The Pacific Community (SPC) engaged with Kiribati’s Ministry of Education (MOE) to strengthen the quality of the country’s national assessments and ensure that they are closely aligned with subject learning outcomes during the Outcomes-based Assessment (OBA) training, from 17 - 21 March in Fiji.
OBA is an approach that focusses on the results or outcomes of the learning process rather than the activities involved in the process. This approach is valuable because it creates a more effective, relevant, and accountable educational experience that aligns with the needs of learners and society.
The OBA training provided an opportunity for the MOE officials to work with regional experts specialising in Curriculum and Assessment, Large Scale Assessment, Policy and Research, and Information Technologies based at SPC’s regional office in Suva.
SPC’s Team Leader for Curriculum and Assessment, Doreen Tuala, explained that critical information about OBA was requested by MOE.
“OBA encourages a more personalised approach to learning and allows educators to tailor their teaching to meet the specific needs and learning styles of their students. Kiribati already practices OBA, and this training was to improve staff’s understanding of this assessment approach and how it relates to the features of the Pacific Schools Information Management System (PacSIMS) developed by SPC to administer national and regional assessments,” explained Tuala.
The OBA approach shifts emphasis from the traditional measures of success, such as grading and completing tasks, to actual competence and skills that students are able to demonstrate.
Atinta Buren, Kiribati MOE’s Assessment Officer (Mathematics), highlighted that the workshop provided valuable insights on enhancing assessment systems, particularly through refining PacSIMS processes, implementing OBA, and improving large-scale assessments.
“The workshop has enabled us to explore the best options in capturing both internal and external assessments for TVET courses, ensuring alignment with competency-based education principles,” said Buren.
The discussions on assessment item writing, data analysis, and Item Response Theory (IRT) increased the cohort's capacity to design and validate reliable assessment instruments. “The knowledge and skills gained during the workshop deepened our understanding of assessment frameworks and allowed us to explore innovative ways to enhance student learning outcomes,” Buren added.
SPC will continue to assist Kiribati’s MOE and other member countries in training staff on determining the weighting and duration (teaching weeks) for each subject strand, Internal Assessment (IA) task development, IA programme approval process and item development for examiners and moderators.
