ng in

tern

atio

nal p

rogr

ams o

r cou

rses

or w

orks

hops

on

educ

atio

nal m

easu

rem

ent a

nd e

valu

atio

n.

GHAN

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SSM

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PORT

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S 50

14.

The

NLSA

mea

sure

s per

form

ance

aga

inst

nat

iona

l/sys

tem

or s

tate

-leve

l cur

ricul

um g

uide

lines

or l

earn

ing

stan

dard

s.

15.

No o

ppos

ition

to th

e NL

SA h

as b

een

expr

esse

d by

nat

iona

l or n

on-n

atio

nal s

take

hold

er g

roup

s.

16.

Ther

e is

regu

lar i

ndep

ende

nt a

s wel

l as r

egul

ar in

tern

al re

view

by

qual

ified

exp

erts

of t

he a

lignm

ent b

etw

een

the

asse

ssm

ent i

nstr

umen

t and

wha

t it i

s su

ppos

ed to

mea

sure

. At e

very

test

item

sett

ing

time,

exp

erts

take

par

t in

revi

ewin

g th

e de

sign

and

qual

ity it

ems,

and

tria

l tes

ting

is ca

rrie

d ou

t on

poor

, av

erag

e, a

nd v

ery

high

per

form

ing

stud

ents

.

17.

Ther

e ar

e no

cou

rses

or w

orks

hops

on

the

NLSA

. 18

. Sp

ecia

l pla

ns a

re m

ade

to e

nsur

e th

at st

uden

ts in

har

d to

reac

h ar

eas a

re c

over

ed b

y th

e N

EA; h

owev

er, s

tude

nts i

n Sp

ecia

l Sch

ools

(sch

ools

for c

hild

ren

with

visu

al im

pairm

ents

, hea

ring

impa

irmen

ts, a

nd se

vere

lear

ning

nee

ds) d

o no

t par

ticip

ate

in th

e N

EA.

19.

Som

e m

echa

nism

s are

in p

lace

to e

nsur

e th

e qu

ality

of t

he la

rge-

scal

e as

sess

men

t ins

trum

ent:

all p

roct

ors o

r adm

inist

rato

rs a

re tr

aine

d ac

cord

ing

to a

pr

otoc

ol, a

stan

dard

ized

man

ual f

or la

rge-

scal

e as

sess

men

t adm

inist

rato

rs e

xist

s, di

scre

panc

ies m

ust b

e re

cord

ed o

n a

stan

dard

shee

t, a

pilo

t is c

ondu

cted

be

fore

the

mai

n da

ta c

olle

ctio

n ta

kes p

lace

, int

erna

l and

ext

erna

l rev

iew

ers a

re p

art o

f the

pro

cess

, and

test

boo

klet

s iss

ued

are

colle

cted

and

not

rele

ased

into

th

e pu

blic

spac

e.

20.

Ther

e is

a co

mpr

ehen

sive

tech

nica

l rep

ort b

ut w

ith re

stric

ted

circ

ulat

ion.

21

. Re

sults

are

diss

emin

ated

with

in tw

elve

mon

ths a

fter t

he a

sses

smen

t is a

dmin

ister

ed, a

nd th

ere

are

wor

ksho

ps o

r pre

sent

atio

ns fo

r key

stak

ehol

ders

on

the

resu

lts. T

he m

ain

repo

rts o

n th

e re

sults

con

tain

info

rmat

ion

on o

vera

ll ac

hiev

emen

t lev

els a

nd b

y su

bgro

ups,

tren

ds o

ver t

ime

over

all a

nd b

y su

bgro

ups,

and

stan

dard

err

ors.

Cop

ies o

f the

tech

nica

l rep

orts

are

diss

emin

ated

to a

ll Di

visio

nal,

Regi

onal

and

Dist

rict E

duca

tion

Offi

ces.

Cop

ies o

f the

Sum

mar

y of

the

2011

N

EA R

epor

t was

sent

to a

ll sc

hool

s, b

oth

publ

ic a

nd p

rivat

e. T

houg

h th

ere

is la

rge

stak

ehol

der d

issem

inat

ion

at th

e M

inist

ry o

f Edu

catio

n, th

e m

edia

is o

ften

not

invo

lved

. 22

. The

Min

istry

of E

duca

tion

and

othe

r Dev

elop

men

t Par

tner

s hav

e us

ed th

e NE

A re

sults

in w

ays c

onsis

tent

with

the

stat

ed p

urpo

ses o

f the

ass

essm

ent;

how

ever

, sch

ools

and

Dist

rict D

irect

orat

es o

f Edu

catio

n ha

ve fa

iled

to a

ct si

mila

rly in

effo

rts t

o m

onito

r pro

gres

s.

