Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation a Reform In Evaluations Technique

Deepening and enriching connections and acquiring new layers of meaning. Simultaneously theories that children have about the natural and social world, develop, including about themselves in relation to others, which provide them with explanations for why things are the way they are and the relationship between the cause and its effect. Attitudes, emotions and values are thus an integral part of cognitive development, and are linked to the development of language, mental representations, concepts and reasoning. As children’s metacognitive capabilities develop, they become more aware of their own beliefs and capable of regulating their own learning.

(1929), the Report of Central Advisory Board or Sargeant Plan (1944), Secondary Education Commission or Mudaliar Commission (1952-53) have all made recommendations regarding reducing emphasis on external examination and encouraging internal assessment through Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation. The need for Continuous and Comprehensive School Based Evaluation has been reiterated over the last few decades. The Kothari Commission report (1966) observed, „On the completion of the course, at the end of the lower or higher secondary stage, the student should receive a certificate from the school also giving the record of his internal assessment as contained in his cumulative record. This certificate may be attached to that given by the Board in connection with the external examination…‟ (9.81). It further adds, „This internal assessment or evaluation conducted by the schools is of greater significance and should be given importance. It should be comprehensive, evaluating all those aspects of students‟ growth that are measured by the external examination and also those personality traits, interests and attitudes which cannot be assessed by it.‟ (9.84). This aspect has been strongly taken care of in the National Policy on Education (1986) which states that “Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation that incorporates both scholastic and non-scholastic aspects of evaluation, spread over the total span of instructional time” {8.24 (iii)} should be followed. Report on the Committee for Review of NPE (1986) recommendation brought out by Government of India in 1991 lays down norms for “continuous comprehensive internal evaluation and suggests safeguards against abuse of this evaluation system”{268(iv)}.

The Report of the Task Force on the Role and status of the Board of Secondary Education (1997) observed: In our scheme of things, it is the School Boards which are expected to play the central role in the academic renovation of the school system. In other words, leadership has to come from the Board. Once the Boards get committed to this vital and supplementary system of evaluation and push it vigorously, this innovation will come to be accepted by more and more schools. “Learning without Burden”- Report of the National Advisory Committee appointed by the MHRD, Department of Education, Govt. of India has stated – “Board examination, taken at the end of Class X and XII, have remained rigid, bureaucratic, and essentially uneducated…”Accordingly, National Curriculum Framework, 2005 proposing Examination Reforms stated,

A curriculum is what constitutes a total teaching-learning program comprising overall aims, syllabus, materials, methods and assessment. In short it provides a framework of knowledge and capabilities, seen as appropriate to a particular level. Evaluation not only measures the progress and achievement of the learners but also the effectiveness of the teaching materials and methods used for transaction. Hence, evaluation should be viewed as a component of curriculum with the twin purpose of effective delivery and further improvement in the teaching learning process. If properly understood, evaluation or assessment will not be perceived as something administered by the teachers and taken by the learners on the conclusion of a period of learning. When evaluation is seen as an end of the learning exercise, both the teachers and the learners will tend to keep it outside the teaching-learning process, rendering assessment broadly irrelevant and alien to the curriculum. Further, such a perception associates anxiety and stress with evaluation for learners. On the contrary, if evaluation is seen as an integral part built into the teaching learning process; learners will not perceive tests and The scope of evaluation in schools extends to almost all the areas of learners’ personality development. It should include both scholastic and co-scholastic areas, i.e. it should be comprehensive in nature. This is in line with the goals of education. Evaluation is continuous and reveals the strengths and weaknesses of learners more frequently, so that the learners have better opportunity to understand and improve themselves. It also provides feedback to the teachers for modifying their teaching strategies.

Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) refers to a system of school based evaluation of a student that covers all aspects of a student development. It is a developmental process of student which emphasizes on two fold objectives. These objectives are continuity in evaluation and assessment of broad based learning and behavioral outcomes on the other. The term „continuous‟ is meant to emphasize that evaluation of identified aspects of students „growth and development‟ is a continuous process rather than an event, built into the total teaching-learning process and spread over the entire span of academic session. It means regularity of assessment, frequency of unit testing, diagnosis of learning gaps, use of corrective measures, retesting and feedback of evidence to teachers and students for their self-evaluation. The second term „comprehensive‟ means that the scheme attempts to cover both the scholastic and the co-scholastic aspects of the students’ growth and development. Since abilities, attitudes and aptitudes can manifest themselves in forms other than the written word, the term refers to application of variety of tools and techniques (both testing and non-testing) and aims at assessing a learner‟s development in areas of learning, like:-

• Knowledge

• Understanding

• Applying

• Analyzing

• Evaluating

• Creating

Continuous evaluation helps in bringing awareness of the achievement to the child, teachers and parents from time to time. They can look into the probable cause of the fall in performance if any, and may take remedial measures of instruction in which more

resulting in sudden drop in their performance. If the teacher, child and parents do not notice the sudden drop in the performance of the child in academics, it could result in a permanent deficiency in the child’s learning. The major emphasis of CCE is on the continuous growth of students ensuring their intellectual, emotional, physical, cultural and social development and therefore, it will not be merely limited to assessment of learner’s scholastic attainments. CCE uses assessment as a means of motivating learners to provide feedback and follow up work to improve upon the learning in the classroom and to present a comprehensive picture of a learner’s profile.

