MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

DUDZAI PRIMARY SCHOOL

CAPACITY BUILDING MEETING ON
TESTING AND RECORDING OF MARKS

NOTABLE NOTES

TESTING
There are a number of definitions to the word 'Testing' or 'Test'. However, we have only picked up a few
definitions
1. Testing is the process of assessing the functionality of something
2. Testing means finding out the nature, quality or value of something
3. Testing is the act or practice of giving tests to measure someone's knowledge or ability
4. Testing is a process or system which is used to identify the characteristics or problems in something
5. Testing is the means by which the presence, quality or genuineness of something is determined
In our profession, we cannot do without having a particular process or means of determining the presence
our teaching. The quality of our teaching and the genuineness. We surely need this process for assessment
purposes
Having briefly discussed on testing, we will now turn our attention to types of tests. There are so many types
of tests but we will only limit ourselves to one categories only which is the OBJECTIVE TEST ITEMS.
Our discussion will be based on how we can improve this category so as to come up with a standardized
Test
OBJECTIVE TEST ITEMS
Objective tests are tests which require the leaner's to select correct responses from several alternatives or to
supply a word or short phrase to answer a question or complete a statement.

EXAMPLE OF OBJECTIVE TEST ITEMS

1. Multiple choice
2. True or False
3. Matching
4. Completion

MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST ITEMS

Multiple choice test items consist of the following, a stem and alternatives
The stem is the beginning part of the items as a problem to be solved; a question asked or an incomplete
statement to be completed and any other relevant information that commands leaner's to provide an answer
The alternatives or rather options are the possible answers that a leaner can choose from, with the incorrect
answers called Distractors while the correct option as Keyed answer

SAMPLE OF A MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST ITEM

Which one of the following is the correct way of writing 33 805?

A. thirty three thousand eight hundred zero five.
B. thirty three thousand eight hundred and five
C. thirty three thousand eight hundred five
D. three thousand three hundred eight zero five

Page 1 of 11
SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITING MUTIPLE CHOICE TEST ITEMS

1. State the stem as a direct question rather than as an incomplete statement. Except it is clear enough
Undesirable. Food is _____________________________________
Desirable. What is food? ________________________________
2. Use of negatively stated stems. When used, underline or capitalize negative words
Undesirable. Which of the following is not a water bone disease
Desirable. Which of the following is NOT a water bone disease
3. Make alternatives or options approximately equal in length
4. Be sure there is only one correct or best response to the stem
5. When possible, present the options/alternatives in some logical order i.e. chronological, most to least
or vice versa and or in alphabetical
6. Make the alternatives mutually exclusive
Undesirable. How many litres of water is a person expected to drink daily?
A. 1 to 2 litres
B. 2 to 2.5litres
C. 2.5 to 3 litres
D. 3 to 3.5 litres
Desirable. How many litres of water is a person expected to drink daily?
A. 1 litres
B. 2 litres
C. 2.5 litres
D. 3 litres
7. Use of the alternatives such as 'none of the above' and 'all of the above'. When used, such alternatives
should occasionally used as the correct response.
8. Present a definite, explicit and singular question or problem in the stem
9. Use at least four alternatives for each item to lower the probability of getting the question correct by
guessing
10. Randomly, distribute the correct response among the alternatives positions throughout the test
having approximately the same proportion of alternatives a, b, c and d as the correct response
11. Make all the alternatives plausible and attractive to the less skillful leaner's and more skillful leaner's
12. Avoid irrelevant clues such as grammatical structure, well known associations or connections
between the stem and the response
13. There must be no much contrast between the distractors and the keyed answer

Page 2 of 11
TRUE-FALSE TEST ITEMS

These are test items where a leaner needs to answer true or false

SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITING TRUE - FALSE TEST ITEMS

1. Base true-false items upon statements that are absolutely true or false without exception or
qualification
2. Express the item statement as simply and as clear as possible
3. Include enough background information and qualification so that the ability to respond correctly
does not depend on some special or unknown knowledge
4. Express a single idea in each test item
5. Avoid lifting statements from text books, leaner's exercise books or other known materials so that
memory alone does not permit a correct response
6. Avoid using negatively stated item
7. Avoid use of specific determiners which would permit a test-wise but unprepared examinee to
respond correctly. Specific determiners refers to sweeping terms like 'all', 'always', 'none', 'never',
'impossible', 'inevitable' etc statements including such terms are likely to be false. On the other hand
statements using qualifying determiners such as ''usually'', ''sometimes'', ''often'' are likely to be true.

