School's Report 2012 National Senior Certificate (NSC) Examination

4.1 Evaluation and Assessment
Assessment and evaluation are important concepts in education. Evaluation determines the level
of quality of performance or outcomes and enables decision-making based on the level of quality
demonstrated. Assessment provides feedback on knowledge, skills, values, and work products for
the purpose of elevating future performances and learning outcomes.
Evaluations can be distinguished according to their functions, which are formative and summative
evaluations. Formative evaluation accompanies the development process, it serves the purpose of
quality assurance. Its primary goal is to identify the strength and weaknesses of the implementation.
Summative evaluation on the other hand ensures the control of quality, effects and utility of an
educational course. Formative and summative evaluations can complement each other at the
beginning of the project, formative evaluation usually plays a greater role towards the end, summative
evaluation often receives a greater emphasis.
The tools of assessment in education are based on three main pillars which are curriculum, systemic
and performance assessments. This takes place at three levels, namely:
• Conceptual level: Learners demonstrate the consistent use of subject concepts.
• Objective level: Learners demonstrate the extent to which the acquired knowledge is aligned
to learning objectives.
• Strategic level: Learners are continually assessed to evaluate the successes and failures of
the system and strategically design working interventions for closing the gaps.
However, the discussion in this chapter only pertains to the aspects of curriculum and systemic
assessments.
4.2 The Importance of Assessment
Assessment serves as a success-check for the fulfillment of teaching and learning. It can focus
on an individual learner, a group of learners/class, institution or the education system as a whole.
Assessment can be utilized either to diagnose the areas which have not been mastered by learners
and the possible reasons for not mastering the content or for learner progression from one grade to
the next. In instances where assessment is used as a diagnostic tool, it assists educators to consider
better approaches to teaching and identify suitable remedial programmes for learning.
This report contains details of assessment as a diagnostic tool for the success of teaching and
learning in Grades 1- 6 and 9 in the form of the Annual National Assessments (ANA) as well as
assessment for learner progression in Grade 12 (National Senior Certificate).
48