23. E

xper

t rev

iew

gro

ups a

re in

pla

ce to

mon

itor t

he c

onse

quen

ces o

f the

NEA

.

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S 51

GH

ANA

Inte

rnat

iona

l Lar

ge-S

cale

Ass

essm

ent (

ILSA

)

GHAN

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S 52

ENAB

LIN

G CO

NTE

XT

Ove

rall

fram

ewor

k of

pol

icies

, lea

ders

hip,

org

aniza

tiona

l str

uctu

res,

fisca

l and

hum

an re

sour

ces i

n w

hich

ILSA

take

s pla

ce in

a co

untr

y or

syst

em a

nd th

e ex

tent

to

whi

ch th

at fr

amew

ork

is co

nduc

ive

to, o

r sup

port

ive

of, I

LSA

activ

ity.

LATE

NT

EMER

GIN

G ES

TABL

ISH

ED

ADVA

NCE

D

ENAB

LIN

G CO

NTE

XT 1

:

Sett

ing

clea

r po

licie

s for

ILSA

The

coun

try/

syst

em h

as n

ot p

artic

ipat

ed

in a

n IL

SA in

the

last

10

year

s.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

e co

untr

y/sy

stem

has

par

ticip

ated

in

at le

ast o

ne IL

SA in

the

last

10

year

s.

The

coun

try/

syst

em h

as p

artic

ipat

ed i

n tw

o or

mor

e IL

SA in

the

last

10

year

s.1

The

coun

try/

syst

em

has

not

take

n co

ncre

te st

eps t

o pa

rtic

ipat

e in

an

ILSA

in

the

next

5 y

ears

.2

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

e co

untr

y/sy

stem

has

tak

en c

oncr

ete

step

s to

part

icip

ate

in a

t lea

st o

ne IL

SA in

th

e ne

xt 5

yea

rs.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Ther

e is

no

polic

y do

cum

ent

that

ad

dres

ses p

artic

ipat

ion

in IL

SA.3

Ther

e is

an

info

rmal

or

dr

aft

polic

y do

cum

ent t

hat a

ddre

sses

par

ticip

atio

n in

IL

SA.

Ther

e is

a fo

rmal

pol

icy

docu

men

t th

at

addr

esse

s par

ticip

atio

n in

ILSA

. Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

e po

licy

docu

men

t is

not

avai

labl

e to

th

e pu

blic

. Th

e po

licy

docu

men

t is

avai

labl

e to

the

pu

blic

. Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

ENAB

LIN

G CO

NTE

XT 2

: H

avin

g re

gula

r fu

ndin

g fo

r IL

SA

Ther

e is

no f

undi

ng f

or p

artic

ipat

ion

in

ILSA

. Th

ere

is fu

ndin

g fr

om l

oans

or

exte

rnal

do

nors

.4 Th

ere

is re

gula

r fu

ndin

g al

loca

ted

at

disc

retio

n.

Ther

e is

regu

lar f

undi

ng a

ppro

ved

by la

w,

decr

ee o

r nor

m.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Fu

ndin

g co

vers

som

e co

re a

ctiv

ities

of

the

ILSA

. Fu

ndin

g co

vers

all

core

act

iviti

es o

f th

e IL

SA. 5

Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

Fund

ing

does

not

cov

er r

esea

rch

and

deve

lopm

ent a

ctiv

ities

. Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Fu

ndin

g co

vers

re

sear

ch

and

deve

lopm

ent a

ctiv

ities

. 6

*

* *

*

*

*

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RES

ULT

S 53

(CO

NTI

NU

ED)

LA

TEN

T EM

ERGI

NG

ESTA

BLIS

HED

AD

VAN

CED

ENAB

LIN

G CO

NTE

XT 3

: H

avin

g ef

fect

ive

hum

an r

esou

rces

for

ILSA

Ther

e is

no

team

or

na

tiona

l/sys

tem

co

ordi

nato

r to

ca

rry

out

the

ILSA

ac

tiviti

es.

Ther

e is

a te

am

or

natio

nal/s

yste

m

coor

dina

tor

to

carr

y ou

t th

e IL

SA

activ

ities

.

