This document discusses continuous assessment, which involves regularly assessing student learning and providing feedback to improve instruction and student outcomes. It defines continuous assessment and describes its purposes, techniques, advantages, and challenges in implementation. Continuous assessment has been piloted and introduced in Nepal up to grade 7/8, though challenges remain in fully realizing its benefits, such as using the data formatively rather than just for promotion. The document outlines basic principles for continuous assessment in Nepal's education system.

1. CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT
BY:
RABI MAHARJAN
M.ED. (4TH SEMESTER)
KATHMANDU UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

2. Essential Understandings
 Student learning improves through interaction with
teachers skilled in the use of a variety of
assessment options.
 How assessment information is used is more
important than its format.
 Formative assessment has a positive effect on
student learning.

3. What is Assessment ???
 Assessment is the process of gathering and discussing
information from multiple and diverse sources in order to
develop a deep understanding of what students know,
understand, and can do with their knowledge as a result of
their educational experiences.

4. Types of Assessment
 Formative and Summative Assessment
 Summative Assessment
 Norm-referenced and Criterion Referenced
 Performance Based Assessment
 Holistic Assessment
 Project Based Assessment
 Continuous Assessment

5. What is Continuous Assessment ?
 Continuous assessment is an approach that would capture the full range of
learner’s performance that help teachers understand their learners, plan and
monitor instruction and establish a viable classrooms culture.
 Continuous assessment is regular assessment of the learning performance
related to a course module and that is separate from examinations, and
accompanied by regular feedback.
 Many educational systems all over the world have adopted this approach in
assessing learners’ achievement in many subject areas.
 CA of learners’ progress could be defined as a mechanism whereby the final
grading of learners in the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains of
learning systematically takes account of all their performances during a given
period of schooling – Falayalo, 1986

6. Continuous Assessment…… cont’d
 It is the periodic and systematic method of assessing and evaluating
a person’s attributes.
 Students receive feedback from teachers based on their
performance that allows them to focus on topics they have not yet
mastered.
 Information collected from continuous behavior of students will
help teachers to better understand their strengths and weaknesses
in addition to providing a comprehensive picture of each student
over a period of time.
 Such information will help in learning of students and will afford
students to readily see his or her developmental pattern through
the data.

7. Purpose of Continuous Assessment
 Diagnostic
 Teaching Methodology
 Motivation
 Formative & Summative
 Evaluative

8. How can we achieve that purpose ?
Purpose
Longer time
for collecting
assessment
information
Teacher
assistance
and
remediation
Different
test forms
and
situations
Complex
thinking
skills

9. Characteristics of Continuous
Assessment
1. Systematic : requires an operational plan
2. Comprehensive : different form of tests, projects,
assignments, observations, questions, group work and so on.
(all in one)
3. Cumulative : accumulated records of the students, reliable
and dependable
4. Guidance-Oriented : collected information for guidance to
the learner’s development, career prospects.

10. Techniques of Continuous Assessment
1. Question and Answer in the lesson
2. Short Tests and Quizzes
3. Homework Exercises/Assignments
4. Class Tests
5. Group Exercise
6. Projects
7. Exercises with Short Extended or Multiple Choice Answers

11. Advantages Of Continuous Assessment
 It is guidance oriented
 Yield more accurate data reaching the teachers early
enough to modify instruction.
 Play vital role in diagnosing and remediating areas of
learners’ weaknesses if properly anchored.
 Teachers and administrators would be able to assess
learners’ progress and would have time to correct the
problems.
 It is not threatening to learners

12. Advantages Of Continuous Assessment…..
Cont’d
 It encourages more teacher participation in the overall
assessment or grading of his/her learners.
 Holistic representation of learners.
 Teachers can modify their pedagogical strategies to
include the construction of remediation activities for
students
 Individual interaction between teachers and students
foster their relation

13. Problems of Implementing
Continuous Assessment in Schools
 Finance
 Adaptation of Change
 Training of Teachers
 Mode of Operation
 Record Keeping
 Favoritism
 Overpopulation
 Over Concentration in written test
 Uniformity

14. Problems of Implementing Continuous
Assessment in Schools…. cont’d
 Lack of appropriate skills of teachers, test construction
and administration and their attitudes towards CAS
 Resistance of change and time constraint
 Lack of keen observation to assess affective outcomes,
 Lack of knowledge about basic arithmetical operations
of addition and multiplication while scoring.

15. Guidelines of Planning and Organizing
Continuous Assessment
 Students not overstressed
 Sufficient time to prepare
 Written guidelines and instructions – instantly recognizable
and clear
 Create opportunities to discuss with students and stuffs
before and after the implementation
 Ensure assessment technique is progressive and properly
integrated
 Unless there is commitment, diligence and sacrifice on the
part of the teacher, CA will not be successful.

16. Continuous Assessment System in
Nepal
 Piloting program was introduced in five Compulsory Primary
Education (CPE) districts in education year 2000/1 in grade 1.
 Ninth plan and tenth plan stated to introduce continuous
evaluation system at the primary level.
 Ninth plans targeted to experimentally implement the
liberal promotion policy to upgrade from grade 1 to 3.
 Tenth plan has programmed to introduce continuous
assessment system up to grade 5 on the basis of piloted
experiment and experience.
 Now it has been implemented up to grade 7/8.

17. Findings and Conclusions on CAS in
Nepal
 Dropout and attendance situation in the CAS piloted schools did
not improve.
 The CDC officers who were directly involved in CAS did not believe
on children’s less experience and practice about examination
system.
 Not able to show any fixed trend in the improvement of students’
achievement.
 Lack of regular and proper monitoring of the CAS program.
 Lack of responsibility feeling on the part of all stakeholders.
 Teachers did not use the information received from CAS for the
improvement of instruction. They used it for upgrading purpose
not for formative purposes.

18. Basic Principles of CAS in Nepal
Teaching methodology is student-centered not class-based
All the learning outcomes of the curriculum are used as the
basis of the teaching and assessment of the students
The class teacher assess the students along with teaching on a
continuous basis. There is no separate periodical examination
The class teach keeps the student progress record using a
specific set of learning outcome indicators.
The students’ progress records are kept in their portfolios.
Examples of students’ work are kept in their portfolios.