The Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) has said it is ready to administer Grade Six assessment exam as part of transitioning learners to Junior Secondary School (JSS) next year.

Knec chief executive David Njengere said from the school-based assessment analysis, it was evident teachers had been professional in awarding scores.

“The kind of narrative sometimes created out there is that we cannot trust teachers in scoring learners but we have evidence we can trust them. A cumulative distribution of the total scores of learners on a scale of 20 in the 2020 and 2021 administration revealed a very normal distribution curve, which is the characteristic of any objective assessment,” said Njengere.

Realistic assessment

He made the remarks when Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha commissioned the Knec headquarters in Nairobi.

“For example, in 2021 the Grade 4 cohort of over  one million learners that did the SBA, only 677 learners scored 20 out of 20 yet the fear was that teachers would award 20 out of 20 to every learner. In Grade 5, only 982 learners scored 20 out of 20. This is evidence that teachers are professional and are giving us very realistic assessment grades,” he added.

Since the introduction of Competency Based Curriculum, Njengere said, Knec had been applying Competency Based Assessment, a balance of formative and summative assessment.

With regards to formative assessment, he said Knec had conducted SBAs, which are administered and scored by teachers to learners in Grade 4, 5 and 6 since 2019.

The 2022 SBA for Grades 4, 5 and 6 commenced on July 18 and KNEC expects the scores to be uploaded to its website by September 29.

“We are ready for what it will take to transition these learners to JSS,” he said.

Njengere (pictured) also said Knec had been monitoring conduct of the assessments to ensure any unprofessional conduct is addressed immediately.

Knec will administer the inaugural summative assessment to the first CBC group, Grade Six, from November 28 to 30, which will contribute 40 per cent to final reporting as learners transition to JSS while the three SBAs will account for 60 per cent of the final score.

“The aggregate of the combined score will form part of the criteria to be used during placement of the learners in JSS,” he stated.

Magoha said the commission had instituted all relevant measures to ensure credibility of SBAs.

According to Magoha, the measures include capacity building of teachers to enhance the administration and marking of SBAs.

He also said that Knec has been using a variety of assessment methods such as practical, oral tests, projects and context-based authentic assessments that require learners to demonstrate their competencies.

“Knec has been monitoring administration of SBAs while in progress and analysis of the SBA scores submitted by the schools to establish their credibility,” Magoha said.