MATCHING TEST ITEMS

In general, matching items consist of a column of stimuli presented on the left side of the exam page and
column of responses placed on the right side of the page. Leaner's are required to match the response
associated with a given stimulus

SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITING MATCHING TEST ITEMS

1. Include directions which clearly state the basis for matching the stimuli with the responses. Explain
whether or not a response can be used more than once and indicate where to write an answer. Further
advice the leaner's to only using a single arrowed as opposed to double sided arrow or a straight or
directionless line.
2. Arrange the list of responses in some systematic order if possible (e.g. chronological and
alphabetical)
3. Avoid clues to the correct answer
4. Keeping matching items brief, limiting the list of stimuli to under 10
5. Include more responses than the stimuli to help prevent answering through the process of elimination
6. When possible, reduce the amount of reading by including only short phrases or single words in the
response list.

Page 3 of 11
COMPLETION TEST ITEMS

The completion test item requires a student to answer a question or finish an incomplete statement by filling
in a blank space with the correct word or phrase. For example:

For the eclipse of the sun to occur, the moon must come between the …….. and the ………

Suggestions for writing completion of test items

1. Omit only significant words from the statement

2. Do not omit many words from the statement that the intended meaning is lost
3. Be sure there is only one correct response
4. Make the blanks of equal length
5. Avoid grammatical or other clues to correspond
6. Where possible, delete words at the end of the statement after a leaner has been presented with a
clearly defined problem
7. Avoid lifting statements directly from the textbooks, leaner's exercise books or any other sources
familiar to the leaner's
8. Limit the required response to a single word or phrase
9. If options are provided, there must be more options than the number of spaces or gaps that need
answers

ASSESSMENT AND BLLOMS TAXONOMY (COGNITIVE DOMAIN)

Assessment and examination are commonly used interchangeably. Assessment is also sometimes referred to
evaluation. We would like to begin by explaining what is meant by assessment. Assessment is used to
describe classroom exercises and tests designed to determine the level of knowledge or a skill reached by
those who have been taught or undergone through a course of instruction based on the prescribed
curriculum. Assessment answers the question, ''how well does an individual perform after undergoing
through a course of instruction?'' is also defined as a processing strategy of collecting and interpreting
information on those who are being taught. The information collected can be used for the following:-

i. to inform the leaner's and their parents/guardians about the progress they are making towards
attaining the knowledge, skills attitudes and behaviors to be learnt or acquired
ii. to inform the various personnel who make educational decisions about the learners e.g. placement,
promotion, graduation, curriculum planning and many more

Assessment can also be referred to the measurement of learning outcomes. Assessment also is the most
common measure of student learning and is used to monitor learning achievement. It is therefore important
that the assessor knows the intended outcomes of the course of instruction.

In this regard, Benjamin bloom as way back as 1956 identified six learning categories of leaning outcomes
within the cognitive domain.

Page 4 of 11
The word or term ''TAXONOMY" means the structure of principles while domain means class or category.
Blooms wanted to find out how a human being learn especially through mental processes which after
discovery he named the COGNITIVE DOMAIN

In this class he came up with six learning outcome namely, knowledge, comprehension, application,
analysis, synthesis and evaluation.

In 1964, a committee was formed chaired by the American Educational psychologist named David Krathwol
who took up the idea of Blooms to be effected and applied in schools. Up to date centers of learning use the
categories of Cognitive domain to assess the mental capacity of leaner's.

These categories are explained as follows

1. knowledge
The leaner's ability to store information in his mind and to recall it later in substantially the same
form. This may include knowledge of facts, terms of rules, procedures and theories.

2. Comprehension
The leaner's ability to know an abstraction (concept or skill) for example, well enough to be able to
demonstrate it correctly when specifically asked to do so. This includes the separate abilities to
translate data from one form to another e.g. to interpret charts and graphs or to interpret data and to
predict trends from provided data. Good example can be found in special papers
3. Application
The leaner's ability of using accumulated knowledge and comprehension skills to solve a problem
4. Analysis
The leaner's ability to study a statement and separate it into constituent parts, to distinguish between
fact and opinion, between irrelevant and relevant cause and effect
5. Synthesis
The leaner's ability to build up separate elements into a connected whole and use it to produce
unique communication on a topic, as an investigation leading to an individual study or project.
6. Evaluation
The learner's ability to make judgment about the value of ways of solving problems or ways of
tackling a problem

NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD TEST

When setting up an examination, we must first take into consideration the skills and knowledge that we
expect the successful student to have acquired as result of going through the course. In this regard, the aim
of the course must also be carefully considered. The key note to consider should always be fitness of
purpose. It is only after these considerations that we can decide what form of an examination we are going to
set.