Ther

e is

a te

am

and

natio

nal/s

yste

m

coor

dina

tor

to

carr

y ou

t th

e IL

SA

activ

ities

.7

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

e na

tiona

l/sys

tem

co

ordi

nato

r or

ot

her

desig

nate

d te

am m

embe

r m

ay n

ot

be

fluen

t in

th

e la

ngua

ge

of

the

asse

ssm

ent.

The

natio

nal/s

yste

m c

oord

inat

or is

flue

nt

in th

e la

ngua

ge o

f the

ass

essm

ent.8

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

e IL

SA o

ffice

is in

adeq

uate

ly s

taffe

d or

tr

aine

d to

ca

rry

out

the

asse

ssm

ent

effe

ctiv

ely.

The

ILSA

offi

ce i

s ad

equa

tely

sta

ffed

or

trai

ned

to c

arry

out

the

ILSA

effe

ctiv

ely,

w

ith m

inim

al is

sues

. 9

The

ILSA

offi

ce is

ade

quat

ely

staf

fed

and

trai

ned

to c

arry

out

the

ILSA

effe

ctiv

ely,

w

ith n

o iss

ues.

* * *

GHAN

A S

TUDE

NT

ASSE

SSM

ENT

SA

BER

COU

NTR

Y RE

PORT

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13

SYST

EMS

APPR

OAC

H FO

R BE

TTER

EDU

CATI

ON

RES

ULT

S 54

SYST

EM A

LIGN

MEN

T De

gree

to w

hich

the

ILSA

mee

ts te

chni

cal q

ualit

y st

anda

rds,

is fa

ir, a

nd is

use

d in

an

effe

ctiv

e w

ay.

LATE

NT

EMER

GIN

G ES

TABL

ISH

ED

ADVA

NCE

D

SYST

EM A

LIGN

MEN

T 1:

Pr

ovid

ing

oppo

rtun

ities

to le

arn

abou

t ILS

A

The

ILSA

te

am

has

not

atte

nded

in

tern

atio

nal w

orks

hops

or m

eetin

gs.

The

ILSA

te

am

atte

nded

so

me

inte

rnat

iona

l wor

ksho

ps o

r mee

tings

.10

The

ILSA

tea

m a

tten

ded

all i

nter

natio

nal

wor

ksho

ps o

r mee

tings

. Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

The

coun

try/

syst

em

offe

rs

no

oppo

rtun

ities

to le

arn

abou

t ILS

A.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

e co

untr

y/sy

stem

of

fers

so

me

oppo

rtun

ities

to le

arn

abou

t ILS

A.11

Th

e co

untr

y/sy

stem

offe

rs a

wid

e ra

nge

of o

ppor

tuni

ties t

o le

arn

abou

t ILS

A.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

Opp

ortu

nitie

s to

lea

rn a

bout

ILS

A ar

e av

aila

ble

to t

he c

ount

ry's/

syst

em's

ILSA

te

am m

embe

rs o

nly.

Opp

ortu

nitie

s to

lea

rn a

bout

ILS

A ar

e av

aila

ble

to a

wid

e au

dien

ce, i

n ad

ditio

n to

th

e co

untr

y's/

syst

em's

ILSA

te

am

mem

bers

. 12

*

*

*

GHAN

A S

TUDE

NT

ASSE

SSM

ENT

SA

BER

COU

NTR

Y RE

PORT

|20

13

SYST

EMS

APPR

OAC

H FO

R BE

TTER

EDU

CATI

ON

RES

ULT

S 55

ASSE

SSM

ENT

QU

ALIT

Y De

gree

to w

hich

the

ILSA

mee

ts te

chni

cal q

ualit

y st

anda

rds,

is fa

ir, a

nd is

use

d in

an

effe

ctiv

e w

ay.

LATE

NT

EMER

GIN

G ES

TABL

ISH

ED

ADVA

NCE

D

ASSE

SSM

ENT

QU

ALIT

Y 1:

En

suri

ng th

e qu

alit

y of

ILSA

Data

fr

om

the

ILSA

ha

s no

t be

en

publ

ished

. Th

e co

untr

y/sy

stem

m

et

suffi

cien

t st

anda

rds

to h

ave

its d

ata

pres

ente

d be

neat

h th

e m

ain

disp

lay

of

the

inte

rnat

iona

l rep

ort o

r in

an a

nnex

.

The

coun

try/

syst

em

met

al

l te

chni

cal

stan

dard

s re

quire

d to

ha

ve

its

data

pr

esen

ted

in t

he m

ain

disp

lays

of

the

inte

rnat

iona

l rep

ort.

