A total of 5,875 grade nine learners drawn from a selected 235 schools across the country will this morning undertake trial tests for the Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA). Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) is administering the one-week pilot tests in preparation for next year’s inaugural KJSEA for the first Grade Nine class under the Competency-Based Curriculum as they transition to the Senior Secondary.

 The distribution of the assessments tar[1]gets 5,125 learners in the regular curriculum (KJSEA) and 750 learners with special needs under the Kenya Prevocational Level Education Assessment (KPLEA).

 Knec chose five schools in each county comprising one public school in a rural area, one public school in an urban area, one private school in a rural area, another in an urban and one school for learners with special needs. The national examiner will pick 25 learners from each of the participating schools where 30 schools will take e-assessment tests format meant to assess progress on digital literacy while the other 205 will take pen and paper tests.

 For the special needs case, Knec targets 150 learners from the 30 sampled schools which will be able to access the assessment tools in its competency-based assessment portal and then distribute to the learners. Unlike KJSEA which will be invigilated by Knec officials, KPLEA will be done under the supervision of the respective teachers of each subject being examined.

“In preparation for administration of the summative assessment at Grade 9 in 2025, KNEC will carry out a pilot study to determine the feasibility of the proposed national assessment and identify the validity and reliability of the test instruments and other critical procedures. KNEC has, therefore, organised a pilot study to be administered to the 2024 Grade 8 and Pre-vocational learners from 15th to 19th July 2024,” Knec Acting Deputy Director of Research, Innovation and Educational Assessment Resource Centre Ann Ngatia said.

 Subjects that the learners will be assessed include English language which will comprise Composition and Literary Analysis), Kiswahili Lugha comprising In[1]sha na Utangulizi wa Fasihi), Kenyan Sign Language (KSL) and Mathematics. The students will also undertake tests in Integrated Science, Agriculture and Nutrition, Religious Education targeting Chris[1]tian, Hindu and Islamic Religious Education (CRE, HRE, IRE), Creative Arts and Sports, and Pre- Technical Studies. Question papers Knec explained that it has developed test blueprints alongside question papers and other test materials that will guide the assessment of each subject as this will show how the learners have performed in each of the questions.

“Pre-tests are done with learners of the level at which you are preparing the assessment.

 So, we are going to use Grade 8, and we will find out how they fare in each of the subjects and then be able to see whether our test blueprints or what we call tables of specification are appropriate for each of the subjects,” Ngatia said.

 According to Knec, the top priority of the pilot assessment tests estimated to cost Sh28 million will be establishing readiness to use e-assessment in Junior Secondary Schools in Kenya. Further, the national exams body will use the tests to check the adequacy of the testitems in each subject and determine the appropriateness of the time allocated for the assessment.

“The pilot of Summative Assessment at Grade 9 will also be carried out to assess the suitability of the criteria for grading assessments at Grade 9 and guiding in placement in senior school, find out the most suitable styles of reporting assessment results and use the lessons learnt to plan for the national roll-out of the KJSEA at Grade 9 in 2025,” Knec stated.

 Ngatia clarified that once the tests are undertaken, Knec will involve assessors from all over the country to mark the tests where again the agency will assess the reliability of the scoring procedure of the new national examination.

 “We will score the paper and pen and we will also score the e-assessment. So there will be e-marking. Our teachers will be taken through how to mark on the screen and we will also want to see the reliability and even the effec[1]tiveness of the scoring procedures. After scoring, we will analyse and we’ll be able to come up with a criterion of how we shall grade those assessments,” she added.

Knec Acting Deputy Director of Research, Innovation and Educational Assessment Resource Centre Ann Ngatia speaking during a previous event. PD/FILE