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CO my wife who sacrificed her time besides teaching, for our daughter and sons during my long absence.

ABSTRACT

Since 1993. teachers in Bhutan have been required to use continuous assessrnent

as a mechanism for supplementing and complementing the traditional assessment procèss

which had previously relied upon a comprehensive system of examinations. some

conducted internally by individual schools and others conducted nationally by the Bhutan

Board of Examinations. Although teachers have been provided with policy euidelines and

directions, there has been little formal training, either pre-service or in-semice. and

generally. teachers have found the additional responsibilities associated with continuous

assessrnent to be burdensome.

This study was concemed with identi@ing strategies for continuous assessrnent

that tcachérs would readily be able to leam and employ in the classrooms. A

comprehensive review of the literature identified two particularly promising approaches:

rubrics and portfolio assessment. The work consisted of appraising thcir feasibility for

adoption andhr adaptation in Bhutm,

Based on an analysis of the available literature, the conditions n e c e s s q for thc

successhl use of these strategies were identified. Data concerning whether these

conditions exist in Bhutan or can be put in place in Bhutan were then generated based on

the views of senior teachers and educators in Bhutan. Data generation employed

questionnaire and focus group interviews.

The data identified several factors that would facilitate and inhibit the use of

rubrics and portfolios in Bhutan. Despite the identification of some difflculties. there was

a broad consensus that both rubrics and portfolio assessrnent are feasible options to

introduce into the continuous assessrnent process in Bhutanese schools.

ACKIVOWLEDGMENT

This work is the result of the support, guidance, labor and diligence of many

individuals. to whom 1 would like to express rny sincere thanks and appreciation.

To the emdite Dr. Andy Hughes, my supervisor. for his constant guidance and

invaluable advice. and in ensuring that this work was completed in the way i t is noLi..

To Kathy Aubin. at the University of New Brunswick for always goin2 out of her

way in providing me with administrative and technical support,

To Dr. Gerald M. Clarke & Dr. Jennifer Pazienza. Dr. Alün Sears Sr Janti Ann. Dr

John Ste~vart & Par, Prof. George Haley & Joanne. Diane Shannon and Dr. Gary

Whitsford Br Carol for making my stay in Canada a pleasant and memorable experience.

They made Canada feel like a home away from home.

To Dr. H. Joseph Murphy and Dr. Cary Grobe and Dr. Gerald M. Clarke for

kindly consenting to be thc readers.

To the teachers and colleagues from the CAPSS and BBE for participating in this

study and my friends in Fredericton for their cornpanionship and moral support.

To the Education Division and Nancy Strickland for making it possible for me to

pursue an M.Ed. at UNB, Fredericton, NB. Canada.

And lastly to rny wife. Karma Chhoden and my children for their patience. love.

faith, trust and inspiration.

Table of Contents

. . Dedication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 ... Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I I I

Acknowledpent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 .

ListofTables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . is

. . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapter One: Role of Student Assessrnent and Related Issues in Bhutan 1 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Student Assessment in the Era of Modern Education in Bhutan

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Move to Continuous Assessrnent in Bhutan 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Purpose of Continuous Assessrnent 5

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Proccssss of Continuous Assessrnent 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Use of Results of Continuous Assessrnent S

. . . . . . . . . . . Difficulties Encountered with the Use of Continuous Assessrnent 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Research Problem II

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rubrics 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Portfolio Assessrnent 12

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Research Design 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Significance of the Study 15

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapter Two: Review of Related Lirerature 17 Partone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Purposes of Assessrnent 17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Definitions and Types of Assessrnent 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Continuous Assessment in Education 74

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Benefits and Limitations of Continuous Assessrnent 77 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PartTwo 79

Rubrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Portfolios 34

Conditions for Successful Irnplementation of Rubrics and Portfolio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Assessrnent 3s

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ResourceslInstructional Materials 39 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Consultants and Facilitators 30

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Collaboration 32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Practice 33

Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Assessrnent Purpose 35 Developing and Detçrmining Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Attitude (Willinpess/Readiness) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Sumrnary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4s

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Making Decisions about Student Portfolios 98

Teachers' and Administrators' Perceptions of Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inhibiting the Use of Rubrics 99

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lack of Difficulty in Providing Materials 99 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lack of Expertise 100

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Teachers Engaged in Many Activities 100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Difficulty in AIlocating Time 101 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Other Obligations for Teachers 101

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LackofSupport 102 Teachcrs' and Administrators' Perceptions of the Conditions

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inhibiting the ';se of Portfolio Assessment 102 LackofExpertise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Expensive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Teachers Engaged in Too Many Activitics 105 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Difficulty in Invoiving Parents 10;

Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Summ., . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1 1

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapter Five: Summary and Recommendations 113 PurposeoftheStudy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Recommendations 115 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Conclusion 118

Bibliography . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appcndix A: Letters 128 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix B: Reading Materials . . l 3 5

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix C: Questionnaires 121

Table l h :

Table 13b:

Table 13:

Table 15:

Table 16a:

Table 16b:

Table 18:

Usine Free and Instruction Periods for Conferencing with Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Teachers' Willingness to Conference with Students aticr School . . . . . . 7s

Tsachers' Willingness to Practice Use of Portfolio Assessmenr . . . . . . . 79

Teachers' Ability to Define the Purpose of Assessrnent . . . . . . . . . . . . . SO

Teachers' Ability to Develop Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 1

Teachm' Ability to Dscide When and What Goes into . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Portfolios S 1

Parents Deciding M a t 1s Put into Portfolios of Their Children . . . . . . . S?

Students Deciding When and What Goes into Their Portfolios . . . . . . . 54

Conditions Facilitating And/or Inhibiting the Use of Rubrics (As Perceived by Teachers and Administrators) . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Conditions Facilitating AndJor Inhibiting the Use of Portfolio Assessment

. . . . . . . . . . . . (As Perceived by Teachers and Administrators) 106

Chapter One

Role of Student Assessrnent and Related Issues in Bhutan

This research is concemed with the issue of the transnational transfer of

educational practices, particularly from developed to developing countries. The record for

such transfer is not good and has been attributed to the gsneral unwillingness or inability

of the appropriate agencies in either the sending or receiving countries to adequately

assess the feasibility of practices for the new situation. as nuted by Hughes and Urasa

( 1997). During the course of the past decade. the Education Division in Bhutan has

souzht to irnprove the assessrnenr and evaluation of students in public schools by adding

a "continuous assessnient" dimension to the sxisting system of terminal and national

examii~ations. This new policy has added a responsibility to the work of teachers who

have limited exposure to the repertoire of practices that might be employed within a

continuous assessment tiamework and has posed considerable difficulties in schools.

In order to assist teachers to make eood use of continuous assessment. 1 have been

concemed with identifj4ng generally accepted good practices and with analysing their

feasibility for use in the Bhutanese context. In particular. 1 have focussed on the

applications and uses of rubrics a d portfolio assessment. The broad goal has been to

determine whether rubrics and portfolio assessment are feasible options for use by

Bhutanese teachers. thereby enhancing their capacity to engage productively in an on-

going process of continuous student assessment.

Student Assessrnent in the Era of Modern Education in Bhutan

Bhutan opensd its doors to changes and modemization by launching the first

"Fivr-Yzar Plan" development in 196 1. This broueht about a prriod of change in man?

srctors. including public education. From only elevcn p r i m q schools in the Ic160s the

number of schools has proliferated to nearly 250 p r i m q and community schools. 44

junior high schools and I S high schools' in 1999. In 1963. the establishment of the first

high school was undertaken ivith the lare Reverend Father William Mackey as Principal'.

Sinçe the introduction of modem education. examinations have played an important role

in the curricula.

From the be_einnin_o of the era of modem education. assessment, especially in the

form of external public exarninations has pIayed a irital role. The Bhutan Board of

Examinations (BBE) of the Education Division monitors and conducts al1 national

examinations and evaluations, and al\ exarnination related work. Yational examinations

are conducted for grades six, eight and tsn at the end of each academic year and they are

al1 "hieh stakes" exarninations. These examinations are used for seleçtion. promotion. and

certification purposes.

Depending on the number of seats available in grade nine, grade eight students

who have secured the average or above set by the BBE. are declared "Passed" and

'Planning Commission. Royal Governrnent of Bhutan: Bhutan 2020: .4 Vision for Peace, Pros~eritv and H a ~ ~ i n e s s . Keen PubIishing (Thailand) Co. Ltd., 1999.

'Solverson, Howard: The Jesuit and the Dragon. Robert Davies Publishing, Montreal, Canada, 1995.

promoted to grade nine. Those who have passed but are not promoted to grade nine are

declared "Certified and Recommsnded for Training" and are eligible to join tertiary

institutes for job training. Those who are declared "Failed" must repeat the same grade.

For ?rade six only "Passed" and "Failed" are declared.

School based examinations are important for the other grades too. Students

undergo t ~ v o terminal examinations in an academic year and these examinations decide

thsir promotion to a higher grade. However. there have been concerns about assrssing

students on examinations atone. Gardner (1993) maintains that, a lamentable aspect of

foimal testing is the use of scores where srudents see their percentile r a d s . and d rav a

conclusion about their scholastic. if not their overall, merit (p. 178).

The hlove to Continuous Assessrnent in Bkutan

In 1993. the Education Division in Bhutan made an endeavour to make

assessment "broader and humane." Just as Gardner (1993) points out that, assessment c m

be much broader, much more humane than it is now (p. 12). the Education Division

decided that students' performance in school should not be judged on esaminations alone.

Continuous assessment was thus introduced. The performance and progress of students'

day-to-day work. as observed by the teachers. were given due recognition.

The Primary School Certificate Examination (PSCE), with a 5050 split between

the interna1 assessment and the external assessment for al1 subjects was introduced in

1994 on a trial basis. The experience of the head teachers and the District Education

Officers (DEOs) was to be shared. as reproduced fiom the thirteenth Quarterly Policy

Guidelines and Instmctions (Oct-1993). which says:

'To this extent, the head teachers of al1 the junior high schools and primary schools as well as DEOs are expected to join in the discussions as well as in the training scheduled for the different aspects of examinations. evaluation and educational measurement during the forthcoming Bitinnial Conference scheduled to be held at the National lnstitute of Education. Samtse fiom 39 December, 1994 t i l l 12 January. 1995. All the head teachers and the concemed officials are requested ro come to the conference fully prepared to participate in the discussions based on their own experience during the one year's tixperiment' (p. 5 ) .

As a head teacher then. 1 had the opportunity of attending the conference and

sharing my own esperience with my colleagues. Loiig hours of discussions and debatcs

were held on the issue of continuous assessment. One group of head teachers believed

that n wide range of student performances inciuding student attitudes and mmners. and

their participation in gamos, sports. and cultural activities should br assessed also as part

of the internal assessment component. Opposing them was a majority group expressing

that the teachers did not have the resources. the means or the e'tpcrtise for carrying out

such assessments. In the end it was decided that we should begin by assessing the more

practical aspects of student work such as assignments and projects. Thus we have come to

base Our internal assessment on student performance in their assignments and projects.

and two term tests namely, the mid-tenn examination and the final exarnination.

The best people to monitor student progress are teachers. and so they are entmsted

with the responsibility of canying out continuous asessrnent of their students. Gipps and

Stobart (1993) in their introduction to Assessment: A Teacher's Guide to the Issues, Say

5

that. "assessment lias always been an important part of education and at formal and

informal levels a part of even, teacher's stock-in-trade."

Assessrnent can be perceived as the core of learning and teaching, and hence an

important component of any education system. It helps in deterrnining the content. the

quality and the standard of knowledge imparrod by teachrrs and acquired by students.

Gipps and Stobart (1993) mention that, properly used assessment is a valuable and

essential part of the educational process (p. 1) .

Purposc of Continuous Assessment

Continuous assessment enables tcachèrs to participate more directly in the overall

assessment of students and to stay consistent with the policy of decentralization. As

Hughes. Murphy and Grobe (1998) point out from the 'Guidelines on Internai

Assessrnent for classes VI and VIII.' the intention is to "broaden the curriculum" and

"promote effective teaching" (p. 13). It also enables teachers to monitor students' work

and progress.