Characteristics of a good test

A good examination must have the following characteristic

1. Validity
2. Reliability
3. Discrimination

Page 5 of 11
VALIDITY

Validity in this case refers to the degree to which inferences drawn from the assessment results are
meaningful and logically derived or the extent to which the assessment or examination measures aspects
of attainment that it was designed to measure as outcomes of specific course of instruction. The
examination must constitute a true representative of sampling of essential contents of the syllabus

For an examination to be valid, it must demonstrably measure what it was intended to measure

It must further be realized that the most important quality of an examination is its validity. Any marks or
grades that are given on an examination is valid

For the examination to be valid, it should cover the whole of the syllabus or learnt contents with appropriate
weightings for different aspects of the course. In this respect, a table of specification must be prepared in
order to make sure that every aspect of syllabus or learnt content is examined.

Reliability

Reliability is the dependability or consistence of the results of an examination. If the results of an

examination are to be meaningful, we should expect similar results even if such an examination was taken
on a different day or marked by someone else.

A reliable examination should produce similar results when administered on a different set of learners as
long as they have covered the same syllabus content. It is important to note that there is a marked
relationship between reliability and validity

Discrimination

Discrimination is the drawing of distinctions between the levels of attainment. The levels can be described
in terms of marks, grades or simply pass and fail. It is important to make these distinctions as accurately as
possible when dealing with public examinations

TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS

Table of specification is a plan which describes the topics to be covered in a test and a number of items or
points which will be associated with each topic in a particular subject.

Purpose of a table of specifications

1. To identify the achievement domains being measured and to ensure that a fair representative sample
of questions appear on the test

Page 6 of 11
 2. It allows us to ensure that our test focuses on the most important areas and weights different items
3. It also gives us the proof we need to make sure that the test was validity

With the help of the summary of topic plan, we can now come up with the table of specifications

TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS

MATHEMATICS

Content of the subject K C AP ANA SYNT EVA TOTAL

Sets 2 1 2 1 6

Numbers & notation 1 1 1 2 1 6

Addition 3 1 1 1 6

Subtraction 1 2 2 2 7

Total 7 5 6 3 1 2 25

ACTIVE VERBS DEVELOPED BASED ON BLLOMS TAXONOMY

Knowledge Comprehension Application Analysis Synthesis Evaluation

list explain solve illustrate plan decide

state interpret use what create find
tell outline predict analyze invent evaluate
define discuss construct examine compose select
who translate perform investigate propose justify
what restate classify compare design criticize
name describe identify contrast formulate judge
label identify demonstrate identify blend debate
locate which apply relate re-arrange
match summarize calculate compose form
select choose distinguish test
underline change change develop
count , find show diagram solve
read make
write modify
recall organize

Page 7 of 11
MARKING OF TEST ITEMS

Marking is the process of accessing the standard of written work of students by assigning points for
proficiency or correct.

In our profession, marking is the activity or process of checking, correcting and giving a point to learner's
written work.

IMPORTANCE

1. Marking helps us to ascertain whether teaching and learning was effective

2. Helps the teacher to use other improved ways of facilitating teaching and learning sessions
3. It motivates leaner's to work extra hard
4. It gives stakeholders necessary feedback needed to check the impact of the curriculum
5. Gives feedback on the performance of individual learner's
6. Helps the teacher identify learning difficulties each individual learner.

Note that feedback is information given back which shows what has been done well and what can be done to
improve. Effective marking is an essential part of the education process.

SUGGESTIONS FOR CONDUCTING EFFECTIVE MARKING.

1. Be consistence in awarding marks.

2. Ensure your marking key is in line with the questions.
3. Do not give pupils or any other member of your family or society to mark test items (its
unprofessional)
4. Manage your load.
5. Give feedback as soon as possible.
6. Manage leaner's expectations and anxiety.
7. Diarize your marking (recording).
8. Avoid awarding free marks.
9. Mark according to what is written and not learner's ability.
10. Pupils shouldn’t be anywhere near your marking place.

PROGRESS CHART

A progress chart is one of the academic tools used in schools (classrooms) to track impact of teaching and
learning. It is further used to promote good behaviors and reward learners for those good behaviors, for this
reason, they are at times referred to as behavior charts. Progress can be used on various behavior situations
and they come in a variety of styles and formats.

Page 8 of 11
A progress chart can further be defined as a chart showing actual performance in comparison with a
predetermined schedule or estimate of expected performance.

