Answer to Question #295808 in Psychology for Luu

Question

Various assessor's may assess learners work in a school context , Explain refer to CAPS Subject?

Answer 1

Various assessor’s may asses learners work in a school context ,Explain refer to CAPS Subject.

The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) is the National Curriculum that is taught in most schools across South Africa. CAPS is not a new curriculum; it is an amendment to the National Curriculum Statement. The main goal of the revisions was to lessen the administrative load on teachers and to ensure that they have clear guidelines to maintain a level of consistency. With the updated CAPS curriculum, every subject in each grade has a comprehensive policy document. This document provides teachers with clearly defined course guidelines per grade and per subject.

Assessment is a process of collecting, analyzing and interpreting information to assist teachers, parents and other stakeholders in making decisions about learners’ progress. Classroom assessment should indicate learner achievement most effectively and efficiently by ensuring that adequate evidence is collected using various assessment forms. 

Types of Assessment

Classroom assessment should be both informal and formal. In both cases, learners must know what knowledge and skills are being assessed, and feedback should be provided to learners after assessment to enhance the learning experience.

Informal or daily assessment is the monitoring and enhancing of learners’ progress. This type of assessment occurs through teacher observation and teacher-learner interactions, which either teachers or learners may initiate. Informal may be as simple as stopping during the lesson to observe learners or discuss how learning progresses. Teachers should use informal assessment to provide feedback to the learners and teachers, close the gaps in learners’ knowledge and skills and improve teaching. The informal assessment builds towards formal assessment, and teachers should not only focus on the formal assessment.

A formal assessment provides teachers with a systematic way of evaluating how well learners progress in a particular subject and a grade. Teachers must ensure that assessment criteria are evident to the learners before the assessment process. This involves the teacher explaining to the learners which knowledge and skills are being assessed and the required responses. Feedback should be provided to the learners after assessment and could take the form of a whole-class discussion or teacher-learner interaction.

Examples of formal assessments include projects, oral presentations, demonstrations, performances, tests, examinations and practical demonstrations.

The forms of assessment used should be appropriate to the age and the developmental level of the learners in the phase. The assessment tasks should be carefully designed to cover the content of the subject. Therefore, the design of these tasks should ensure that various skills are assessed as contemplated in Chapter 4 of the different Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements.

School based Assessment

School-Based Assessment is a compulsory component for progression and promotion in all the different school phases. The School-Based Assessment component is as follows in different school phases – in Foundation Phase it is worth 100% of the learner’s mark, in Intermediate Phase it is 75%, Senior Phase 50% and FET 25%.

Moderation should ensure that the quality and standard of the School-Based Assessment, as contemplated in Chapter 4 of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements, have been met from Grade 4 onwards.

Reference

Top tips and guidelines for CAPS Assessment - CAPS 123 for Teachers. CAPS 123 for Teachers. (2022). Retrieved 10 February 2022, from https://caps123.co.za/caps-assessment/.