The focus of continuous assessment in Bhutan has been on rnotivating students to

work hard al1 the while generating marks for submission to the BBE at the end of the

academic year. This is particularly tme in grades six and eight. ln keeping in line with the

purpose of continuous assessment. the 1999 Provisional Edition on Tsxhers ' Guide to

Continuous Assessment reproduced the assessment weighting from the (May. 1995) 14Ih

Education Policy Guideiine. which States:

The 4Ih C.4PSS Board Meeting on I O April. 1995. while approving the change in the annuai schooi calendar to a 2 term system also discussed on

a uniform assessment weighting system at difkrent levels for different subjects. The Board accordingly resolvsd on the following practice of assessment weighting for classes PP to V and VI1 to be introduced with effect from 1996. thus bringing the assessment weighting in these classes in line with those in classes VI and VI11 which had been in force since 1994:

Class - Continuous Assossment TestsiExaminations

PP-V 5 OQ/o

50Yo (continuous asscssment - 30°,6 triai examination - 70%)

10°/~(all on actual continuous assessmcnt)

50°h (mid term exanls - 1 0 ° o ) (end of year exarn - 3Oa0)

jOoi;, (BBE examination)

80% (rnid year exarns - 3090) (end of year exams - 50%)

(actual continuous assessment - 12% BBE mams - 809~0 mid year t trial rxams - 8%) (p. 3).

Processes of Continuous ..lissessrnent

Teachers cany out continuous assessment of students based on the Guidelines on

Interna1 Assessment issurd by the BBE (tables 1 to 3). Continuous asscssment in Bhutan

is divided into three cornponents: class work. home work and project work. The formal

requirement is on academic achievement but the emphasis seems to be on issues like

neatness, effort and meeting deadlines rather than on paying attention to the substance of

learning as observed by Hughes, Murphy and Grobe (1998, p. 13). as shown in tables 1.2

and 3.

Table 1 Continuous Assessment Criteria for Homework

1 Presentaiion (neatness. organisation. accuracy and cornpleiéness 1 3 1 SI. No.

1 of work)

Homework Criteria

1 Improvsment (effort. consistency in effort)

Marks

B.

C.

I Total ( 10

Table 2 Continuous Assessment Criteria for Classwork

Completion (meeting deadlines)

fol loi^-up (by students as per teachers' instruction)

1

3

Marks

- 3

3

- 3

1

j

10

SI. No

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

Classwork Criteria

Involvement and participation (responsiveness to instruction, responsibility etc.)

Task hlfilment (accuracy, completion. etc.)

Effort on task (consistency in effort)

Presentation of work (rieatness, organization)

Improvement (on al1 of the above)

Total

Table 3 Continuous Assessrnent Criteria for Project Work

1 SI. No 1 Projeet Work Criteria

1 Presentarion (rditing. art work. rnodels. completeness. nratness. 1 organization. accuracy. relevance to the topic. etc.)

C. ( Effort (involvement in the process of doing)

B.

( Timely completion

Originality (genuine work of the student and creativity)

1 1 Total 1 10

Use of Results of Continuous Xssessment

3 E.

The BBE sends out the mark statemetit foms like the ones shown in tables 3 and

1

-- -- - -

Follow up and improvement (on al1 of the above)

5, towards the end of each academic year. to al1 schools. These arc' to bc: tïlled in and

returncd to the BBE.

Table 4 lnternal Assessrnent Mark Statement Form for Grade VI

Siibject

Dzongkha

English

Maths

Science

History --

Geography

Trm Test 1 - II 2 0?/0

Table 5 Interna1 Assessrnent Mark Statement Forrn for Grade VI11

The teachers combiix the marks of the threc components with thrit of the mid-

term and trial examinations. The total score dcrived constitutes the internal assessrnent

. Total 70""

mark representing the achievement of a student over an academic year.

The internal assessrnent marks are combined with the exremal exmination marks

Term Test 1 - I I 8O.o SI. No

which corne fi-orn the BBE, to produce the aggegate marks which determine whethzr a

Other .4ssmt. 12'11

English I

English 11

Maths

Physics

Chemistry

Biology

History

Geography

Narnè Index .No

student is promoted or retained the following year. As such. the examination results have

Subject

Dzongkha

very linle diagnostic use because the results are declared prior to the re-opening of

schools wherein, many of the class VI students have gone on to class VIL

Teachers can effectively use continuous assessrnent to monitor student progress

but as observed by Hughes, Murphy and Grobe (1998), 'only in rare instances is there

1 O

any evidence of continuous assessment being linked to the on-going monitoring of

learning for the purpose of helping students tc? leam better' (p. 40).

Difficulties Encountered with the Use of Continuous Assessment

Continuous assessment has found its niche in the Bhutanese education system as a

forma1 and required component of studént assessment. But. teachers in Bhutan are

experienciny, difficulties with the use of continuous assessment. so there is an urgent nced

to assist them in making good use of it.

Howrver. continuous assessment remains a challenging, formidable and !et

interesting task for teachers. There are several difficulties that arise in the process of

combining the interna1 and extemal assessrnent scores. Firstly, thére are inconsistencies

in the standards employed by schools in conducting continuous assessment. Secondly.

most of the intemal assessment scores are found to be much higher than the extemal

examination scores. There seems to be "jacking-up" of marks in the intemal assessment

component by teachers to avoid rebuke fiom parents. community. and of course. the

education division. Thirdly, the teachers have had no forma1 training in the skills of

continuous assessment. There is a need to train tecichers with cecain assossment skills so

that continuous assessment is more méaningful to them. In support of this. Gredler (1996)

cites McLaughlin (1990) who States that. the Rand study found, in addition to building

broad-based commitment to a new project. effective implementation strategies include

extended teacher training, ciassroorn assistance from project staff, regular project

meetings that focus on practical issues, and principals' participation in training (p. 273).

1 I

Teachers in Bhutan are provided with administrative directives but little practical

assistance. They are lefi to their own discretion, and to make use of their own creativity

and ingenuity in carrying out continuous assessment. As a result there is no real

assessmrnt of students taking place. Yangki ( 1 998) notes that. teachers still place

considerable emphasis on Board Examinations in spite of the balance that is supposed to

bt: achieved with continuous assessment while schools manipulate the school based

continuous progess marks (p. 56).

Teachers also experience the difticulty of having to deal with large size classes

and finding appropriatc time for assessing studsnts' work. Hargreaves (1989) points out

that. uniess teachcr-pupil ratios are substantially improved and non-teachin? periods

increascd. one might txpect that shonage of time for these practices will create major

problems for teachers and schools (p. 139).

The Research Problem

The Education Division has been esploring various avenues through which

teachers might be assisted in making more productive use of continuous assessment.

.4mong options being considered. 1 have looked at two tools of assessment in particular:

rubrics and portfolio assessment.

Hughes and Urasa (1997) note that, educational borrowing has a long tradition

betii,een and among developed as well as developing nations (p. 76) just as the Bhutanese

Education system is conscious of the difficulties of borrowing educational practices from

developed countries. The purpose of the research has been to investigatr whether these

two tools of assessment are suitable for Bhutan.

Rubrics

According to Herman. Aschbacher and Winters ( 1993), rubrics are the critrria for

judging student performance (p. 33). Goodrich (1996) mentions that a rubric is a scoring

tool that lists the criteria for a piece of work and it also articulates gradations of quality

for each criterion, from excellent io poor (p. 1 ). More specifically. a scoring rubric

according to Marzano. Pickering and McTighe ( 1993). consists of a tixed scale and a list

of characteristics describing performance for each of the points on the scale (p. 19).

Fischer and King ( 1995) state that, a rubric is a set of criteria that is often used as a form

of evaluation because it provides teachers. students, and parents with a description of

different b e l s of performance in ternis of what students are able to do and assigns a

value to each of the levels. Rubrics are used to score portfolios and assess wr i t in~ and

class, school. or district performance (p. 29).

Portfolio Assessment

According to Fischer and King (1995) portfolios are ri multifaceted assignment

that expects more than one type of activity for completion and retlect progress over a

penod of time. It can be a teaching tool and a form of alternative assessment. The

products chosen for subrnission are reviewed according to established criteria, or rubrics,

to determine levels of snident performance and progress (p. 3,4). Herman, Aschbacher

and Winters (1992) note that. many teachers have tumed to portfolio assessment as a

13

strategy for creating a classroom assessment system that includes multiple measures

taken over time. Portfolios have the advantage of containing several samples of student

work assembled in a purposehl manner (p. 110).

The niain question in this thesis is whether rubrics and portfolio assessment are

suitablz for Bhutan. Urasa (1993) refers to (Crossley, p. 76) stating that. simplistic or

uncritical international transfer frequently leads to innovation failure or generates

unwanted or unanticipated consequences (p. 6). A feasibility assessment uVas carried our

to pre\.ent this.

Feasibility assessment, according to Behrens & Haerenek (199 1). 'is gentlrally

conceived of as a preliminary analysis carried out before the launching of a major project'

(Hughes & Urasa. 1997. p. 77). Hughes & Urasa (1997) also maintain that the objective

in feasibility assessment is to deterrnine whether a program. technology or innovation c m

be undertaken successfully (ibid).

In view of the exisring problems with continuous assessment. rny purpose of the

study was to determine whether rubrics and portfolio assessrnent might be successfully

implemented in the Bhutanese context. This was done in two stages. First. an analysis of

the literature was conducted in order to determine the conditions necessary for the

successful use of rubrics and portfolio assessment. Second, an empirical investigation

was carried out to detemine whether the conditions required for success are in place in

Bhutan, or might be readily put in place.

The Research Design

In order to de ten ine the feasibility of the two tools of assessment. 1 addressed

sribsidiary ideas of feasibility. narnely. desirability and do-ability. 1 asked. "are the iiidely

used practices in continuous assessment desirable. and are they doable in the Bhutanese

context'?" In particular. the study focussed on the potential of t ~ v o emerging practices in

the field of continuous assessment that are broadly recognised as valuable: rubrics and

ponfolio assessment.

The following research questions were addressed to determine the feasibility of

mbrics and portfolio assessment in Bhutan:

1. ( i ) What are the gencrally accepted features of good practice in continuous

assessment'? How are these met by the two examples?

( i i ) What are the conditions that are required to successîùlly implement these

practices'?

7 . (i) To what extent are these practices now used in Bhutan?

(ii) Are the conditions for success available in Bhutan andlor can they be made

available?

Detailed response to the first question was generated. based on ssisting current

literature. For the second question, two different techniques of data collection wzre used:

questionnaires and focus group interview. Both wrre employed to determine the 'do-

ability' and 'desirability' of the two tools of assessrnent. Both techniques were used with

two focus groups consisting of Bhutanese educators.

15

Goodstein and Goodstein (I991) note that, a questionnaire is a face-to-face data

collection technique. It is essentially an interview schedule adapted for independent use

by individual respondents. The document usually offers structured or sometvhat limited

response alternatives rather then the open-snded possibilities available in the interview

setting (p. 776).

Focus groups on the other hand, Morgan (1998) notes. an group intenriews. .A

moderator guides the interview while a small group discusses a specific topic. Typically.

the focus group is cornprised of six to eight participants who corne from similar

backgrounds. hile the moderator is a well-trained prokssional who works from a

predetermined set of discussion topics (p. 1 ). What the participants in the group say

during their discussions constitute the essential data in focus groups. 1 employed the

focus group interview followine the questionnaire with two focus groups.

Significance of the Study

In conducting this study 1 hoped to accomplish two feats: to solve problems

inherent in the present practice of continuous assessment in Bhutan and to create

awareness amongst concerned administrators of the difficulties in continuous assessment

and how they misht be addressed.