A MARK SCHEDULE

It is a very important academic tool that shows the general performance of the learners and the impact of the
teaching and learning. Below is the sample of the mark schedule

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
DUDZAI PRIMARY SCHOOL
MARK SCHEDULE FOR GRADE 5 END OF TERM 3 2023 TESTS

S/N NAMES SEX SUBJECTS T/MA M/O AV/M Position

ENG MATHS SCIE S/S
1 MAKUNGU JANE F 85 55 80 80 400 300 75 1
2 ALICE MAYUKA F 85 80 45 90 400 300 75 1
3 ABRAHAM TEMBO M 70 80 60 70 400 280 70 3
4 GRACE MPHANDE F 65 65 70 70 400 270 67.5 4
5 NAMUNYOLA CATHRINE F 65 65 70 55 400 255 63.75 5
6 MUTINTA MWEEMBA F 55 55 90 55 400 255 63.75 5
7 MAJORY CHALAWILA F 55 45 60 65 400 225 56.25 7
8 CONSTANCE HANSANGWA F 50 75 50 60 400 235 58.75 8
9 MULENGA BANDA F 45 40 35 80 400 200 50 9
10 GERRARD NGOSA M 35 50 55 45 400 185 46.25 10
1000 1000 1000 1000
TOTAL SCORE IN A SUBJECT 610 610 615 670 4000 2505 626.3
AVERAGE % PER SUBJECT 61 61 61.5 67 400 251 62.63

ABOVE PASSING MARK 8 8 8 9 9

BELOW PASSING MARK 2 2 2 1 1
ABSENT 0 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 10 10 10 10 10
KEY
1. T/MA= Total marks
2. M/O = marks obtained by a pupil
3. AV/M= average mark obtained in percentage
A mark schedule should communicate to authorities about the general picture of the class. Hence teachers
should be very careful as they are preparing this document.

RECORD KEEPING

Page 9 of 11
TERMS OF REFERENCE TO VARIOUS COMMITTEES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

S/N RESPONSIBILITY/ COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

TEACHERS
1. SCHOOL INSERT MR NGOSA
COORDINATOR (SIC) MS MWEMBA
2 SCHOOL ACCOUNTING MS MAYUKA
OFFICER (SAO)
3 STATISTICS MS NAMUNYOLA C
4 EXAMINATIONS MR NGOSA
MS NAMUNYOLA C
5 PROCUREMENT MR NGOSA
6 SECRETARY MS MWEEMBA
MS CHALAWILA
7 GUIDANCE MS MWEMBA
MS MPHANDE
8 STORES MS HANSANGWA
MS BANDA
9 PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE MS NAMUNYOLA
SYSTEM (P.M.S) MS MPHANDE
MR TEMBO
10 PRODUCTION UNIT (P.U) MS MAYUKA
MS BANDA
MS HANSANGWA
11 SPORTS MR TEMBO
MS NAMUNYOLA
MS MPHANDE
12 CLUBS MS BANDA
MR NGOSA
13 SCHOOL HEALTH AND MS NAMUNYOLA
NUTRITION (SHN) MS MAYUKA
MR TEMBO
14 UNION MS BANDA
MR NGOSA
Those highlighted are the supervisors in those particular committees and responsibilities

Page 10 of 11
1. SCHOOL INSERT COORDINATOR (SIC)
 Ensures that administrative directives and policies are strictly followed by teachers and pupils
 Monitors teachers and gives feedback to the administration
 Works in the office of the head teacher ( sometimes referred as the head teachers secretary or
informer)
 Manages SIR book
 Secretary to the HIM meeting
 Organize SBCPD'S in the school
 Inform the administration on the meetings that teachers are supposed to attend outside school
 Ensure that sprint activities are conducted as scheduled
 Acts as the bridge between teachers and the office
 Assist in decision making
 Organizes workshops in schools and other professional activities as need arises.

2. SCHOOL ACCOUNTING OFFICER (SAO)

 Secretary to the school financial committee
 Handles all school funds in the school
 Overseas financial management, control and reporting to the school
 Analyze financial records and reports so as to make adjustments when necessary
 Approves spending and encumbers grant funds
 Ensure there is compliance with grant guidelines and school policies and procedures
 Ensures that teachers are paid their dues.
3. STATISTICS
 Collect data in the school
 Analyze and interpret data
 Identifying trends and relationship in data
 Design processes for data collection
 Advice the school on strategies of collecting data
 Assist in decision making
4. PROCUREMENT
 Collects purchase lists from teachers from various committees
 Prepare plans for the purchase
 Prepare (working hand in hand with the accounting officer and the office) budgets and cost
analysis
 Approve and oversees purchase
 Maintaining positive supplier relations
 Evaluate supply options
 Ensuring quality but cost effective products
 Maintain accurate records
 Highlights company procedures to the school
 Ensuring that purchasing order and guidelines are strictly followed
5. EXAMINATION
 Ensures that validity, reliability and discriminatory tests are administered in school
 Check the tests the tests prepared by teachers before they are administered to the pupils.
 Prepare examination (test) time tables
 Prepares examination invigilation schedules
 Document cases of examination
 Receive all mark schedules
 Maintain proper records of results in school
 Conduct free and fare examination
 Conduct exam and test analysis every after academic term
Page 11 of 11