Classroom Assessment Strategies

Mubina Alam Jakhro and Prof. Dr. Abdul Sattar Almani

Classroom Assessment strategies are used to monitor the students’ learning to provide ongoing feedback to improve student’s strengths, weaknesses and those areas which need improvement in addition to help teachers to recognize where students are improving and where students need improvement? In fact it is a systematic collection of students’ learning; using time, skills, knowledge and resources. Taluka. Mirpur Sakro is very small and scattered area in the district Thatta where people usually work in the agricultural fields though on the right bank of Indus as well as included in the coastal belt of Sindh ranging the widest area from the district. Agriculture is thus, carried out here on the Indus River water. This taluka Mirpur Sakro is not much advanced; most people have Jhoprhee like houses while the roads are also Kacha. There are small health-care centers in the vicinity of Taluka and town. The education of this area is not good as compared to the other towns and rural areas of Sindh in general and Thatta in particular. Studies already published reveal the fact that only 5% of the students pass intermediate and 0.1% goes to universities for graduation per annum. According to the data provided by the DEO Elementary/ Secondary & Higher Secondary District Thatta; the total population of the secondary schools including teachers and students of Mirpur Sakro Taluka of the district has 15 secondary schools comprising of 10 boys and 05 girls schools. There are total 128 Secondary School teachers comprising of 78 male and 50 female. A total number of 2651 students are enrolled at secondary school level consisting of 1847 male and 804 girls’ students. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the impact of the classroom assessment strategies on the final board results of class ninth and tenth at Mirpur Sakro Taluka. For this purpose, the results of the students from the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Hyderabad were obtained for class ninth and class tenth for the studied period i.e. 2019. For class ninth, the results of Pakistan Studies subject were obtained and for class tenth, the results of Islamiat subject  were collected. In connection to pursue desired data, a purposive sampling method was used in which 03 schools, 06 Teachers with 128 students were included as sample of study to collect the data. The findings of the current study on the basis of collected data were that classroom assessment strategies are used more in Pakistan Studies classrooms but less in Islamiat classrooms. Similarly, in case of Islamiat, it was also found that classroom assessment strategies are used in the classrooms which have a significant impact on the final results of the students. Significant proof was found regarding the relationship between formative assessment activities in the final grades of students at secondary school level in taluka Mirpur Sakro. Observation of students, question answered sessions, copy checking by teachers, frequent test and assigning homework etc were seen in the classrooms as the ongoing assessment strategies. The names of girls and boys schools of taluka Mirpur Sakro are GBHS Gujjo, GBHS Barad Thaheem, GBHS Pump House Dhabeji, GBHS Dhabeji Town, GBHSS Mirpur Sakro, GBHS Buhara, GBHS Gulamullah, GBHS Ahmed Khan Baloch, GBHS Karampur, GBHS Gharo, GGHS Gullamullah, GGHS Gharo, GGHS Pump House, GGHS Dhabeji Town and GGHS Mirpur Sakro. When the mark sheets of the students were analyzed, it was found that the obtained marks started from 10 to 62 out of 75 in the subject of Pakistan Studies and Islamiat, the median marks were 33, 58, 33, 56, 49, 56, 10, 34, 36, 53, 33, 32 and 25, respectively of all classes. While observing the class during the checking of the predetermined observation tool it was known that, in the majority of schools, it was found that teachers check note books properly, mark their signatures and randomly correct the mistakes as well as syntax errors of students. In this regard, in the few schools, it was observed that copies signatures were also made by head teachers. The teachers’ punctuality was not constant in all schools due to variable figure of the granted scheduled new expenditure in the annual budget. Mostly the teachers were punctual but at farming related timings, punctuality of students as well as teachers was too much affected due to the active participation in the farming routine. It was also observed that in most of the schools, visitors’ book is maintained properly but, in some schools head teachers were unaware of visitors’ book when they were asked about it even they refused while giving excuses that they have recently taken the charge of school head. It was concluded that teachers who use classroom assessment strategies and to provide specific and timely feedback to their students have had a greater impact on their students’ academic achievement as well as permanent learning and final results, such study should be carried out in other subjects and areas of the District Thatta. The study was too tough to travel throughout the district because the schools were on the coastal belt of Thatta which was hard to travel especially during monsoon season. Therefore, such study must be funded properly by Government of Sindh, School Education and Literacy Department to get proper and continuous results.