My presumption here is that the study will be of help to:

1. the teachers of class six for improving their continuous assessment practice and classroom instructiom'teaching strategy

2 . the teachers of other classes as well, to improve their continuous assessment practice as welI as their classroom instructionlteaching strategy

3. enable the BBE to provide practical and necessary assistance to teachers in the field of continuous assessrnent, and to be able to assess the validity and reliability of the continuous assessrnent scores handed in by the schools

4. the Cu~riculurn and text book developers in CAPSS to review educational objectives in line with continuous assessrnent practice of teachers

3. the Inspectorate to look into the implementation of continuous assessment in ail schools and to provide necessary feedback to the BBE

6. the parents to understand the concept of continuous assessment and thus suppon their children in their day-to-day leaming

Conclusion

The introduction of continuous assessment hris made it possible for teachtirs to

assess more than simply cognitive development. It has also made it possible for

educational ad~ninistrators and teachers to strike a balance berween paper-and-pencil tests

and day-to-day performance ofstudents. These two tools of assessment. rubrics and

portfolio assessment will assist teachers as they c a q out proper and efTective continuous

assessment of thsir students.

Chapter Two

Rcview of Related Literature

Three major instruments were employed to conduct an electronic sesirch for

literature on continuous assessment in general and the use of rubrics and portfolio

assessrnent specifically. The instruments were: Netscape Navisator (Quest, Electronic

Information Scurces and Electronic Joumals), Electronic Reference Library (ERIC) and

the Internet. Part one of this review focuses on assessment and assessment issues: pan

two highlights current best practice in continuous assessment usin3 rubrics and portfolio

assessment.

P.4RT ONE

In this part. there are four sections. They are: purposes of assessment, definitions

and types of assessment, continuous assessment in education, and benetïts and limitations

of continuous assessment.

Purposes of Assessment

In the literature. student assessment is associated with a wide range of purposes

such as screening. diagnosis. record keeping, providing feedback to students. certification

and selection. Archbald and Newman (1988) mention that students are assessed to show

the extent that schools, students and teachers have met their objectives and to tell teachers

as welI as students what they might do to improve (p. v). The main purpose of

assessment, maintain Black and Broadfoot (1982) is to report. guide and diagnose student

leaming (p. 8).

Gipps and Stobart ( 1993) mention six purposes of assessment: scrsening

diagosis. record keeping, feedback on performance. certification and selection. They

define them thus:

Screening is the process of testing groups of students to identib individuals who are in need of special help.

Diaunosis involves using tests to identify individual children's streneths and weaknesses.

Record keeping is a part of the transfcr prosess wherc test scores and teachsr assessments are put into a student's record and intended to help in the transfer process from infant to junior or primary to secondary school.

Feedback on ~erformance is for evaluating schools and teachers.

Certification provides a student with a qualification which signifies that he/she has reached a certain level of cumpetence or knowledge.

Selection is for the purpose of further mdlor higher education (p. 15. 16. 17).

Little (1990) describes the role of assessment as playing a facilitative role. For the

students. it motivates learning, reinforces learning goals and opens access to gond life.

Between a student and a teacher. assessment facilitates setting the boundaries for

legitimate knowledge; detining relations between the teacher and the student and.

providing them both with feedback on performance (p. 18).

Countries such as the USA, England, Canada and Australia that have carried out

extensive research on educational assessment, use assessment in schools for a variety of

purposes, such as to diagnose problems. to provide feedback to schools and teachers. and

to keep records of student progress. In Bhutan however. assessment has primarily been

used to screen and certify students through the process of exminaiiuns. Liiiic iiiipüiiiüii~

19

has been placed on its other uses like diagnosis, providing feedback and record keeping

despite the introduction of continuous assessment. By viewing assessrnent as more than

simply a screening and certification process, we might be able to strengthen Our

continuous assessment system.

Definitions and Types of ..\ssessments

The central purpose of assessment involves gathering information on studrnts and

making judgements about their progress and providing usehl feedback to thsm. It is

about tinding out how much a student knows andlor how weH the student c m prrform a

task. It is a process by which as much data as possible is gathered and used to svaluate a

prrson more accurately. and for this reason is considered an i n t e p l part of the teaching

and Iearning process. The following constitute a range of perspectives on assessment.

Hawes and Hawes ( 1952) say that. assessment is the measurement or other

systematic evaluation of important elements involved in education, such as cornpetencies

or achicvement in subject areas by pupils, or the relative effectiveness of teaching

methods or school programs (p. 17). Similarly, Page, Thomas and Marshall (1977)

contend that, in education assessment is the process by which one nitempts to measure the

quality and quantity of learning and teaching using various assessment techniques. for

example, assi,grnents, projects, continuous assessment. objective-type tests. final

examinations and standardized tests (p. 26).

Baron and Boschee (1995) mention that assessment comprises a process that

appraises, evaluates, estimates or makes a judgement about a performance har cm 'oc

70

exhibited, transmitted, executed, shown or presented in an authentic way. and which

constitutes actual, real, or genuine tasks (p. 1). Jones and Bray ( 1 992) Say that

assessrnent is an all-embracing term covering any of the situations in which some aspect

of a pupil's education is, in some sense. measured. ivhether this measuremsnt is by a

tcacher. an examiner or indeed the pupil hirnsclf or herself (p. I ). Finally. Gardner ( 1 993)

defines assessrnent as, the obtaining of information about the skills and potentials of

individuals. with the dual goals of providing usehl fesdback to the individuals and useful

data tu the surrounding community (p. 174). -4lthough the descriptions are different. al1

these experts agree that assessment constitutes a measurement designed to inform

teaching and Iearning.

In genrral. there are two functions of assessments: formative and summative.

Formative assessrnent is carrird out by a teacher in order to inform pedagogical decisions.

Page. Thomas and Marshall (1977) maintain that formative assessment seeks to improve

the learniiig and traching systern through feedback of information frorn test results which

can illustrate the effectiveness of teachin; methods, or highlight leamin: difficulties. I t

can be conducted before or during classroom instruction for the purpose of guiding

instmctional planning and instruction (p. 138).

In contrast, summative assessment is carried out in order to summarize the level

of achievement of students. Page. Thomas and Marshall (1977) refer to summative

assessment as the conclusion of any educational plan or activity to determine the

effectiveness of that activity. It occurs at the end of instruction for the purpose of

summarizing and documenting student achievement (p. 330).

There are two types of assessment: norrn-referenced and criterion-referenced.

Nom-referenced assessment reflects a student's standing in comparison with others.

Vincent ( 1988) notes that educational assessment is nom-referenced or nonnariive. when

it compares performance arnongst students assessed (p. 363). Criterion-referenced

assessment is based on a student's mastery of course objectives. The teacher detines the

content rnastery by fixing the criterion set. Berk (198 ) States that a criterion-referenced

test is deliberately constructed to assess an individual's performance level with respect ro

a well defincd domain of behaviours (p. 365).

ln Bhutan, criterion-referenced assessrnent that is summarive in nature is currently

in practice. Fonnativs assessrnent appeared on the assessrnent scene at about 1986 when

the New Approacli to Primat- Education (NAPE) system was introduced and teachers

began irnplementing what they called on-goinç assessment. Formative assessrnent gained

prominence and found a niche in the Bhutanese education system from 1994 onwards

~vhcn ieachers had to assess stiidents through the process of continuous assessment.

Assessrnent is seen to be a major current issue where rapid changes are triking

place. In fact, assessment in one form or another is always going on in schools. The only

difference is that there is variation in the role and style of such assessments. Over the last

two or three decades, there have been a number of new initiatives in assessment as a

result of educational and political demands. In support of this Gipps and Stobart (1993)

state:

In the early 1980s the emphasis reflected the desire to use assessment as a positive means of encouraging pupils, part~cuiariy the iess morivarea anci lower attaining. The approach was often 'democratic' in that the pupils

were given much greater understanding of what was required of them. and in some cases would play a part in their own assessment (p. 9).

In the words of Jones and Bray (1992) there have been a number of recognisable

trends which have profoundly affected the way we view the assessment process. They

Classes once treated as homogeneous units appear to have individual differences and the old emphasis on content is being balanced by a new emphasis on the leaming process and on concepts and skills. The 'two-by- four' dimensions of learning are giving way to multi-media rnaterials. practical and oral work and links with the community and there is less emphasis on factual knowledge and academic studies and more on social. smotional, moral aiid aesthetic dei.elopment. And individual competition bstween pupils is being supplemented by nrw strategies for collaborative working (p. 5).

The assessment changes that have taken place have had a certain arnount of

impact on the Bhutanese education system as well. The education division in Bhutan has

also felt the urgent need to assess students on a continuous basis besides assessing

through examinations. So in 1994, the twenty percent weighting on the internal

assessment component was increased to fifiy percent as stated in the twelfth Education

Quarterly Policy Guidelines and Instructions of May 1993:

As already circulated by the BBE \,ide its circular Xo. 1 (8)-BBEI94i7354 dated M a c h 12, 1994, the BBE during its board meeting held on April 10. 1994, has resolved that during the academic year of 1994. the Priniary School Certificate Examination shall consist of fifty percent internal assessment and fifty percent extemal examination to be conducted as usual by the BBE (p. 7).

From the foimal, informal, formative and summative assessrnents. several other

foms of assessment practices have emerged. The ierm assessment, besides testins, seems

to be used with terms Iike authentic assessment. performance-based assessment,

alternative assessment. continuous assessment and portfolio assessment. In al1 of these

forrns students do something other than the traditional nom-referenced or criterion-

referenced paper-and-pencil measurement, for they are required to go beyond simply

responding and to demonstrate knowledge and skills. The following are the various types

of assessmmt as stated by Fischer and King ( 1 995).

Alternative assessment is that assessment technique other than the traditional nom-referenced, criterion-referenced paper-and -pencil type of tests.

.4uthentic assessment is an inclusive term for alternative assessrnent methods that examine students' ability to solve problems or perform tasks that closely resemble authentic situations. What a student does and how the task is accomplished are major aspects of authentic assessment.

Performance-based assessment requires students to perfonn the actual behaviour of a task rather than simply answer questions out of context. I t may cal1 for doing a piece of writing or solving mathernatically or scientifically complex problems, or completing a science experiment which may be judged against established criteria.

Portfolio assessment is a multifaceted assignment that expects more than one type of activity and production for completion that extends over a period of time. It c m be a teaching tool and it is a form of alternative assessment. The product is reviewed according to established criteria. sometimes known as rubric. to determine the level of student performance and progress (p. 3,4).

It is important not to confuse these f o m s of assessment with continuous

assessment. They cari be a part of continuous assessment but continuous assessment rnay

not necessarily be part of them. Jones and Bray (1992) define continuous assessment as, a

procedure which is concurrent with the course @. 19). However they contend that

continuous is a misnomer because it is as they argue, impossible to assess al1 pupils ail

the time. Instead it takes place at regular intervals throughout the course (p. 73),

2 1

Al1 the above forms of assessment. in spite of their differences in nmes . actually

stress the importance of examining the processes as well as the products of learnin,o. They

prompt and encourage teachers to move beyond one right answer and to help and

encourage students to explore the possibilities inherent in open-ended and cornplex

probleins and to make their own value judgements.

Continuous Assessrnent in Education

In rnany countries with leaving examinations. educators are expressing an

incrsased interest in continuous assessment. Many developing countries. regardless of

political ideology. have introduced continuous assessment to operate in parallel \vith

extemal examinations. Nitko (1995) has this to Say about continuous assessment:

to some. continuous assessment is a sumrnative mark to be passed fonvard to certify or select a student while to some others it is the physical pages in esercise books which students complets. To yet others. i t is diagnosis and formative evaluation of student leaming (p. 1 ).

My opinion on this is that. when marks of a student are bsing accurnulated over ri

certain period of time, it serves as formative assessment and when the total of the

accurnulated marks is submitted for either selection or certification. i t serves as

surnmative assessment. Hence it is formative as well as summative depending on how

one uses it.

