Yeap Ban Har presented a case study on using assessment information.

1. Using Student Assessment Results
for Education Quality and Systems Strengthening
CASE STUDY
Uses of assessment information to
support student learning in
SINGAPORE
YEAP BAN HAR
MARSHALL CAVENDISH INSTITUTE
ESCHBORN, GERMANY – OCTOBER 25, 2011

2. Other Case Studies
Maria Jose Ramirez Ousmane Senghor Jean-Paul Reef
(Case: Chile) (Case: The Gambia) (Case: Germany)
World Bank Ministry of Education Leibniz Institute
Osama Obeidat Maciej Jakubowski Yulia Tyumeneva
(Case: Jordan) (Case: Poland) (Case: Russian Federation)
Jordan Education Initiative OECD Higher School of Economics

3. General Overview of Singapore and
its Education System
 Land
 700 sq km
 People
 4.7 million

4. General Overview of Singapore and
its Education System
 GDP per capita in current U.S. dollars
1965 $510 2010 $43 300

5. General Overview of Singapore and
its Education System
 Students
 500 000
 Teachers
 30 000
 Principals & Vice-Principals
 900
 Schools
 173 Primary Schools (Primary 1 – 6)
 155 Secondary Schools (Secondary 1 – 4)
 13 Junior Colleges (JC 1 – 2)
Canossa Convent Primary School
 15 Mixed-Level Schools Singapore
The data refers to 1-12 school system. Pre-school is not part of the formal
education system. The data excludes post-secondary education system which
includes institutes of technical education, polytechnics and universities.

6. Universities
National Examination
Institutes of
Poly
Technical
technics
Junior Education
Colleges
Integrated
National Examination
Programmes
Secondary Schools
National Examination
Primary Schools
A detailed schematic diagram of Singapore‟s education system is available in Education Statistics Digest
http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/education-statistics-digest/

7. General Overview of Student Assessment
Activities in Singapore
 National examinations at the end of Grades 6, 10
and 12 are high stakes. G.C.E. Advanced Level Examination
International Assessment (Grade 12)
Trends in Mathematics &
Science Study 1995, 1999, 2003, School Assessment
2007, 2011
G.C.E. Ordinary Level Examination
Progress in International (Grade 10)
Reading Literacy Study 2001,
2006, 2011 School Assessment
Program for International
Student Achievement 2009 Primary School Leaving Examination
International assessments do not attract much (Grade 6)
public attention and has little influence on school
assessment.
School Assessment
School assessment are typically teacher-created
tests and examinations that mirrors the demands
of the national examinations.

8. General Overview of Student Assessment
Activities in Singapore
 Singapore‟s education system aspires to be
meritocratic, hence the reliance on national test
results.
Stake Holders Purpose of Assessment
Students and Parents Placement in subsequent stage and scholarships
Schools Benchmarking against other schools
Government Monitoring achievement of schools, ethnic groups and
students from different home background
Employers As an indicator of ability of applicants

9. General Overview of Student Assessment
Activities in Singapore
 Singapore‟s education system is subjected to
constant review.
 PERI (Primary Education Review & Implementation)
 SERI (Secondary Education Review & Implementation)
The reports contain suggestions for improvement in the way
assessment is done in Singapore.
 The review of university education is on-going
now and is due to be completed in 2013.
 26% of each cohort gains admission to local publicly-
funded universities.
Presently, national examination results play an important
role in university admission.

10. Focus and Key Questions for this
Case Study
1. How is national examination information used to
support student learning in Singapore?
2. How have the uses changed over time?
3. What were the mechanisms and drivers that
allowed for those changes?

11. Findings
 Supporting Student Learning: National Examination
There is a close match between the curriculum and national
examination. This is due to the consultative relationship between
agencies responsible for the curriculum (Ministry of Education)
and national examination (Singapore Examination and Assessment
Board).
This ensures that the intended curriculum is implemented.