13

Thi

s op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

The

coun

try/

syst

em h

as n

ot c

ontr

ibut

ed

new

kno

wle

dge

on IL

SA.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

The

coun

try/

syst

em h

as c

ontr

ibut

ed n

ew

know

ledg

e on

ILSA

.14

ASSE

SSM

ENT

QU

ALIT

Y 2:

En

suri

ng e

ffect

ive

uses

of I

LSA

If an

y,

coun

try/

syst

em-s

peci

fic

resu

lts

and

info

rmat

ion

are

not

diss

emin

ated

in

the

coun

try/

syst

em.

Coun

try/

syst

em-s

peci

fic

resu

lts

and

info

rmat

ion

are

diss

emin

ated

irre

gula

rly

in th

e co

untr

y/sy

stem

.

Coun

try/

syst

em-s

peci

fic

resu

lts

and

info

rmat

ion

are

regu

larly

diss

emin

ated

in

the

coun

try/

syst

em.15

Coun

try/

syst

em-s

peci

fic

resu

lts

and

info

rmat

ion

are

regu

larly

an

d w

idel

y di

ssem

inat

ed in

the

coun

try/

syst

em.

Prod

ucts

to

prov

ide

feed

back

to

scho

ols

and

educ

ator

s ab

out

the

ILSA

res

ults

are

no

t mad

e av

aila

ble.

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Pr

oduc

ts t

o pr

ovid

e fe

edba

ck t

o sc

hool

s an

d ed

ucat

ors

abou

t th

e IL

SA r

esul

ts a

re

som

etim

es m

ade

avai

labl

e.16

Prod

ucts

to

prov

ide

feed

back

to

scho

ols

and

educ

ator

s ab

out

ILSA

res

ults

ar

e sy

stem

atic

ally

mad

e av

aila

ble.

Ther

e is

no m

edia

cov

erag

e of

the

ILSA

re

sults

. Th

ere

is lim

ited

med

ia c

over

age

of t

he

ILSA

resu

lts.

Ther

e is

som

e m

edia

cov

erag

e of

the

IL

SA re

sults

. 17

Ther

e is

wid

e m

edia

cov

erag

e of

the

ILSA

re

sults

.

If an

y,

coun

try/

syst

em-s

peci

fic

resu

lts

and

info

rmat

ion

from

the

ILS

A ar

e no

t us

ed t

o in

form

dec

ision

mak

ing

in t

he

coun

try/

syst

em.

Resu

lts f

rom

the

ILS

A ar

e us

ed i

n a

limite

d w

ay to

info

rm d

ecisi

on m

akin

g in

th

e co

untr

y/sy

stem

.

Resu

lts f

rom

the

ILSA

are

use

d in

som

e w

ays

to i

nfor

m d

ecisi

on m

akin

g in

the

co

untr

y/sy

stem

.18

Resu

lts

from

th

e IL

SA

are

used

in

a

varie

ty

of

way

s to

in

form

de

cisio

n m

akin

g in

the

coun

try/

syst

em.

It is

not

clea

r th

at d

ecisi

ons

base

d on

IL

SA r

esul

ts h

ave

had

a po

sitiv

e im

pact

on

stud

ents

' ach

ieve

men

t lev

els.

19

This

optio

n do

es

not

appl

y to

th

is di

men

sion.

Th

is op

tion

does

no

t ap

ply

to

this

dim

ensio

n.

Deci

sions

bas

ed o

n th

e IL

SA r

esul

ts h

ave

had

a po

sitiv

e im

pact

on

st

uden

ts'

achi

evem

ent l

evel

s.

*

*

* * * *

*

GHAN

A S

TUDE

NT

ASSE

SSM

ENT

SA

BER

COU

NTR

Y RE

PORT

|20

13

SYST

EMS

APPR

OAC

H FO

R BE

TTER

EDU

CATI

ON

RES

ULT

S 56

Inte

rnat

iona

l Lar

ge S

cale

Ass

essm

ent (

ILSA

): Developmen

t-level rating j

ustifications

1. G

hana

has

par

ticip

ated

in T

IMSS

200

3, 2

007,

and

201

1. T

his r

ubric

is c

ompl

eted

with

rega

rd to

Gha

na's

part

icip

atio

n in

TIM

SS 2

011.

2.

The

cou

ntry

will

not

par

ticip

ate

in T

IMSS

201

5. W

orld

Ban

k su

ppor

t for

its p

artic

ipat

ion

in th

e su

rvey

has

end

ed a

lthou

gh th

e TI

MSS

Nat

iona

l Cen

tre

in G

hana

is

expl

orin

g op

tions

to c

arry

out

TIM

SS in

a sm

alle

r sam

ple

of sc

hool

s.