There are several reasons as to why continuous assessment has gained popularity

in recent years. Pennycuick (1990) States that. in Sri Lanka, the main reason for the

introduction of a continuous assessment component in 1987 was to enable a wider range

of educational objectives to be assessed. including affective objectives which were to be

3

assessed through assignments and group work. It was developed as a means of achieving

the objectives of teaching and learning, and was considered an integral part of the

teaching and learning process. not a separate activity (p. 107). Pennycuick (1990) refers

to Njabili's ( 198 7) argument that the main purpose of havins continuous assessment as an

intsgrril component of assessrnent procedures in Tanzania was to eliminate and minimise

the elcrnent of risk associattd with a single examination. Additionally. continuous

assessrnent would provide a valid indication of student achievement and benefit

harciivorking, conscientious students (p. 108). Seychelles, anuther small devslopin~

country introduced continuous assessment as part of a move away from the selective

function of education. Niseria also laid strong emphasis on continuous assessrnent in its

1977 Kational Policy on education. Judging from the move that these countries and many

others have made. it is clear that continuous assessment has gained prominence due to its

flexibility and other advantages. In fact Gardner ( 1993) believes in the essentiality of

departing from standardized testing because they test only a small proportion of

intellectual abilities and often reward a certain kind of decontextualized facility (p. 3 1).

Nitko (1995) maintains that, the most important ideas about continuous

assessment can be organised with a framework that focuses on srudents learning the

important outcornes of the curriculum. The learning targets described in the curriculum

become the criteria against which students are assessed. He refers to this as the

curriculum-based continuous assessment frarnework (p. 3). To complement this

Hargreaves (1989) maintains that assessment of subject leaming on a continuous step-by-

2 6

step basis, through a series of graded, hierarchical levels with certificates to be gained at

each level. provides pupils with a clear structure of rewards and incentives (p. 1 13).

One can understand why many countries have taken up continuous assessment

and other forrns of related assessrnent practices. Written examinations are one-shot dcals

which many people think are not a fair way of assessine; students because most often thsy

test only the cognitive domain. not the affective and psychomotor domains. Madaus and

Kellaghan ( 1992) state that, a historical review of the effects of exarninations o i w rnany

years in several countries indicates that they are perceived to have a variety of negatiit

effects on school curricula, teaching and leaming (p. 144). This is hrther supported by

Hargreaves ( 1989) ivho notes that. a system of assessment geared to continuous

assessment work. in an individualized way, such that it is integrated closely into the

fabric of the curriculum might, in principle. enhance and improve the Ieaming process

more than the examination (p. 153). Exarninations, hz points out. are widely held to be

responsible for a nurnber of common ills in the teaching and leaming process thar leads to

didactic teaching, cramming. over-emphasis on dictation and written work, lack of group

work and opportunities for the exercise of individual initiative (p. 149). Awemolo (1992).

like Gipps and Stobart, feels that exarninations in Nigeria have bwn criticised over the

yerirs as being geared towards the production of whits-collar job seekers (p. 2 ) . Besides.

Madaus and Kellaghan (1992 ) cite Rothblatt ( 1987) who reports that, a world of student

slang based on negative examination experiences sprang up. Many words of failing.

cheating and survivaI strategies came into the vernacular (p. 138). Madaus and Kellaghan

(1992) also maintain that, because exarninations are always summative in nature, the

scope for corrective action is limited (p. 139). 1 concur that exarninations. panicularly

public examinations tend to occupy valuable teaching tirne in preparing students just for

the exarninations.

Bcnefits and Limitations of Continuous Assessrnent

Continuous assessment has several advantages and limitations. It has the

advantage of being successhl in schools as Gipps and Stobart (1993) point out that the

~ieork in the USA (eg. Slalom-Cox, 1981; Yeh.1978) and Ireland (Kellaghan et al. 1953)

found that teachers rely primarily on their own judgement and observations rather than

test scores to make assessments about children and to a s s i p them to groups (p. 16).

Pennycuick ( 1990) refers to the case of Nigeria ( 1985) and its reasons for

advocating continuous assessment. Continuous assessment gives the teacher greater

involvement in the overall assessment of hislher pupils and provides a more valid

assessment of a student's overall ability and performance. Carried out properly.

continuous assessment enables teachers to be more flexible and innovative in tl~eir

instruction and provides a basis for more effective guidance of the student. I t also

provides a basis for the teacher to improve hislher instructional methods. while reducing

esamination malpractices (p. 1 19).

Black and Broadfoot (1982, p. x) state:

if pedagogy and curriculum are to be tailored adequately to meet the changing classroom situations of the 1980s and beyond, traditional assessment practices rnust be complemented by the development and use of techniques which enable teachers to identify individual progress, diagnose problems and tailor their teaching accordingly.

My belief with regard to this statement is that continuous assessment c m make

this possible. This idea seems to be complimented by Tiemey, Carter and Desai ( 199 1 )

who say that teachers are capable professionals who have the capacity to facilitate

intellectual and emotional growth in students. With teaching cornes a commitment to a

lifelong educational process for both the teachers and the students. When teachers are

given autonomy and respect, they cari create classrooms with positive. supportive

snvironmcnts that foster excellence among students through the proccss of continucius

assessment (p. vii).

Continuous assessment has several draivbacks too. As Gipps and Stobart

( 1993. p. 12) note:

continuous assessment through course work has a motivating potential but. teachers face a dilemma over how to deal with feedback to students whose grades in GCSE-equivalent ternis tvould bs low. and the long-tem impact of such feedback on motivation to complete the GCSE course. However this has been more than offset by the increased motivation of most pupils; indeed the problem has often been one of pupils becominz over-involved in course work assi+ments. to the detriment of 'routine' class work and home w o r k (NEEDS Project, 1990).

Some ottier major drawbacks of continuous assessment as pointed out by

Pennycuick (1 990) are as follows:

1. Teachers may lack experience of, and expertise in continuous assessment.

2. Teachers' workload may be substantially increased by continuous assessment.

3. If continuous assessment includes project work, there may be overload on pupils undenaking projects in several subjects simultaneously and students trom relativeiy weaithy backgrouncis

may be at an advantage because they have greater access to resources needed for such work.

3. Administration of continuous assessrnent within the school maq not be straight fonvard. For exarnple, consideration needs to be made of what to do when pupils are absent for continuous assessment tests. or when a pupil is transferred kom one school to another. as well as how to deal with normal aggregating and weighting of marks.

5. There are several possible sources of unreliability in school-based assessment which include administrative mistakes, teacher or assessment bias. conscious or unconscious and doubthl originality of the work.

6. There is the major issue of comparability. between classes within schools and between schools. Methods of ensuring comparability usually involve some form of accreditation or moderation. Threr forms of moderation may be distinguished narnely. statistical. visitation and consensus. In the contest of most developing countries some type of statistical moderation is probably the cheapest and easiest to apply (p. 1 15. 1 16).

PART TWO

This part addresses two practices often used in implementine continuous

assessment; narnely, rubrics and portfolio assessment. The section culminates with the

discussion of conditions that are required for their successful implementation.

1, Rubrics

According to Herman. Aschbacher & Winters ( 1997), rubrics are the criteria for

judging student performance (p. 44). Goodrich ( 1 996) mentions that a nibric is a scoring

tool that lists the criteria for a piece of work and it also articulates gradations of quality

for each criterion, from excellent to poor (p. 1). More specifically, a scoring rubric

according to Marzano. Pickering & McTighe (19931, consists of a fixed scale and a list of

characteristics describing performance for each of the points on the scale (p. 29). Rubrics

have become increasingly popular with educators moving toward more authentic.

performance-based assessments

Below are some examples of mbrics from the work of Marzano. Pickering &

4. Grneric Rubric for Procedural Standards,

Mathcmatics example (4'h Grade): Accurately and efficiently converts measurements from the metric system into the English system.

4 Demonstrates mastery over the process of converting measurcrnsnts from the metric system into the English system. C m perform the process without error and with littls or no coiiscious effort.

3 Carries out the process of converting measurement from the rnetric system into the En_elish system without significant tirror.

2 Makes significant mors when converting measurements from the metric system to the English system but c m complete a rough approximation of the process.

1 Makes many critical errors when converting measurements from the metric system to the English system (p. 66).

B. Rubrics for Effective Communication Skills.

Expresses ideas clearly

4 Clearly and effectively communicates the main idea or theme and provides support that contains rich, vivid. and powerful detail.

3 Clearly çommunicates the main idea or theme and provides suitable support and detail.

2 Communicates important information but not a clear theme or overall structure.

1 Cornmunicares information as isolated in a random fashion (p. 85).

C. Rubrics for Collaboration/Cooperation Standards.

Demonstrates effective interpersonal skills

1 Actively prornotes effective group interaction and the expression of ideas and opinions in a way that is sensitive ro the feelings and knoivledge base of others.

3 Participates in group interaction without prompting. Expresses ideris and opinions in a way that is sensitive to the feelings and kno~vled_oe base of others.

2 Participates in group interaction with prompting or expresses ideas and opinions without considering the feelings and knowledge base of others.

1 Does not participate in group interaction, even with prompting, or expresses ideas and opinions in a way that is insensitive to the feelings or knowledge base of others (p. 87).

Rubrics describe levels of performance thrreby providing important information

to teachers, parents. and others interested in what students know and can do. And in the

words of Marzano, Pickering. and McTighe (1993), 'Rubrics promote learning by

offering clear performance targets to students for agreed - upon standards' (p. 29).

Popham (1997) maintains that a rubric has three essential features, namely

evaluative criteria, quality definitions. and a scoring strategy.

Evaluative Criteria are used to distinguish acceptable responses from unacceptable responses. The criteria will obviously vary from rubric to nibric, depending on the skill involved. For instance, whsn evaluating written compositions, teachers often use such evaluative criteria as organization, mechanics, word choice, and supporting details.

Qualitv Definitions describe the way that qualitative differences in students' responses are to be judged. For instance, if mechanics is an evaluative criterion, the rubric may indicate that to e m the maximum

number of points for mechanics, a student's composition should contain no mechanical errors. The nibrics must provide a separate description for each qualitative level. This means that if four different levels of quality are assigned to a written composition's organization, the rubric provides the description for each of those levels.

Scorine Strateev rnay be either holistic or anaIytic. Using a holistic strategy. the scorer takes al1 of the evaluative criteria into consideration but aggregates them to make a single, overall quality judgement. An analytic strategy requires the scorer to render criterion - by- criterion scores that rnay or rnay nor ultimately be aggregated into an ovrrall score (p. 7 7 ) .

Goodrich (1996) explicitly articuhtes the reasons for the use of rubrics. First. the.

are powerful tools for both teachins and assessrnent since they can irnprove studrnt

performance. as well as monitor it, by rnaking teachers' expectütions clear and by

shotving students how to meet these expectatjons. Second. rubrics are usetùl since the-

help students become more thoughtful judges of the quality of their own and others'

work. Third, rubrics reduce the arnount of time teachers spend evaluating s tudcn~ work,

Teachers tend to find that by thc time a piece has been self-and peer- assessed according

to a rubric, they have iittle left to say about it. When they have something to say. they can

often simply circle an item in the rubric, rather than struggling to explain the tlow or

strength - they have noticed. Students are provided with more informative feedback about

their strength and areas in need of improvement. Fourth, rubrics allow teachers to

accommodate heterogenous classes. Rubrics c m be set to reflect the work of both gified

students and those with learning difficulties (p. 1, 2 ) .

Goodrich (1996) mentions that recent publications by Brewer (1996) and Marzano

et al. (1 993) contain sarnple nibrics but modifications are needed to retlect one's own

3 3

curriculum and teaching style. She maintains that in order to boost the iearning leirerage

of nibrics. the design process should engage students in the following steps:

Look at models: show students examples of good and not-so-good work. IdentiQ the characteristics that make the zood ones good and the bad ontis bad.

List criteria: use the discussion on models to begin a list of \vhar counts in quality works.

Articulate gradations of quality: describe the best and \vont levzls of quality. then till in the middle levels based on your knowledgc of cornmon problems and thr discussion of not- so-eood work.