12. Findings
 Supporting Student Learning: National Examination
Example: Mathematical problem solving forms a significant proportion of the national
examination because it is the focus of the curriculum framework.

13. Findings
 Supporting Student Learning: National Examination
Example: Mathematical problem solving forms a significant proportion of the national
examination because it is the focus of the curriculum framework.
Grade 6 National Examination

14. Findings
 Supporting Student Learning: National Examination
“Identify areas that the school is underperforming in comparison to [the] national
average (based on report given by MOE). Plan and strategize to improve. We also
look into when the topic was first introduced and try and close the gap at the root
of the problem.”
Interview Data
Example: 2010 Grade 6 National Examination in Mathematics
School National The report also indicates how students in a school
X Average performed in specific topics, in comparison to
Quality 42.9% 43.3% national data.
Pass
Such data are used to improve the instructional
Pass 79.0% 84.0%
programme the following year. For example, School X
may pay more attention to struggling students to
improve its percentage pass.

15. PSLE
Integrated Specialised
Normal (T)
Programme Schools
Normal (A)
Express
O Levels
Findings
Junior College Polytechnics ITE
A Levels
pathway
University
most suitable learning
 Supporting Student Learning: National Examination
Placement of students in

16. Findings
 Supporting Student Learning: Other Assessment
 LSM and LSP at Primary 1 & 2
 Assessment at entry point to formal education determines if a student is
given learning support in a small class and „specialist‟ help in core
subjects – English language and Mathematics.
 Foundation Subjects at Primary 5 & 6 and Normal Courses
 School-based examinations determines if a student will benefit more
from content differentiation. The least academically inclined students can
study core subjects consisting of fewer topics and take more time.
 Informal Remedial Lessons Across Levels
 Typically, twice a year, school-based examinations are used to identify
students who need „after-school‟ remedial lessons. Foundation Subjects &
Normal Courses
 Gifted Education Programme Selection Test at Primary 3
 Two rounds of tests, the first for every student and the second on
invitation, are conducted to selected students for GEP in Primary 4 to
Primary 6.

17. Findings
 Shifting Landscape in the Use of Assessment
From … … to
Exclusive use of national examination Multiple ways of assessing students.
results While national examinations results
remain significant, more tools are used
now. Example: DSA
National examination results used for National examination results used to
student placement. support learning. Example: Specialised
Schools
School-based assessment tended to School-based assessment are more
mimic national examination. holistic. Example: Holistic Assessment
(HAPpe)
School were evaluated mostly on Schools are evaluated on a broad suite
national examination results. of criteria. Example: School Excellence
Model

18. Findings
 Mechanism & Drivers
 Within Education
 Curriculum sets direction (Thinking Schools, Learning Nation)
 National examination provides the push in the direction
 Professional development provides teachers with support to move
in that direction (Professional Learning Communities)
 Constant review to refine the system
 Beyond Education
 Inter-ministry committees involving key thinkers from the industry
 Delinking education and politics (Lee, 2007)
 Public opinions on impact of an examination-oriented society

19. References
 http://www.moe.gov.sg/publications/many-pathways/ is a historical account of education
in Singapore.
 http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/education-statistics-digest/ contains Singapore‟s
education statistics.
 http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/syllabuses/ contains curriculum documents.
 http://seab.gov.sg/ contains examination syllabuses.
 http://www.primaryeducation.sg/holistic-development-of-your-child/holistic-
assessment/ is about holistic assessment that is recommended by a review committee on
primary education.
 http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/press/2009/07/inaugural-international-educat.php is a
press release of an International Education Roundtable, during which the Prime Minister
made a remark about the need to take politics out of education.
 http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/admissions/dsa-sec/ provides information on direct
school admission, a route that places less emphasis on examination results.
 http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/press/2010/09/more-pathways-secondary-schools.php
provides information on specialised schools for the least academic students in the system.