3. T

here

is n

o po

licy

docu

men

t tha

t add

ress

es G

hana

's pa

rtic

ipat

ion

in IL

SA.

4. T

he W

orld

Ban

k al

loca

ted

13 m

illio

n U

SD a

s a te

n-ye

ar lo

an fa

cilit

y fo

r Gha

na's

part

icip

atio

n in

TIM

SS in

200

3, 2

007,

and

201

1.

5. T

he W

orld

Ban

k lo

an f

acili

ty a

lloca

ted

for

part

icip

atio

n in

TIM

SS c

over

ed a

ll ac

tiviti

es,

incl

udin

g in

tern

atio

nal p

artic

ipat

ion

fees

, im

plem

enta

tion

of t

he

asse

ssm

ent

exer

cise

, pr

oces

sing

and

anal

yzin

g da

ta c

olle

cted

fro

m i

mpl

emen

tatio

n, r

epor

ting

and

diss

emin

atin

g th

e as

sess

men

t re

sults

in

Ghan

a, a

nd

atte

ndan

ce a

t int

erna

tiona

l exp

ert m

eetin

gs fo

r the

ass

essm

ent e

xerc

ise.

6. T

he W

orld

Ban

k lo

an fa

cilit

y co

vere

d re

sear

ch a

nd d

evel

opm

ent a

ctiv

ities

. 7.

The

TIM

SS N

atio

nal C

entr

e, a

long

with

mat

h an

d sc

ienc

e ex

pert

s, ar

e pa

rt o

f the

team

resp

onsib

le fo

r car

ryin

g ou

t the

ass

essm

ent e

xerc

ise.

8. T

he n

atio

nal c

oord

inat

or is

flue

nt in

the

lang

uage

of t

he a

sses

smen

t. 9.

The

team

is s

uffic

ient

ly s

taffe

d bo

th in

term

s of

qua

ntity

and

qua

lity

beca

use

Circ

uit S

uper

viso

rs w

orki

ng in

the

Dist

rict E

duca

tion

Dire

ctor

ates

are

co-

opte

d an

d tr

aine

d to

hel

p w

ith th

e ca

rryi

ng o

ut o

f the

inte

rnat

iona

l ass

essm

ent.

Circ

uit S

uper

viso

rs (C

S) a

re w

ell t

rain

ed e

duca

tors

sta

tione

d at

the

Dist

rict E

duca

tion

offic

es, w

ho h

ave

the

resp

onsib

ility

to

visit

sch

ools

to o

ffer

cont

inui

ng p

rofe

ssio

nal a

ssist

ance

, and

mon

itor

the

activ

ities

of

scho

ols

to m

ake

them

ope

rate

ef

ficie

ntly

and

effe

ctiv

ely.

Eac

h CS

is p

ut in

cha

rge

of a

max

imum

of 2

0 sc

hool

s in

an

area

(or c

ircui

t). A

dditi

onal

ly, t

eam

mem

bers

in c

harg

e of

the

inte

rnat

iona

l as

sess

men

t exe

rcise

hav

e at

tend

ed so

me

of th

e in

tern

atio

nal m

eetin

gs. T

he T

IMSS

coo

rdin

ator

has

bee

n tr

aine

d on

Cap

acity

in A

sses

smen

t and

has

bee

n in

vite

d by

oth

er T

IMSS

par

ticip

atin

g co

untr

ies

to p

artic

ipat

e in

the

ir tr

aini

ng o

n in

tern

atio

nal l

arge

-sca

le a

sses

smen

t Ho

wev

er, i

ssue

s id

entif

ied

in c

arry

ing

out

the

inte

rnat

iona

l ass

essm

ent i

nclu

de e

rror

s or d

elay

s in

the

prin

ting

or la

yout

of t

he te

st b

ookl

ets a

nd e

rror

s or d

elay

s in

scor

ing

stud

ent r

espo

nses

to q

uest

ions

.

10.

Team

mem

bers

hav

e at

tend

ed a

n av

erag

e of

nin

e in

tern

atio

nal m

eetin

gs p

er a

sses

smen

t cyc

le. H

ighe

r att

enda

nce

has b

een

prev

ente

d by

visa

issu

es.

11.