Practice on models: have students use the rubrics IO evaluats the models you gave them in step 1.

Use self- and peer-assessment: Cive students their task. As they work. stop them occasionally for self- and peer-assessrnent.

Rcvise: Always give student time to revise their work based on the k e d back they get in step 5 .

Use teacher assessment: Use the same nibric students used to m e s s their work yourself (p. 2, 3).

Rubrics c m be an excellent assessment tool for teachers provided they are

managed efficiently. However nibrics do have flaws too as Popham ( 1997) points belotv:

Fiaiv 1 : Task-specific evahative criteria - A rubric's most important component is the set of evaluative criteria to be used when judging students' performances. But what if the evaluative criteria in a rubric are linked only to the specific elements in a panicular performance test? For example, a task that presents a cross-section picture of a vacuum bottle. calls on students to identiQ the materiais that had to be invented before vacuum bottles could be widely used. But the accompanying mbric has evaluative criteria that are totally task- specific. Teachers need evaluative criteria that capture the essential ingredient of the skill being measured, not the particular display of that skill applied to a specit'ic task.

Flaw 2: Excessively general evaluative criteria - Just as task-specific evaluative criteria render a nibric instructionally useless. so too do excessively general evaluative criteria. Many commercially published rubrics provide several qualitative levels so that teachers can hardly distinguish among students' performances. The highest level of student performance is labeled 'advanced' - or some suitable synonym. then described as 'a superior response to the task presented in the performance test'. A second. lower level of response is described in slightly less positive tems. and so on. In essence, these overly general criteria allow both teachers and students to conclude that really good student responses to the task are, well. really good and. of course, really bad students responses are. really bad. Many rubrics now being billed as instructionally useful provide teachers and students with absolutely no cues about what is generally significant in a student's response, and they offsr teachers no guidance on they key foatures of the tested skills.

Flaw 3: Dysfunctional details - Another shortcoming in many rubrics is excessive length. Busy teachers won't have anything to do with them. If we want rubrics to make a difference in classroom instruction, we neod to create rubrics that teachers will use (p. 73. 74).

2. Portfolios

Campbell (1993) note tliat, a portfolio is a chronological collection of samples of

a student's work such as notebook or journal pages. diagrams and written recordings of

activities. video or audio recordings. photographs, and l a s e r pieces of work such as

projects (p. 3). Portfolios c m be kept or maintained in Iarge files or folders. Baron and

Boschee (1995) state that, portfolios consist of collections of students' work that provide

tangible evidence of their knowledge, abiiities, and academic progress in relation to

established outcomes. Portfolios fumish students. teachers, and parents with rich.

authentic evidence of the student's performance capabilities and academic growth (p. 67).

Fischer and King (1995) Say that portfolios are more than folders filled with stiident work

samples. Portfolios are visual presentations of a student's accomplishments. capabilities.

strengths. weaknesses, and progress over time (p. 1 1). Thzy also contend that daily and

ongoing observations of students are at the h e m of collecting and building portfolios. By

obsenling the student while he or she is participatingj in a lesson, working with an adult or

other students. or working independently, the teacher gains important inforn~ation about

the processes students use to l e m (p. 15). kcording to Fischer and King ( 1995). there

are different types of portfolios, the rnost common being the working portfolio. the

showcase portfolio, and the record-keeping portfoiio:

The workine ~ortfolio: It is one in which the teacher and student assess and evaluatt. together. The students select samples to include in the portfolios that they believe show their leaming and growth. Parents can add comments and the teacher can add samples and other records. I t presents the perspectives of the student, teacher, and parents to form a niore accurate picture of the student's daily progress. The student feels ownership and the teacher does not dorninate the processes of selecting and contributing pieces to the portfolio.

The showcase portfolio: I t is similar to that of an artist's portfolio, which is prepared to show the artist's best work. This portfolio is limited to only thé most outstanding pieces. Works in progress are not included. This type of portfolio motivates students to cornpleie projects and other demonstrations of their best work and ability. In this portfolio. the student has total ownership of the selecrions for the portfolio. This type of portfolio is notas usehl for guiding instruction because the day-to-day performance is not included. When the portfolio is shared with parents. the parents are usually very impressed with their child's work, but they are not able to get a clear picture of their child's needs because only the best work is included.

The record-keeoins ~ortfolio: It is often used along with the showcase portfolio to contain a record of the completion of the necessary assessment and evaluation samples not chosen for the showcase portfolio but needed to document the completion of certain assignrnents (p. 12). Fischer and King (1995) rnaintain that, the ceacher, student, and often the parents are al1 involved in contributing to the portfolio, and as teachers observe and

interact with the students. they collect samples, make anecdotal records. and note evidence of progress (p. 13). This is supponed by Baron and Boschee (1995) who state that, portfolio contents are selected by the student and based on the student's expressed purpose for developing the portfolio (p. 69).

Chapman ( 1997) notes that portfolios are purposehl collections of students'

Iearning ai-tifacts collected over time (p. 773). She points out the differznt kinds of

portfolios that are sirnilar in nature to the portfolios mentioned by Fisher and King

( 1995). wliich arc:

1. Masterpiece portfolios chat include only the best pieces and tinishsd products of students.

2. Process portfolios that include artifacts related to a particular project that document the students' leaming process in a particular activity.

3. Documentary or descriptive portfolios that include sarnples of students' work, selected by students and teachers: they may or may not include selections from teachers' records of observations and conferences and rnay include teachers' comments as well as thosz of students.

4. Cumulative portfolios that include samples of students' writing over a period of years. Each year, students select one or two piecrs to add to the cumulative portfolio; the cumulative portfolios are passed on to the next teacher the foliowing year (p. 273) .

Portfolios according to Baron and Boschee ( 1995) c m serve various educational

purposes, such as:

- assessing the quality of students' sustained work over varying periods of time

- assessing students' achievement of learner outcomes, program outcornes, and learner exit outcomes

- allowing students to showcase work that represents their own special interests and abilities

- documenting improvement of students' work

- encouraging the development and improvsment of qualities such as pride in workmanship. ability to effectively self evaluate, and the ability to accomplish meaningful tasks

- providing a cumulative coliection of work students may use in the future for applying to collcge and seeking employment (p. 68. 69).

Fischer and King (1995) mention that, portfolios pïovide an awareness of ~vhcire a

student has been, what steps were taken. and an idea of where the student is going.

Portfolios guide instruction and give insight into a student's decision-making and

Icarning processes (p. 1 1). Portfolios have several benefits. The benefits of portfolios

according to Baron and Boschee (1995) are:

- ,Most of the contents of the portfolio are actual pieces of the student's work rather than approximations provided by standardized test scores.

- Students have a vested, interest in the creation of their portfolios - their tangible accomplishments generate much more ownership than files full of tests scores stored in the main oftice.

- Whtn portfolios are part of the ongoing classroom activity. the assessment is a mode1 of the natural rhythm that learning takes in the real world. Assessment of the student's product is followed by a cycle of revision and assessment until a satisfactory final product is produced.

- Portfolio development and assessment are consistent with current learning theory regarding diversity in the pace and style of cognitive development among children. Due to the personalized nature of portfolios, they create an excellent structure for individualized learning.

- Portfolios require students to be active participants by making them partners in the development and assessment of their own work.

- Portfolios fbrnish students, teachers, and parents rich. authentic evidence of the students' performance capabilities and academic groivth (p. 68).

Conditions for Successful Implernentation of Rubrics and Portfolio Assessrnent

There seems to be no related literature on the feasibility of rubrics and portfolios.

In fact there is no literature on feasibility of the required conditions for the successful

implementation of rubrics and portfolios in any country. Apparently. mbrics and

portfolios seem to have besn implemented by sonie countries without conducting a

feasibility analysis.

In my review of Iiterature i came across conditions that are important and required

for the successful implementation of rubrics and portfolios. Research shows that in ordsr

for teachers to successfully use rubrics in continuous assessment. certain conditions must

bs in place. The essential conditions as mentioned by Fischer and King (1995, p. 5 1-52)

are:

1 . need for instructional materials

3 . need for outside consultants and facilitators

3. need for teachers to work collaboratively

3. need for practice

5 need for time to create appropriate mbrics

6. need for personal/professional support

Research shows that in order for teachers to successfûlly assess students through

portfolios in continuous assessment, certain conditions must be in place. The essential

conditions mentioned by Heman. Aschbacher and Winters (1997. p. 72) are:

1. assessrnent purpose must be defined

7 . developing criteria or methods for determining what is put into the portfolio. by whom, and when

3. identiQing criteria for assessing either the collectioii or individual piécss of work

(Baron and Boschee. 1995. p. S6) mention two essential conditions which are:

4. teachers need sufficient time for conferencing with individual students

5 . teachers need practice

The above mentioned conditions are elaborated below. The result is the search from

various sources of literature.

1. Resources/Instructional Materials

Resources could be time, financial resources. material. equipment for teaching

and the production of teaching materials. Cummins et al. ( 1987) note. "if we are to creatr

stimulating, varied and effective learning situations for our students wr must ensure that

we are conversant with the wide variety of resources which are available to us" (p. S).

Resources can be in the form of:

I I Visual Aids i. Forms of presenting information:

Books Handouts Worksheets Notes Briefs illustrations Charts Diagrams

Pictures Reproductions Photographs Graphs Drawings Bar charts S lides Histograms Loops Computer graphics Films Filmstrips Videos

ii. Equipment for presenting information:

I I

I I I .

IV.

Boards Projectors Duplicators Chalk Overhead Photocopiers Plastipraph Episcope TV sets Felt/Flannel/Lint Film Visual Display tinits

Slide Loop Video

Audio Aids

Records. Tapes. Cassettes. Radio

Tactile Aids

This would include anything students can touch - specimsns: models, sectional or working.

Broadcast Material

People are resources. The teacher is an essential aid to organized learning, and the teacher's knowledpe, methods. styles and techniques are subsidiary aids (Cummins et al, p. 8).

In order for Bhutanese teachers to make productive use of rubrics and portfolios.

they must have access to many of those materials mentioned above. Additionally. they

must have easy access to materials such as guide and reference books and CD ROMS.

now that schools are being equipped with cornputers.

7 . Consultants and Facilitators

For rubrics and portfolios to be irnplemented, teachers must become familiar with

their development and use. Jones (1 98 1 ) notes:

people are seen as having skills, having potential, and having the ability to grow, change and develop; human resource cieveioprnent Ïocuses on increasing the talents and abiiities of the people in a system. People learn

and grow within organizations without formal prograrns and opportunities. Human resource development is systematic in thar i t is comprised of a nurnber of activities that are individually designed to focus on the pool of people who constitute the human organization (p. 188).

According to Conyne (1975), a facilitator needs to be trained dong detinable

dimensions. He needs more than the fiequent request for a 'bag of tricks' - for example, a

'package of structured exercises.' Solid exposure to and integration of the follo~ving

components are needed:

Conceptual knowled~e: A facilitator needs to know and understand people. groups and facilitating styles. This knowledge may be obtained through formal means (e.g a professional training program) andior i t may be sought through less formal ways (e .g reading, attending serninars).

Understanding others: A facilitator is in direct and otien stressful contact with people. Knowing about people in a theoretical sense contributés to knowing thern in a persona! and professional sense. This knowled_ee of people might be obtained through the study of normal and abnormal hurnan behavior theories of personality, and theories and techniques of counssling, as well as through othcr sources.

Understandin2 facilitating styles: A facilitator needs knowledge of theories about group facilitation.

Trainine exrierience: a facilitator must have undergone experiential learning as a group member in various types of groups.

A facilitator needs to function with demonstrated competency. The functions.

used purposefully and appropriately. should be consistent with the facilitator's

knowledge, his personal style, and his training experience. Functions performed could be

stnictured or unstructured, verbaI or non verbal, exotic or traditional. When used by

facilitators, they are intended and applied to effect desired outcornes (p. 135- 139).

