Diagnostic Assessment to Determine Learning Loses

And, with the return of students, teachers are not trying to assess learning losses. Undoubtedly, students lost valuable learning time at the heights of the pandemic. Teachers must now find ways to adjust their learning plans, in an effort to play catch up with their pupils. One way to do this is by administering a diagnostic assessment. C.E.O. Maheia told us about the challenges the ministry is facing in administering this assessment and why parents should not be concerned with the grade their child receives on the test.

Dian Maheia

Dian Maheia, CEO, Ministry of Education

“We are starting to work on our diagnostic assessments. We can only do the diagnostics with the students who are in school. It is one of the reasons we are hoping they all do come back, because it would defeat the point to send home a diagnostic test. So, we need the students to come back so that the teachers can do the diagnostics. But, that work has started. We have done a lot of training, to show teachers how to administer the diagnostic test, how to mark the test. The thing about diagnostic testing is that it is really not about the grade you get at the end. That grade is not for a parent to use to say my child passed or didn’t pass. The diagnostic test really helps the teachers to understand where the students are, so the teachers can plan accordingly. Our mission right now, one of the missions of the Ministry, is to help schools, teachers and parents, to understand we really want to do the diagnostic testing. We are not concerned about making public pronouncements of grades. You don’t need to know. If you are a parent, do not worry about what grade your child get on the test. You want your child to take the test and you want the teacher to be able to under the result of that test. That is the only way your teacher will know how to adjust their learning plan.”