Each

yea

r aft

er th

e na

tion'

s par

ticip

atio

n in

TIM

SS, a

nat

iona

l rep

ort o

n th

e su

rvey

is w

ritte

n by

a te

am o

f exp

erts

and

pub

lishe

d by

the

Min

istry

of E

duca

tion

and

Ghan

a Ed

ucat

ion

Serv

ice

(GES

). Se

min

ars

are

orga

nize

d at

the

MO

E fo

r ke

y st

akeh

olde

rs, i

nclu

ding

the

med

ia t

o di

ssem

inat

e th

e re

sults

. Add

ition

ally

, pr

esen

tatio

ns a

re m

ade

at e

duca

tion

conf

eren

ces

(i.e.

con

fere

nces

org

anize

d by

the

Mat

hem

atic

al A

ssoc

iatio

n of

Gha

na (M

AG),

Ghan

a As

soci

atio

n of

Sci

ence

Te

ache

rs (G

AST)

, Mat

hem

atic

s fo

r Nat

iona

l Edu

catio

n an

d De

velo

pmen

t (M

athN

ED))

atte

nded

larg

ely

by Ju

nior

Hig

h sc

hool

mat

hem

atic

s an

d sc

ienc

e te

ache

rs.

GHAN

A S

TUDE

NT

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SSM

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COU

NTR

Y RE

PORT

|20

13

SYST

EMS

APPR

OAC

H FO

R BE

TTER

EDU

CATI

ON

RES

ULT

S 57

The

MO

E/GE

S al

so s

uppo

rts

a se

ries

of in

-ser

vice

edu

catio

n an

d tr

aini

ng (I

NSE

T) w

orks

hops

org

anize

d by

the

Nat

iona

l TIM

SS te

am fo

r Jun

ior H

igh

Scho

ol (J

HS)

mat

hem

atic

s an

d sc

ienc

e te

ache

rs a

cros

s th

e co

untr

y. F

or t

he IN

SET

trai

ning

, exp

erie

nced

JHS

mat

hem

atics

and

sci

ence

teac

hers

are

firs

t pre

pare

d in

a 3

day

tr

aini

ng o

f tr

aine

rs w

orks

hop,

afte

r w

hich

the

y re

plic

ate

the

cont

ents

of

the

wor

ksho

p to

tea

cher

s in

the

ir di

stric

ts.

Addi

tiona

lly,

pre-

serv

ice

trai

ning

pr

ogra

mm

es fo

r mat

hem

atic

s and

scie

nce

teac

hers

incl

ude

a br

ief a

nd g

ener

al o

verv

iew

of T

IMSS

and

Gha

na’s

per

form

ance

in th

e su

rvey

. 12

. M

embe

rs a

t the

Nat

iona

l TIM

SS C

entr

e ha

ve p

artic

ipat

ed in

wor

ksho

ps o

r mee

tings

on

usin

g in

tern

atio

nal a

sses

smen

t dat

abas

es in

cou

ntrie

s su

ch a

s th

e U

SA, N

ethe

rland

s, a

nd G

erm

any.

Fur

ther

mor

e, th

e na

tiona

l res

earc

h co

ordi

nato

r ha

s ta

ken

nine

teac

hers

to in

tern

atio

nal m

eetin

gs to

lear

n ab

out T

IMSS

. The

TI

MSS

Res

earc

h Ce

nter

also

tra

ins

test

adm

inist

rato

rs a

nd s

core

rs,

whi

ch c

ompr

ise o

f cl

assr

oom

tea

cher

s an

d re

tired

edu

catio

nalis

ts.

Thu

s, on

ly t

hose

in

divi

dual

s who

are

dire

ctly

par

ticip

atin

g in

the

TIM

SS re

sear

ch a

re p

rovi

ded

with

som

e op

port

uniti

es to

lear

n ab

out i

t. 13

. In

divi

dual

s wor

king

at t

he N

atio

nal T

IMSS

Cen

tre,

Uni

vers

ity st

uden

ts st

udyi

ng a

sses

smen

t, an

d pr

ofes

siona

ls in

tere

sted

in a

sses

smen

t ben

efit

from

lear

ning

op

port

uniti

es.

14.

The

coun

try/

syst

em m

et a

ll te

chni

cal s

tand

ards

requ

ired

to h

ave

its d

ata

pres

ente

d in

the

mai

n di

spla

ys o

f the

inte

rnat

iona

l rep

ort.

15.

Publ

icat

ions

incl

ude:

a)

Mer

eku,

D. K

. and

Anu

mel

, C. R

. (20

11).

Ghan

a’s

achi

evem

ent

in m

athe

mat

ics

in T

IMSS

200

7. M

athe

mat

ics

Conn

ectio

n, V

ol. 1

0. p

p81-

96.