42

In the Bhutanese context, facilitators can be brought fiom outside the country or

found within the count l . In the initial stages it would be necessary to bring in

facilitators fiom outside the country until Bhutanese facilitators c m be trained.

3. Collaboration

Collaboration is a nrcessay ingredient in any school improvernent plan. i3radlc.y

( 1987) notes that key factors derived tiom experience arc shared planning sharrd

evaluation. tsam teaching. encouraeing ownsrship of the task. studying each other's

performance and using each other for feed-back (p. 193). Fullan ( 1993) states that. small-

scale collaboration involves the attitude and capacity to form producti\.ri rnentoring and

p e u relationships. team building. and the like. On a larger scale. it consists of the ability

to work in organizations that form cross-institutional partnerships such as school districts.

uni\wsities. school-comrnunities and business agency alliances. Additionally. the ability

to ttstablish global relationships with individuals md organizations from other cultures is

perceived as an asset (p. 18). Marzano. Pickering and McTighe ( 1993) have devdoped

these four standards of effective collaboration and cooperation:

- working towards the achievement of group goals

- effectively using interpersonal skills

- contributing to group maintenance

- effectively perforrning a variety of roles (p. 23).

For teachers to make effective use of rubrics and portfolios. they must be able to

work collaboratively. Only through colIaboration will they be able to help each other

solve problems and achieve success togethsr.

4. Practice

Practice is a stmctured pattern of individual action. Kemmins ( 1957) cites tlw

philosopher Maclntyrc ( 198 I ) who defines practice as.

..... any coherent and cornples form of socially established cooperative activity through which soods intemal to that activity are realized. in the course of trying to achieve those standards of excellence which are appropriate to. and partially definitive of, that fonn of activity. with the result that human powers to achieve excellence. and human conceptions of the ends and goods involved. are systematically extended (p. 78).

Practice could take the form of apprenticeship between beginning teachers and

mentors until they develop competence and skill. Andrews (1987, p. 150) notes that in

Britain. Australia and New Zealand. oxperienced teachers, or tutors. or supenisins

teachers ofien modet skills and cornpetencies for their inexperienced peers.

In Bhutan, teachers will have to work diligently with rubrics and portfolios to

deveiop confidence and necessary skills. Practice is necessary in order to internalize a

new innovation.

5 . Time

Time is an important resource. Teachers need to have time individually and

together to review and reflect the purpose, goals and direction of their teaching.

Hargreaves (1994) notes that. tirne is much more than a quantity that c m be given or

-14

taken away. inflatrd or reduced. It is a perception as well as a propertq' (p. 15). He further

States that, shortage of time is one of the perennial cornplaints of teachers. In studies of

educational change, school improvement, curriculum implementation and staff

development. shortage of tirne repeatedly appears as one of the chief implementation

problems. Scarcity of time makes i t difficult to plan more thoroughly. to commit oneself

to the effort of innovation, to get together with colleagues. or to sit back and retlsct on

ont's purposes and progress (p. 15). Time has a great and direct intluence on teaching.

According to Anderson and Walbcrg (1993). "time is a fundamental resource in

human life as a key detriment of leamin!" (p. vii). Smith (1985) notes that. tims is

emphasized as a resource having alternative uses, which. when cornbined with other

educational resources. optimizes the outpur of specified school objectives (p. 7).

Teachers in Bhutan need ample time to prepare and implement rubrics and

portfolios if they are to be effectively employed in Bhutanese schools. Tirne. other than

that devoted to instruction and co-curricular preparation, must be set aside for the purpose

of intemalizing these assessment tools.

6. Support

Gibbons and Norman (1987) state that, as pro_erams develop, negotiations should

begin to detemine the appropriate administrative structures within the school and the

necessary support systems from the district office. The organization of time, place,

grouping, teaching assignments, and other stnicmres should be adapted to the emergin;

progams so that the needs of both administration and eciucation are met (p. iug). l h ey

fiirther note that, such an ethos features acknowledging and regarding success and

contribution: comrnunicaîing and acting in positive, cooperative. and supponive iïrays:

building hope, pride and cornmitment; encouraging and supportin2 risk-taking.

challenges. and experirnent: operating on a participatoy, consensus-seeking. win-win

mode1 of decision making; encouraging change, tearnwork. and the pursuit of excellenccl:

and cultivating reiationships, joy, and celebration (p. 109).

In the Bhutanese context, support must corne from the head teacher and the D E 0

at the grass root level. Support must also be extended fiorn the Education Hsadquarters.

7. Definine Assessrnent Purpose

Meman et al. (1992) ask two questions to determine the purpose of assessment:

'What dors one plan to use the result for'?' ' M a t aspects of student performance does

one want to know about'?' (p. 23). Teachers need to be clear as to why they assess

students. Herman et al. ( 1992) note:

If the primary purpose to mess students is accomplishient then one will bz more interested in assessing the status of level of student accornplishrnent for purposes of grading, special placement. and progress monitoring. or for school. district and other extra-school purposes of evaluation and accountability. Because the primary intent is to describe the extent to which students have attained particular knowiedge and skills. one's assessment should focus on the outcomes or product of student learning.

However if one's purpose of assessment is diagnoses and improvement. such as diagnosing a student's strengths md weaknesses, prescribing the most appropriate instnictional prograrns, or identiQing strategies students use well and those they need help with, one will want an assessment that gives one information about the process as well as the outcomes. What have the students achieved and how did they do it'! Yrocess information provides such explanations @. 33).

Teachers in Bhutan must know why they are assessing students, and must make

students aware of the learning outcornes, goals and objectives.

8. Developing and Determinino Criteria

Hsman et al. (1993) posit that. specifj4ng criteria is always important and

becornes even more so when results are used for retention, graduation or placement in

sprcial programs (p. 54). They state four questions that arise when lookin_o at a body of

work. Thrse arc:

- Will progress or improvement be assessed'? - Hou. or will progress br: evaluated? - How will different tasks, videos, art work. essays. journal entries. and the liks be compared or weiglited in the assessrnent? - What is the role of student reflection in the assessment? Parental input'? (p. 72).

Herman et al. (1992) refer to Arter and Spandel(1993) who surnmarize the kinds

of concerns teachers should keep in mind when using portfolios:

- How representative is the work included in the portfolio of ~vhat students c m really do? - Do the portfolio pieces represent coached work? Independent work'? Group work? Are they identified as to the amount of support students received? - Do the evaluation criteria for each piece and the portfolio as a whole represent the most relevant or usehl dimension of student work? - How well do portfolio pieces match important instructional targets or authentic tasks? (p. 120).

Teachers in Bhutan need to develop criteria for deterrnining what should go into

the portfolios of their students, how often they should put materials into the portfolios.

and whether parents and students should have equal right as the teacher to decide what to

put into the portfolios.

4 7

9. Attitude (Willing-ness/Readiness)

Pilgrim (1983) notes that, attitude is a predisposition to action. If a person feels

positivzly toward an object (person, place, thing) then the person is likely to beha1.e

positively toward it. The converse also holds true (p. 17-18). He goes on to funher note

that attitude has cognitive, effective, and behavioral elements. Cognitive implies some

descriptive and analytical knowledge about the object (person. place. thing. behavior.

idsa. process) about which attitude is formed. Affective refers to the feeling content of the

attitude, how intense or salient the attitude is. and whether the emotion is positive or

antipathetic. Behavioral elements are the verbal expressions of the attitude, and

sometimes. the motive link between attitude and action (p. 18).

For rubrics and portfolios to be implemented successfully in Bhutan. teachers

must be motivated and possess positive attitudes toward them. Only then ~vill thry be

ivilling to try rubrics and portfolio assessment in the schools.

Hoivever in Bhutan, we do not know whether rubrics and portfolios can be

implemented as tools for continuous assessment. Trying to implemrnt these tools of

assessment without any feasibility analysis as some countries seem to have done could be

a waste of resources for a small country like Bhutan. So, the purpose of this study was to

investigate whether the stated conditions for rubrics and portfolios were present and if

not, whether they could be made available in the Bhutanese context.

4 S

SUMhlARY

Continuous assessment has emerged as an effective way of assessing students.

although various problems are manifest. Countries with a history of continuous

assessment have offered some training to their teachers. In a country like Bhutan where

the concept of continuous assessrnent is fairly new. such training has not yet been made

aifailable. Countries that have introducsd continuous asssssment earlier ha1.e identificd

several problems in the implementation of continuous assessment. Despite its rtcent

introduction. Bhutan is no exception.

Continuous assessment poses a challenge for teachers but carried out properly. it

cm be an effective tool for assessing students. Teachers sverywhere practising

continuous assessment may face certain problems caused by govemment policies. or lack

of sufticienr expertise and resources. However. it is certain that the advantages of

continuous assessrnent far outweigh the disadvantages. It's introduction in most countries

seems to have reformed the field of assessrneni somewhat. But it requires more time and

effort from tsachers towards children's work. Rubrics and portfolio assessment as tools of

assessment might hslp Bhutanese teachers c a r q out their continuous assessment of

children efficiently and in a more professional manner.

Chapter Threc

Research Method: Feasibility Assessrnent

Background

The research method chosen for rny study !vas feasibility assessment. Accordino

to Hughes & L'rasa ( 1997), the objective in feasibility assessment is to determine

ivhether a program. - technology or innovation can be undertaken successfully (p. 77).

Thus, the primary purpose of this feasibility assessrnent was to determine u.hether the

implcmrntation of rubrics and portfolios is likely to be worthwhile and workable in the

Bhutanese context.

Sosniak (1 991 ) notes that. when presented with a proposed curriculum or a plan

t'or developing a curriculum. at least two broad questions need to be addrcssed. First. to

ivhat estent is the curriculum worthwhile for the educational circurnstances in question'?

Second. how likely is it that the curriculum can be implemented successfully'? (p. 438).

My intention however, was not to develop a curriculum, but rather to determine the

possibilities of implementing good practices in continuous assessment by teachcrs in

Bhutan. The two questions posed by Sosniak ( 199 1 ) could be aptly rephrased for this

study. First, to what extent are rubrics and portfolio assessment worthwhile in Bhutanese

schools? Second, how feasible are rubrics and portfolio assessment in the Bhutanese

schools? Urasa (1994) refers to Kindenratter (l987), and Sosniak ( 199 1) who maintain

that, feasibility assessment involves asking questions and gatherin; and analyzing

information to determine whether a program is practical and likely to be successful

@. 45).

Feasibility assessrnent enables one to explore whether the product under study can

solve existent problems and hence be adopted to another situation. or has no relevance to

a situation and thus be ignored. Eisner (1985) maintains that. effectiveness in one setting

is no b ouarantee of sffectiveness in another (p. 196, 197).

Sosniak (1991) mentions that feasibility studies are likely to be informal and they

involve a wide \.ariety of concems (p. 438). He identifies four issues:

1. Philosophical Issues A curriculum. or an idea for one. may be right for one situation but wrong

for others. Determinine; whether it is right for one's own situation typically begins with an analysis of the fi t between the curriculum and the philosophy of one's educational systeni.

If the philosophy embedded in the curriculum is not consistent with the local educational philosophy. it might be worthwhile to ask whether it is in harmony with the philosophy the school is moving toward. If the answer is still no. thsre may be little reason to look at the curriculum proposal any hrther. If the philosophy embedded in the curriculum is appropriate, then one must determine whether the curriculum proposed constitutes an improvement over the present state of educational affairs.

2. Pedagogical Issues One must consider, first, whether the educational claims for the curriculum

are redistic. 1s it likely that the smdents will be able to learn what the curriculum promises? 1s it likely that the students will master the most important knowledee and skills of the curriculum? A related. more specific consideration is the degree to which the content and methods of the curriculum are appropriate for the students who will be working through the course of study.

The importance of considering the appropriateness of the curriculum for the teachers who will be using i t cannot be underestimated. These considerations seem especially important. First, are the teachers likely to understand and value the aims of the curricuIum? Second. are the teachers likely to be knowledgeable about the content and methods of the curricuhm? Third, are the methods of instruction for the new curriculum likely to fit well with the teachers' current methods for organizing instruction?

