Realizations

Evaluation of Learning in Burkina Faso

In its new guidance law, the Burkenese government fixed as objective to the educational system to allow the learners of every level of education to acquire general and technical knowledge and fundamental skills necessary for their life by giving them the possibility of exercising a job or of undertaking studies at an upper level. The system of assessment has to carry at the same time on knowledge, social skills and the know-how. In its action plan the PACEB (Project of Canadian Support for the Basic education) suggested accompanying the ministry of Education in its efforts to adapt the Basic school-leaving qualification (CEP) and make so that it gives evidence not only of knowledge acquired by the students but also the developed skills. The actions realized within the framework of this constituent should contribute to value the experiences of this cycle of education, to improve the quantity and the quality of the tests of evaluation as well as to strengthen the capacities of the staffs in evaluation of the learnings.

At the request of Sofeg Inc. (Longueuil, Canada), Micro Centre Pythagore realized certain works between 1998 and 2000; four missions of consultation took place. During the first one, which took place in February 1998, a working workshop allowed to specify an approach for the organization of a new format of the examination of the CEP (Certificat d'Enseignement Primaire). Three other missions (in October 1999, February 2000 and April 2000) concerned techniques susceptible to implement the development of items banks that must serve to realize educational evaluations. Representatives of the Direction in charge of administration of CEP and the Educational Institute of the Burkina Faso participated in these activities. The works realized during these workshops allowed to use of the material of evaluation administered by the DEC (Direction des Examens et Concours) within the framework of the CEP.

The activities held within the framework of these missions of consultation took the shape of workshop grouping together the staff of DEC and IPB. The participants were invited to elaborate the material using techniques proposed by the Canadian consultants. The approach appealed to the practices and the documents used in the Burkina the examination of which allowed to detect the weak points and to suggest improvements bringing in the current context. The following approach was retained to realize the entrusted mandate.

• Preparing table of specification. At first, the working teams were invited to prepare tables of specification to cover every school discipline. The curricula were used to realize this task.

• Examination of the tests used. Afterward, the participants to workshops were invited to examine the tests used within the framework of the CEP to place the contents with regard to the tables of specification prepared from the contents of the curricula.

• Preparation of grids of codification and analyze marking forms. We used a sample of students' copies resulting from the one or the other examination of the CEP.

A marking workshop was organized to have statistical indications on items being part of selected tests. Beforehand, the teams had prepared the marking grids and coding forms.

• Marking of a sample of students' copies. The participants were able to correct students' copies by respecting the rules of correction and by registering the result of this notation on the planned forms.

• Data entry of the information. Some computer specialists participated in the various works of the last three workshops. They were made sensitive to the various software necessary for the realization of the one or the other activity connected with the implementation of an items bank and with the necessary statistical analyses. There was first of all a data entry of the information recorded on forms filled by the corrective participants and the quality control of the available data.

• Statistical compilations. The participants associated to the computing works realized, under the supervision of the consultants, a series of statistical compilations by means of the software EduStat.

• Statistical analyses. By means of the statistical reports, the participants were able to carry a judgment enlightened on the functioning of the various tests and on their metric quality. These activities also allowed to approach various notions of the statistics used for the educational evaluation.

• Development of computerized items banks. During the last workshop, the participants were able to prepare items covering several disciplines of teaching. Many items were included in banks concerning various school disciplines.

Email address: info@mcpythagore.com