Avai

labl

e at

M

athe

mat

ics C

onne

ctio

n, V

ol. 1

0. p

p81-

96. A

vaila

ble

at h

ttp:

//w

ww

.ajo

l.inf

o/in

dex.

php/

mc/

artic

le/v

iew

/728

01

b) A

nam

uah-

Men

sah,

J., M

erek

u, D

. K. a

nd G

hart

ey-A

mpi

ah, J

. (20

08).

TIM

SS 2

007

Ghan

a Re

port

: Fin

ding

s fr

om IE

A’s

Tren

ds in

Inte

rnat

iona

l Mat

hem

atic

s an

d Sc

ienc

e St

udy

at th

e Ei

ghth

Gra

de. A

ccra

: Min

istry

of E

duca

tion.

c)

Mer

eku,

D. K

. and

Asa

bere

-Am

eyaw

, A. (

2008

). ‘C

ompa

rativ

e an

alys

is of

per

form

ance

of e

ight

h gr

ader

s fr

om s

ix A

fric

an c

ount

ries’

. Pr

ocee

ding

of t

he IA

EA

Conf

eren

ce 2

008,

at C

ambr

idge

Uni

vers

ity, U

K. .

Avai

labl

e at

htt

p://

ww

w.ia

ea20

08.c

ambr

idge

asse

ssm

ent.o

rg.u

k/ca

. d)

Ana

mua

h-M

ensa

h,J.,

Mer

eku,

D. K

. Asa

bere

-Am

eyaw

, A. A

. (20

06).

‘The

Con

text

s fo

r Le

arni

ng a

nd In

stru

ctio

n In

fluen

cing

Gha

naia

n JS

S2 S

tude

nts'

Dism

al

Perf

orm

ance

in

TI

MSS

-200

3’.

Afric

an

Jour

nal

of

Educ

atio

nal

Stud

ies

in

Mat

hem

atic

s an

d Sc

ienc

es

Vol.

4 20

06:

pp.1

5-31

. Av

aila

ble

at:

http

://w

ww

.ajo

l.inf

o/in

dex.

php/

ajes

ms/

issue

/vie

w/5

490

e) A

nam

uah-

Men

sah,

J an

d M

erek

u, D

. K. (

2005

). ‘O

n W

hat F

ound

atio

n is

Afric

a Bu

ildin

g its

Sci

ence

and

Tec

hnol

ogy

Base

?: A

fric

a’s P

artic

ipat

ion

in T

IMSS

-200

3’

Proc

eedi

ngs

of t

he 1

st A

fric

an R

egio

nal C

onfe

renc

e of

Vic

e Ch

ance

llors

, Pro

vost

s, a

nd D

eans

of

Scie

nce,

Eng

inee

ring

and

Tech

nolo

gy p

110-

117.

Ava

ilabl

e at

ht

tp:/

/ebo

okbr

owse

.com

/ana

mua

h-m

ensa

h-an

d-m

erek

u-pa

per-

for-

vcs-

conf

eren

ce-d

oc-d

1428

5725

6

GHAN

A S

TUDE

NT

ASSE

SSM

ENT

SA

BER

COU

NTR

Y RE

PORT

|20

13

SYST

EMS

APPR

OAC

H FO

R BE

TTER

EDU

CATI

ON

RES

ULT

S 58

f) An

amua

h-M

ensa

h J.

and

Mer

eku,

D. K

., (2

005)

Gha

naia

n JS

S2 S

tude

nts’

Aby

smal

Mat

hem

atic

s Ach

ieve

men

t in

Tim

ss-2

003:

A C

onse

quen

ce o

f the

Bas

ic S

choo

l M

athe

mat

ics C

urric

ulum

WAE

C Se

min

ar P

aper

s, 20

05.

Avai

labl

e at

htt

p://

ww

w.a

jol.i

nfo/

inde

x.ph

p/m

c/iss

ue/v

iew

/277

1 g)

Ana

mua

h-M

ensa

h, J.

, Mer

eku,

D. K

. and

Asa

bere

-Am

eyaw

, A. (

2004

) Gha

naia

n Ju

nior

Sec

onda

ry S

choo

l Stu

dent

s’ A

chie

vem

ent i

n M

athe

mat

ics

and

Scie

nce:

Re

sults

from

Gha

na’s

part

icip

atio

n in

the

2003

Tre

nds

in In

tern

atio

nal M

athe

mat

ics

and

Scie

nce

Stud

y, A

ccra

: Min

istry

of E

duca

tion

Yout

h an

d Sp

orts

. Ava

ilabl

e at

htt

p://

wik

iedu

cato

r.org

/imag

es/3

/34/

Exec

utiv

e_re

port

_TIM

SS_3

_jan

uary

_20.

pdf

16.