3. Political Issues When studying the feasibility of implementing a new curricuium, it is

important to consider the politics - within the school as well as within the

community served by the school - that may interfere with successful implementation of the curriculum. Will both moral and organizational support be available to teachers from high level administrators within the school or district'? Teachers need to be given time, incentive, and payoff for chanijng their practices and course content. They need the room to flounder and be les-than-successful initially when working with unfamilia and cornplex content and methods.

Analyses of curriculum change indicate fwther that teachers resist impossd change: the whole hearted support of teachers typically requires involving them meaningfully in the construction or selection of the curriculum (Noddings, 1979, p. 339).

4. Economic Issues Changing fiom one curriculum to another involves a varicty of 'costs.'

Some costs are quite obvious while others are 'hiddcn;' some can be measured in dollars whils others may not be quantifiable (Wolf, 1984, ch.7).

Time is an important variable in any cost estimation evcn if the nsw curriculum is intended to replace a portion of the existing school program. I t is important to consider the time teachers would have to invest preparing to use a nelv curriculum (individually and in staff development progams), as well as the time that administrators and other professional staff would have to devots to implement and maintain the new course of study.

Some curriculum proposals rnay require additional stat'f. others rnay require additional space (for classrooms, offices, or supply roorns) or substantial remodeling of existing space. Still other curriculum proposals may require that a school be kept open longer hours - adding to the cost of heat. light. janitorial services. and so forth (p. 338-339).

Mohr ( 1995) talks of benefit-cost analysis which is the concept of analyzing

benetits derived from a program in cornparison to the cost. He mentions cost-benrfit

analysis since there is the tendency for a certain arnount of borrowing of ideas from one

progam to another (p. 376).

Data Collection

Two different techniques of data collection were used; questionnaire and focus

group interview, in order to determine the 'do-ability' and 'work-ability' of the two tools

of assessment. Prior to going to Bhutan for my data collection, 1 received the approva:

52

from the Ethics Review Cornmittee on Ethics and Research. Following this, 1 pilot tested

the questionnaire and the focus g o u p interview with a group of Bhutanese colleagues.

This rehearsal proved to be very helpful for me since it allowed me to be mentally

prepared through observation of the responses of my colleagues here in Canada.

Questionnaire and Focus Croup Interview

Oppenheim (1966) notes that. the function of a questionnaire is to elicit a

particular communication (p. 39). Goodstein and Goodstein ( 199 1 ) maintain that. a

questionnaire is a face-to-face data collection technique. It is essentially an interview

schsdule adapted for independent use by individual respondents. The document usually

offers structured or somewhat limited response alternatives rather then the opèn-ended

possibilitiês available in the interview settins (p. 276). They fùrther note that,

questionnaires require less staff tirne to administer and because of response limitations.

they are casier to tabulate and analyze. They also ot'rèr the respondent both confidentiality

and anonymity (p. 276). The questionnaire designed for the two focus groups had several

questions based on the conditions required for the implementation of rubrics and

portfolios. Participants had to respond by circling one of several responses numbered 1 to

1 depending on what they felt. The questionnaire (Appendix C) then led to the focus

group interview.

Morgan (1998) notes that, focus groups are group interviews. A moderator guides

the interview while a small group discusses a topic that the interviewer raises (p. 1).

According to Krueger (198S), focus goups produce qualitative data that provide insights

5 3

into the attitude, perceptions. and opinions of participants. These results are solicited

through open-ended questions through observations of those respondents in a group

discussion. The focus group presents a naturai environment where participants are

influencing and intluenced by others (p. 30).

Einsiedel, Brown, and Ross (1996) state that, a focus group is comprised of

approximately ten to twelve people sampled tiom a client population. who are asked to

discuss and share their ideas, attitudes and feelings about a well detincd topic in a session

lasting 90 minutes to two hours. The participants are not iiecessarily experts on the topic.

nor are they expected to arrive at consensus or decisions (p. 7).

Gredler ( 1996) cites Goldman ( 1962) who noted that a focus sroup intenkiv

differs from other information-gathering methods in two ways. First. it seeks to discover

in-depth information about a small number of issues and second. that the group is a

dsvics for eliciting information (p. 86).

For my study 1 followed up on questionnaire with the focus groups, enablin2 me

to elaborate on their initial responses. Anderson (1990) notes that. taking copious notes

may slow down the interview considerably (p. 725), so a tape recorder was used for

recording the focus group interview.

Participants

The first focus group consisted of teacliers who were from junior high and

primary schools and who are al1 actively involved in canying out continuous assessment

in their respective schools. The Director o t CAPSS issued me a ietter wnicn permittea me

51

to visit schools unhindered. 1 met with the head teachers of eisht schools in the capital

who kindly consented to my request of allowing me to interview one of their teachrrs as a

participant for my study. Some of them indicated that the classes of those teachers could

be affected if they were away for a Iong tirne. 1 met each of the teacher participants

individually in their respective schools and explained to them the purpose of my study

and their importance as participants. I also informed them that it was not mandatory for

thern to panicipate in my study and that they rould drop from the study if t h q ~santcd to

by iriforming me. Fortunately none of them were reluctant and nor did any drop out of the

study. In fact. they were eager to participate considering it an opportunity to be able to

contribute to the development of continuous assessment.

The second focus group consisted of five people frorn CAPSS and BBE. Three of

the participants were from CAPSS and hvo from BBE. Al1 of them had teaching

experience. 1 was not able to include people from the Educational Monitoring Support

Section (EMSS) since they were visiting schools.

Meeting Schedule

Since 1 had two focus groups 1 had to frame an itinerary for meeting them. It was

not logical for me to cal1 the two focus groups together since there u1as e v e y possibility

of the teachers remaining reticent in the presence of people from the head quart.ers. So I

had to fix dates to meet them separately. 1 decided to conduct the questionnaire and the

focus group interview with the teacher participants first since their mid-terminal

examination and break was fast approachmg. I contacted each teacher participant Dy

55

phone and we decided to meet on the ?Ofh May in the CAPSS conference room. On that

day 1 informsd the participants once again of the purpose of my study and thanking them

for their willingness to participate despits their busy schedules, 1 handed them the

materials on rubrics for them to take home and read. We fixed a date for the second

meeting.

I met with the group for the second time on the 77'h May. One participanuit ivas

reportd sick so 1 had to manage with six people. 1 conducted a workshop on rubrics

followed by a discussion on it. This was followed by the questionnaire. The participants

hüd to work individually. They had to respond to several items on rubrics. After ihey

completed the questionnaire 1 tabulated the responses for my record. This was followrd

b ; ~ the focus group inten'iew in which the participants elaborated on their questionnaire

responses explaining why they responded as they did. The focus group interview was tape

recorded. At the end of the interview we decided on the next date for the meeting. Then 1

distributed the materials on portfolio assessment for them to take home and rtlad.

Ws met for the third tirne on 10Ih June. The procedure was the same for portfolio

assessment except that it included an ASCD vidso (Redesiging Assessment) on portfolio

assessment. A workshop on portfolio assessment was presented arid then the participants

watched the video after which a discussion took place. Afier the discussion the

participants worked on the questionnaire and then the focus group interview on portfolio

assessment took place.

1 carried out similar questionnaire activities and interviews with the second group.

In order to get the participants from CAPSS and BBE, I wrote to the Director and the

56

Secretary respectively who nominated the officers. 1 then went to the officers personally

and requested that they participate in the study. 1 met with them thrice on 2 1" June. 28Ih

June and Yh JuIy.

Data Analysis

Data analysis. according to Marshall and Rossman ( l995), is the process of

bringing order. structure. and meaning to the m a s of collected data (p. I 1 1 ). Grrdler

( 1996) cites Tesch ( 1990. p. 953) who notes four cornmon characterisrics of qualitative

data analysis:

1. Data are divided into relevant and meaningful units of analysis while maintaining a comection to the whole.

3. The data units or segments are categorized accordin; to an organizing system that is predominantly derived from the data.

3. Thc analysis process is systematic and comprehensive but not rigid.

4. Analysis is ofien concurrent with data collection or cyclic (p. 296).

Marshall and Rossman (1989) note that, in qualitative studies. data collection and

analysis go hand in hand to promote the emergence of substantive theory grclunded in

empirical data. And they mention that Glaser and Strauss (1967) expand on this process

noting that, the researcher is guided by initial concepts and guiding hypotheses. but shifts

or discards thern as the data are collected and analyzed (p. 1 13).

Marshall and Rossman (1995) state that, analytic procedures faIl into five modes:

organizing the data; generating categories, themes, and patterns; testing the emergent

hypotheses against the data; searchin; for alternative explmations of the data: and writing

5 7

the report. Each phase of data entails data reducrion as the r e m s of collected data are

brought into manageable chunks, and interpretation as the researcher brings meaning and

insight to the words and acts of the participants (p. 113).

This is how the data collected in my study were analyzed. Besides the

questionnaire. focus group interviews were conducted with two goups of people. The

intenficw response which fomed the data were tape recorded since ivriting down would

be too difficult and tedious a task. 1 also maintained a journal in which were recorded the

dates of meetings and interviews with the two focus groups and problems 1 encountered

o t w the pcriod of the data collection.

The analysis of the data involved several procedures. Before analyzing the focus

x o u p interviews I had to analyze the questionnaires and present them graphically so that - the responses are clear. The next step was analyzing the interviews. Firstly, I had to

organize the data which meant listening to the recorded interview responses of the two

focus groups several times. Secondly. having listened to the tapes 1 had to transcribs the

data. As stated by Rubin and Rubin ( 1 995). data analysis begins as soon as one starts an

interview. and the intemiewer asks for examples. clarifications and ideas that need to be

examined for more details. He considers this preliminary analysis crucial (p. 726). After

transcribing the data 1 listened to the tapes while silently following the script to make

sure that 1 did not miss any of the words of the participants. This was an important

procedure because it helped me ensure that 1 had recorded exactly what the participants

said. Moreover it ensured that 1 would not misinterpret the data generated by the

participants. Thirdly, 1 transferred the transcribed data h m the paper ont0 the cornputer

5 8

to produce a draft which could be deciphered with ease. The next procedure involved

several readings of the printed data for as Marshall and Rossman (1995) Say. reading.

reading and reading once more through the dara forces the researcher to become familiar

with those data in intimate ways (p. 113). By doing this 1 was able to expunze ~vords and

sounds that didn't mean anything in particular. This is due to the fact that though English

is the medium of instruction in Bhutan, we are not always able to express ourselvtts

distinctly and spontaneously in English. By doing this 1 was gradually able to rnakt: sense

of the data. The nsxr procedure involved correcting the data on the computer and printing

a final drafi. and then playing the tapes again to determine if the meaning had rcmained

the same after removing some words and sounds.

Analysis of the data was done following Gredler (1996, p. 296) and Tesch (1990.

p. 953). by dividing data into relevant and meaningful units of analysis while maintaining

a connection to the whole. As mentioned earlisr. each phase of data entailed data

reduction where the collected data were made more comprehensive without distorting the

views of the participants of the two focus groups. 1 paid special attention for concepts and

themes in order to trace their views and thoughts on the feasibility of rubrics and portfolio

assessment in the Bhutanese context. Later. a comparison was made between the

responses of the teachers and administrators to see how they differed in their views about

the feasibility of adapting alternative assessment for use in continuous assessment in

Bhutan.

Chapter Four

Findings

The purpose of the study was to detenine the feasibility of adapting alternati\,e

assessrnent took. namely rubrics and portfolio assessment. for use in continuous

assessrnent in Bhutan. The data for the study were generated in two major phases: phase

one consisted of a set of questionnaires (Appendix C). and phase two consisted of a series

of focus Sroup interviews.

Phase One: Questionnaire Data

One group of seven reachers and another group of five administrators completed

the questionnaires. Prior to this. a meeting was convened with the g o u p of teacliers on

?Oih May. 1999. Material on rubrics was distributed to each participant followed by a

brief discussion. The meeting concluded by participants setting a date for the second

meeting.