In order to have Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation, both Scholastic and Co-Scholastic aspects need to be given due recognition. Such a holistic assessment requires maintaining an ongoing and comprehensive profile for each learner that is honest, encouraging and discreet. While teachers frequently reflect, plan and implement remedial strategies, the child’s ability to retain and articulate what has been learned over a period of time also requires periodic assessment. These assessments can take many forms but all of them should be as comprehensive and discreet as possible. Weekly, fortnightly, or quarterly reviews (depending on the learning area), that do not openly compare one learner with another are generally recommended. The objective is to promote and enhance not just learning and retention among children, but their soft skills as well.

The objectives of the Scholastic domain are:-

• Desirable behavior related to the learner’s knowledge, understanding, application, evaluation, analysis and the ability to apply it in an unfamiliar situation.

• To improve the teaching learning process.

• Assessment should be both Formative and Summative.

Formative Assessment is a tool used by the teacher to continuously monitor student progress in a non-threatening, supportive environment. It involves regular descriptive feedback, a chance for the student or peers. If used effectively, it can improve student performance tremendously while raising the self-esteem of the child and reducing the work load of the teacher. Formative Assessment is carried out during a course of instruction for providing continuous feedback to both the teachers and the learners. It is. also carried out for taking decisions regarding appropriate modifications in the transactional procedures and learning activities.

• „ … includes both feedback and self-monitoring.‟ (Sadler, 1989)

• Is diagnostic and remedial

• Makes provision for effective feedback

• Provides a platform for the active involvement of students in theirown learning

• Enables teachers to adjust teaching to take account of the results of assessment

• Recognizes the profound influence assessment has on the motivation and self-esteem of students, both of which are crucial influences on learning

• Recognizes the need for students to be able to assess themselves and understand how to improve

• Builds on students’ prior knowledge and experience in designing what is taught

 Incorporates varied learning styles to decide how and what to teach

• Offers an opportunity to students to improve their work after they get the feedback

Summative Assessment is carried out at the end of a course of learning. It measures or „sums-up‟ how much a student has learned from the course. It is usually a graded test, i.e., it is marked according to a scale or set of grades. Assessment that is predominantly of summative nature will not by itself be able to yield a valid measure of the growth and development of the student. It, at best, certifies the level of achievement only at a given point of time. The paper pencil tests are basically a onetime mode of assessment and to exclusively rely on it to decide about the development of a student is not only unfair but also unscientific. Overemphasis on examination marks that focus on only scholastic aspects in turn makes student assume that assessment is different from learning, resulting in the „learn and forget‟ syndrome. Besides encouraging unhealthy competition, the overemphasis on Summative Assessment system also produces enormous stress and anxiety among the learners.

• “Good summative assessments—tests and other graded evaluations— must be demonstrably reliable, valid, and free of bias” (Angelo and Cross, 1993).

• „… looks at past achievements … adds procedures or tests to existing work ... involves only marking and feedback grades to student … is separated from teaching … is carried out at intervals when achievement has to be summarized and reported.’ (Harlen, 1998)

• Assessment of learning

• Generally taken by students at the end of a unit or semester to demonstrate the “sum” of what they have or have not learned

• Summative assessment methods are the most traditional way of evaluating student work

The desirable behavior related to learner’s life skills, attitudes, interests, values, co-curricular activities and physical health are described as skills to be acquired in co-scholastic domain. The process of assessing the usually under the scholastic domain such as knowledge and understanding of the facts, concepts, principles etc. of a subject are assessed. The Co-Scholastic elements are either altogether excluded from the evaluation process or they are not given adequate attention. For making the evaluation comprehensive, both Scholastic and Co-Scholastic aspects should be given importance. Simple and manageable means of assessment of Co-Scholastic aspects of growth must be included in the comprehensive evaluation scheme.

Education aims at making children capable of becoming responsible, productive and good member of a society. Examination are an indispensable part of the educational process as some form of assessment is necessary to determine the effectiveness of teaching learning process and their internalization by learners. The scope of evaluations in schools intends to almost all the areas of learner’s personality development. It should endue both scholastic and co- scholastic areas i.e. It should be comprehensive in nature. So the continuous and comprehensive evaluation is a reform in evaluation system, it can assess student’s scholastic co- scholastic part. It is a development process of student which emphasizes on two fold objectives. These objectives are continuity in evaluation and assessment of broad Base learning and behavioral out comes on the other.

Assessment and Evaluation – Dr. Hansraj pal. CBSE CCE manual www.cbse- nic.in