The

TIM

SS 2

003

and

2007

nat

iona

l and

inte

rnat

iona

l rep

orts

wer

e di

strib

uted

to

key

stak

ehol

ders

, cou

ntry

res

ults

wer

e co

mm

unic

ated

thr

ough

a p

ress

re

leas

e, a

nd b

roch

ures

and

Pow

erPo

int

pres

enta

tions

with

the

res

ults

wer

e m

ade

avai

labl

e on

line

or d

istrib

uted

to

key

stak

ehol

ders

. Th

e 20

11 r

epor

t is

unde

rway

and

will

be

diss

emin

ated

in th

e sa

me

man

ner a

s the

pre

viou

s yea

rs' (

2003

and

200

7) T

IMSS

repo

rts.

17

. Re

sults

for T

IMSS

200

3 an

d 20

07 h

ave

som

etim

es b

een

prov

ided

to sc

hool

s and

edu

cato

rs.

18.

For T

IMSS

200

3 an

d 20

07, m

edia

cov

erag

e ha

s bee

n lim

ited,

thou

gh th

ere

have

bee

n ed

itoria

ls/co

lum

ns a

nd a

few

smal

l art

icle

s com

men

ting

on th

e re

sults

. Re

sults

hav

e be

en u

sed

for t

rack

ing

the

impa

ct o

f ref

orm

s on

stu

dent

ach

ieve

men

t lev

els,

info

rmin

g cu

rric

ulum

impr

ovem

ent,

and

info

rmin

g ot

her a

sses

smen

t ac

tiviti

es in

the

syst

em. I

n th

e 20

12 r

evie

w o

f prim

ary

and

juni

or h

igh

scho

ol m

ath

and

scie

nce

sylla

bi, a

num

ber

of c

hang

es w

ere

initi

ated

to th

e cu

rric

ula

in

orde

r to

addr

ess t

he c

urric

ular

issu

es b

roug

ht to

ligh

t thr

ough

the

TIM

SS e

xerc

ise.

19.

It is

not c

lear

that

dec

ision

s bas

ed o

n IL

SA re

sults

hav

e ha

d a

posit

ive

impa

ct o

n st

uden

ts' a

chie

vem

ent l

evel

s.

GHANA SABER-STUDENT ASSESSMENT SABER COUNTRY REPORT |2013

SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS

59

Acknowledgements This report was prepared by The World Bank SABER-Student Assessment team in collaboration with Nicole Goldstein, Education Adviser, DFID Ghana; Professor Damian Kofi Mereku, Department of Mathematics Education, University of Education, Winneba; and Mr. Jacob A.M. Kor, Director CRDD.

References Clarke, M. 2012. “What Matters Most for Student Assessment Systems: A Framework Paper.” READ/SABER Working Paper Series. Washington, DC: World Bank. Ministry of Education. 2003. “Education Strategic Plan – 2003-2015.” Accra: Government of Ghana. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization – Institute for Statistics. 2011. UIS Statistics in Brief. “Education Profile: Ghana.” Montreal: UNESCO-UIS. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization – International Bureau of Education. 2010. “World Data on Education: Ghana.” Geneva: UNESCO-IBE. World Bank. 2007. Country Partnership Strategy for Ghana for the Period FY8-FY11. Report No. 39822. Washington, DC: World Bank. ———. 2012. “Ghana at glance.” Washington, DC: World Bank. Data retrieved from http://devdata.worldbank.org/AAG/srb_aag.pdf on May 8, 2013. ———. Ghana Country Indicator Data. Washington, DC: World Bank. Data retrieved from http://data.worldbank.org/ on May 8, 2013.

GHANA SABER-STUDENT ASSESSMENT SABER COUNTRY REPORT |2013


The Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) initiative produces comparative data and knowledge on education policies and institutions, with the aim of helpingcountries systematically strengthen their education systems. SABER evaluates the quality of education policies against evidence-based global standards, using new diagnostic tools and detailed policy data. The SABER country reports give all parties with a stake in educational results—from administrators, teachers, and parents to policymakers and business people—an accessible, objective snapshot showing how well the policies of their country's education system are oriented toward ensuring that all children and youth learn.

This report focuses specifically on policies in the area of student assessment.

This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.

THE WORLD BANK

www.worldbank.org/education/saber

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