SUMMATIVE TO FORMATIVE: A Paradigm Shift
Mir Mudasir Qaziabadi
History has witnessed dramatic changes in the approach of educationalists to avail a comprehensive assessment project based on research, facts, and experiments that could meet the needs for facilitation learning of all age groups. While summative assessment has reigned the eras from the word go, formative assessment on the other hand is all set to form its empire and spread its dominion with authority, supremacy, command, control, dominance, and ascendency and has started to expand its territory widely extending its extensive network in a broad-gauged fashion.
While the former is based on end-term academic progress and involves the evaluation of academic achievements, the latter does it in a continuous manner with an inclusive approach to reduce the risk of neglecting the factors necessary for the all-round development of a learner. In order to overcome the limitations of the two assessment programmes and to inculcate maximum learning outcomes, an interrelated and interdependent set of two projects namely Quarterly Based Assessment (QBA) and Monthly Based Assessment (MBA), has been kick-started in an educationally backward area, Cluster Haril, of Zone Mawer of Kupwara, a renowned physicist of our valley, presently posted as Principal HSS Haril, Mr. Abdul Haq Masoodi in collaboration with Worthy Zonal Education Officer zone Mawer Mr. Mohammad Maqbool Lone, Worthy Chief Education Officer Kupwara Mr. Abdul Hameed Fani and Worthy Director School Education Mr. Tassaduq Hussain. Eclectic in nature, the project aims to amalgamate Pedagogy, Andragogy, and Heutagogy wherein all the stakeholders get the due opportunity to learn irrespective of which age group they belong to.
While QBA furnishes a comprehensive advancement of students and highlights the areas of weakness every fortnight through objective-type questions prepared by a team of academic experts chosen from the cluster, MBA covers curricular, co-curricular as well as extra-curricular domains of the 43 schools of Cluster Haril in a holistic manner. QBA aims at the distribution of the syllabus, as per the guidelines of NEP 2020, to be uniformly adapted and taught in all the schools of the cluster with assessment cum evaluation after every two weeks.
The objective pattern of the assessment becomes a driving force to oblige the teachers as well as the students to open, read, comprehend, and understand the themes of textbooks at their homes. It also sets a stage for the learners to prepare for competitive exams and promotes a habit of
comprehensive understanding of the subject matter. MBA, though neoteric in nature, covers all the fields of teaching-learning and their evaluation in a formative manner thus begetting a sense of competition among the schools of the cluster. This project has proven ideal for bringing revolutionary changes as all the schools have geared up at a galloping pace to reach the top spot. This project sets standards for grading the schools purely on the basis of performance in various fields. Different teams comprising of a Group Leader and three Academic Inspectors, inspect the allocated schools on specific days in a month to assess their performance as per a set of indicators and grade the institution on the basis of the points scored (out of 100) in various domains as following
- Oral Questions: 25 points (5 for each subject)
- Answer fluency: 05 points
- Reading efficiency: 05 points
- Writing skills: 05 points
- Correction work/Notebook Check: 10 points
- Teachers Attendance: 05 points
- Student Attendance: 05 points
- Uniform and Dress Code: 05 points
- Cleanliness: 05 points
- Morning Assembly and Mass PT: 05 points
- Games/Quiz/Debates: 05 points
- Teacher’s lesson records: 05 points
- Duster/Board/Marker: 03 points
- Reading Hanging Posters: 02 points
- Timetable: 05 points
- Physical Posture of students: 05 points.
The procedure for awarding points to an institution works like this: If there are four (04) teachers in a school and only three (03) have maintained lesson records, the institution is awarded 3.75 points out of 05. Similarly, if the notebooks of only 15 students out of 30 have been checked, the institution is awarded 05 points for the indicator out of 10. The intra-cluster competition among the schools has sown the seed of thirst for securing the top spot and all the institution heads are on their toes to work hard in every field to yield maximum from among the given indicators of the project MBA. The Heads of the institutions are provided with immediate feedback to overcome the weaknesses (if any).
The project report, at the end of the assessment, is submitted to the coordinator Mr Showkat Ahmad Khan (of Wajhama) who prepares an illustrative profile of all the schools of the cluster and submits the same to the office of the Cluster Head. The top performers for the month receive due appreciation from the Cluster Head. A detailed report of the proceedings of the project has been brought to the notice of DSEK, DC Kupwara, CEO Kupwara, Joint Director SCERT-KD, and ZEO Mawer for the favor of information and necessary guidance.
In Addition to this project, a weekly based assessment programme for classes 11th and 12th has been started. The list of top performers of the week, in every subject, is displayed on the notice board, main gate, and the respective classrooms for the entire week. The multiple-choice nature of the question papers is expected to guide the science stream students to find it convenient to compete in competitive exams like NEET in the future. The parents of the students have conveyed the results through phonic contact and the areas of weakness if their wards are highlighted by the subject teachers to minimize the communication gaps between the teachers and the parents. The top
performers receive due appreciation from Worthy Principal and the subject teachers and are reinforced to continue their hard work with full zeal and enthusiasm. A special counseling cell in the school comprising a lecturer, a master, and two teachers has been constituted to guide and counsel the students in choosing the most suitable fields.
For such a dramatic paradigm shift, this verse by Alama Iqbal suits the personality of the innovative cluster Head, Alhaq Masoodi;
For a thousand years, the narcissus has been lamenting its blindness;
With great difficulty, the one with true vision is born in the garden.
