Knec reveals details of Grade 3 tests, registration ongoing 

The national examiner has released details on how learners in Grade Three will be examined in September, outlining several tools that will be deployed by teachers to monitor the competences.

According to Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec), teachers will use observation schedules to record the characteristics and behaviour that learners will manifest during the performance of specific tasks individually or as a group.

PERSONAL FEELINGS

There will also be checklists consisting of a list of attributes of a learners individual’s behaviour.

“The teacher will be required to observe and tick whatever behaviour the learners portray on self-efficacy, personal and social decision-making,” said Knec acting chief executive officer Mercy Karogo in a session with members of the National Assembly and Senate education committees in Naivasha.

On rating scales, teachers will be required to indicate the degree or frequency of the behaviours, skills and strategies displayed by the learner such as exceeding expectation (4), meeting expectation (3), and approaching expectation (2) and below expectation (1).

Dr Karogo added that there will be use of rubrics to determine a learner’s performance, which will consist of a fixed measurement scale and detailed description of the characteristics for each level of performance such as identification and categorisation of objects.

There will also be questionnaires on various aspects of a person’s situation or issue, which will be used before, during and after teaching to get feedback. Dr Karogo added that there will also be a project on set activities implemented within a set timeframe, with a clear start and end time.

“This will give learners an opportunity to apply their acquired knowledge and transferable skills to a real life situation,” added the acting chief executive officer.

“Journals will help the learner keep a record of their personal feelings, thoughts and experiences on a daily basis under the guidance of the teacher. It will show the activities carried out in by a learner each day,” said Dr Karogo.

ORAL QUESTIONS

There will also be portfolio, a collection of evidence assembled by learners to demonstrate competency and the portfolio file will contains all the major learning activities, assessment projects and documents.

Dr Karogo added that there will also be oral or aural questions, which will be used to establish what a learner knows and can do. Oral questions will be posed by the teacher verbally, while aural ones will usually be pre-recorded and played to the learner.

There will also be learner’s profile, which will allow learners to document their challenges and enable teachers to gain a better understanding of which aspects of topics are well understood and which ones require attention.

“There will be written tests designed according to pre-determined criteria to measure competencies in specific learning areas like creative thinking, problem solving and communication,” she said.

Grade Three assessment will be conducted between September 16 and 20 and the tools will be uploaded on the KNEC Portal for the schools to download.

Dr Karogo said the Curriculum Support Officers and the Sub County Directors of Education will coordinate the exercise in the sub-counties.

“Scoring will be done by the classroom teachers either singly or in collaboration with other teachers in the same school in accordance with the guidelines provided in the marking guides and rubrics for various monitoring tools and within the specified time frames,” added Dr Karogo.