On 37Ih May, we met again as scheduled. This time a workshop on rubrics was

presented where we discussed what they ivere and their required conditions. CVhcn the

discussion ended, the questionnaire on mbrics was distributed to the participants and they

were asked to read through and circle a response to each question. The questionnaires

were then collected from each participant and tabulated. Afier this, the focus group

interview with the sarne group of people took place. The participants were distributed

material on portfolios which they discussed briefly and agreed on a date for the third

meeting.

6 O

The third meeting convened on 10Ih June. where participants watchsd an ASCD

video titled 'Redesigning Assessment.' followed by a workshop and discussion on

portfolio assessment and its required conditions. After that, the participants responded to

the questionnaire on portfolio assessment like they did earlier with rubrics. The

questionnaires were collccted fiom them and tabulated. This was followsd immediately

by the focus group interview on portfolio assessment.

The same procedure was followed for the group of administrators from the

CAPSS and BBE on 3 1 " June. Wh June and Yh July respectively. The questionnaire

rcsponses of the two groups of people on rubrics and portfolio assessment are represented

graphically and with narratives from the next page.

Craphical Representations und Narratives of Questionnaire Responses

1 . Need for Instructional blaterials

a ) .Avriilribilit~ of niriterials rit present.

Table 6a Prcscnt Availability of 3Iatcrials

ï v p e of response

1 . .Ai ailriblt: ri) nonc

2 . .A\ liilliblc. ro feu tericht.rl;

3. .A~;iil;ihle ro iiiosr teacheri

4. .AL :lilhle to dl [exher>

0 -'

res. 1 ras. 2 ras. 3 ras. 4

Teachers Administrators

In table 6a Iibove, four t e x h m 5t;ltt.d that mIiteiiril~ h r rubrics uere not ri~riilabls

to rinyone rit thc nionient while two terichers klt that inaterials itere atailrible to only ri

feu. of them.

Tuo ritlrriinistrxors from the Educrition Division believed thlit riiarcririlj IUr

rubrics were not rivaillible to rinyonr. and two otliers fdr thrit rnritt:rials w r e atailabltf to

ri ktv teachers. Only one tericher thoughr thrit the? rire ric.riii;ihle to nwst terichers.

On the whole. sis people felt thai materials for rubrics were not rivailable while

four thought thrit the? were rivailable to ri few tachers. Only one person felt thrit i t is

rivailrible to most teachers.

b ) Possibility of niakinz riisteririls avriilrible to our teschers.

Table 6b Providing >Iaterials to Teachers

T v ~ e of resoonsc

1 . Juit iriipossible

1. LL'ith g t x t difficiiltc

3 . With soilit: clitiicult~

4. 1L'ith no difficulr~

rets. 1 res. 2 res.3 res. 4

Teachers 1 Administrators

In table 6b abote. one tericher felt thst rrirtkins rubrics' materials atriilable to our

terichers could be done with ~rer i t difîïcultl; uhi l r three others thought thrit i t coiilci be

tione with .;orne difficulty. T h o teachers twwevsr. tho i l~ht thrit i t could be done uithout

riny difficulty.

Three officers from the Educririon Division be l ievd thrit i t could be dorie ibith

ywt difficulty and two felt thrit i t CUUIJ btf done with sorr-ie difficulty.

On the ~vhole. four of the dzven prtrticiprintj. thwghr thltt pruvidins mriteri;ds; for

rubrics to the Bhutrinese tc'xhers cuuld be dune hi th srrat difficult~ and fiie of theni Mt

thlit i t could be Jone with s u n e ciit'liculy. TWO people klt thrit i t could be Jone vithout

riny difficulty.

1. Need for Consultants and Facilitators

a ) .Ai~riillibility of duclitors or telichcirs in Bhutiin prrifi~ient in dci~clopins rubrics.

Table 7a Availahility of Proficient Ruhrics Dewlopers

res. 1 ras. 2 res. 3 res. 4

]II Teachers g Administrators

In table 71i above. one telichers felt thlit there uere no etiucators or teacheri in

Bhutrin. whu rire profitient in decelopins rubrics uhilt: another teacher thoiight thcre

were cery few of thern. Thret: o f theni fer1 thlit there kvere nut mm? of thein IL ho w r e

proficimi in ddveloping rubrics while one thought there w r e li 10t of them.

From the Education Division. dl fiw ridministrritors thogght thlit thert: were cery

few of theni who were proîïciznt in developing rubrics.

O\erall. onc participant thuught that therr K ris none l i t al1 linci si.\ pcople thoiight

thlit thrre ivert: very fw. Thret: people kit that thcrr wert. not man) of therii and one of

thsrn thought therr n e r e a lot of tiltm.

b) Need to bring in facilitritors frorii outside to train teachers in rubrics.

Table 7b Xeed to Bring in Rubrics' Facilitators from Outside

Type of response

res. 1 res. 2 res. 3 res. 4

1 Teachers % Administrators

In table 7b above. t u o terichers rigrtied tu jome estent thrit we need to brins in

I';icilit;itors f r ~ m outside [he countr! to train terichers in rubr-ics !+hile thrrr teachers

agreed tu i t and one teachsrs cigred strongly.

1C'ith people from thc Educritiun Division, one ;id~nini';trritor cfid not ~igrt't' ;it rd1

2nd tivo agrettd tu wnic cirtent and one of rhrrii ~igrrltrd thlit wr nerdcci to biing in

facilitators frorn outsidt the country tu train texhers in rubrics.

Ovrrali, one person did not sgrss rit di whilr t i ~ e of thern agreed tu suriie estent.

Four orhers agreed and one person agreed stronsly.

C) Need to train teachers in rubrics outside the countrj

Tahlc 7c Need to Train Teaçhers on Rubrics Outside the Country

1 . Do not iisree Lit ;il1

2. .-\gret. to j ~ ~ i i c ' r'xtcnt

3. .Agree

4. .Agrcc .;ri-ongl)

res. 1 res. 2 res. 3 res. 4

1 Teachers 1 Administrators

I r i table 7c ribote. ont: tericher ri~rttttd tc, s0111e extent thrit tc;lcht.rs neeC1t.d to bt:

trriind outsidt: the country in rubiics while t'oui othcrs rigrecci to i t . Ont. ttxicher rigreed

srrongly to i t .

One ridniinistrator isoni [he Ecluccttion D ~ L ision did not r i p e ~t a11 to the notion

that terichers shoulii be sent out to b t t r r i ind i n rubrics while four ot' t h m qreecl to

wrw extent.

On thc whole. onc pcrson did not r i p e ;lt riIl ancl fiw people agicrd to sotlie

estent. Four others agreed and one rigieed strongl-.

3. Need for Teachers to Work in Collaboration

a ) Possibility tecichers workinr c.ullriborativt.ly on rubrics.

Table 8a ïeacliers FVorking Collaborativcly on Rubrics

O - res. 1 res. 2 res. 3 res. 4

Teachers p Administrators

In table Yri above. one rracher t'eh thrit terichers could work togrther with p a r

Jiftïculty cind three of [ h m thousht i t could bl: donc with some diftïculty whilz two

teachers felt i t could br donc with nu difficulty.

One adniinistrritor from the Eiiucation Division Mt thrit teachrrs ~ u l d w r k

togrthrr uith grerit Jifficulty 2nd four of [hem thought that i t cutild br donc u.ith sotrie

Jifficulty.

On the whole. rwo people klr thrit terichers could uork together ivith grticit

difficulty and sevtln of [hem thought i t could happttn with some difficulty. Two people

felt thrit it could be done with no diffisulry.

b) Terichers' ~villingness to work togttrhttr on rubrics.

Tabte 8b Teachers' ll'illingness to IVork Together on Rubrics

res. 1 res. 2 res. 3 ras. 4

4 Teachers ]B Administrators

In table Yb ribo~s. tivo ttilichers thought thrit rrrichers would bt, uilling to 15cirk

togcther on rubrics ~vith sornt: dil'ficuliy whilr four oithsm thoutht thrit telichers wouM

br uilling to work together ~t,ith no dit'ticulty.

,411 of rhr fivr ;~cirniniiitrmm fruni rhe Educition Division thought that tcxhers

uould br willing to work tosether on rubrics uirh . ; m e difficulty.

Overrill. seven people were of the opinion thlit tsxhers ~voiild bc uilling to work

togcthrr hith surne difficulty and four people thousht thrit terichers uould be tcillins to

hork tugrther with nu ciifficulry.

4. Teachers' Need for Practice on Rubrics

a ) Tti.richcrs' abilit~, to put inro prxtict. ihc dzceluptiient and usé of rubiics

Table 9 Teachers' Practicing Dcvclopmcnt and Use of Ruhrics

res. 1 res. 2 res. 3 res. 4

Teachers 4 Administrators

In table 9 abcice. on the qut:stlon ot'\bhtrther O U T texhr rs n w l d bc abIr to

practice [hi: dewlopnient anci ux o f r u b r i ~ s . tice teachers felt that i t couid be done t ~ i r h

soriir diFtÏcult~ ~ind une of r h m ihought that i r could be Jonc ttith no di t't'icuity.

T w of the administrritors from the Eduurion Divis im f d t that i t <ouid be donc

\cith 2re;lt diffi~ulty and threr of therii rhought i t coulci hr: dunt uith j »n i t difticulty.

On the whole. tivo pcoplc thought that i t could bc dune t b i t h gea t difficulty rind

eight othttrs thou~ht i t cuuld b r dont: with sortie difticult]i. One person thciught that i t

w u l d bt. done v,ith no ciil'tisulty.

5 . Need for Tirne to Create Appro~r ia te Rubrics

a ) Possibility of teachers utilizing free periods to uork on rubrics

Table 10a Teachers Utilizing Free Periods on Rubrics

Type of response

1 . Sot ;it dl

2 . L'CI.! litrlt. o t thc' ti[rlc

3. S t m r of the tim

4. ,411 of rhe tirlie

res. 1 res. 2 res. 3 res. 4

Teachers Administrators

ln triblt: I0;i above. ;il1 the six telichcrs thought that the rexhers in Bhutm coulJ

uti l i~e [hl: frel: prriods [O work on rubrics. sonle of the time.

Four administrators from the Educlition Division telt that teacheri) cuuld u t i l i ~ t :

wry little oi' the time during free periods while ont: thought that teachers could uti l i~e

aornt: of the time.

On the wholt:. four people thought that teachers could spend ver) Little of iht: tinie

during Free perioJs on rubrics while sewn people thought that tttachers could spcnd some

of the time durin, tlee periods on rubrics.

b) Allocation of time by school administration for texhers tu uork on rubries

Tablc Lob Time .Allocation by School Administration for Rubrics

I Just iriipossible

7. L i ' i t t i srrat Ji t'ticulp

3. U'irh solrit: diileuIr>

4 LC'ith no Jiffi~lilt>

res.1 res.2 res.3 res.4

a Teachers Administrators

In table IOb above. on the question of the school liilriiinistrlition rillocliting certain

amount of time in li week. tiw tsachers frlt thlit this could bt. done with sonle Jifficulty

and one of them felt that rt could be done vdith no diffrculty.

TLVO administrators from the Educlition Division felt that this could bt: Jonc uith

g-elit ciifficulty whilt: thret. f t l t i t could br Jonr with sorne Jifficulty.

Overdl. two people thought rhat rhis could be donc u-itti grc'at difficulty and eisht

of [hem thought i t could be done icith some difficulty. One person thought that i t could

be donc bithout any difficulty.

c) Terichers' willingnttss to w r k on rubrics aftzr school hours.

Tiihlc IOc Teochers' N'illingness ta Work on Rubrics tifter School

Type O P response

1-88. 1 res. 2 res. 3 ms. 4

Teachers Adrninisîratom

In rliblr IOc above. ont. telicher f r l t that tèxhtirs ~could not btt ber! ivilling to

~ o r k on rubrics ~if tzr jchciol hours while the other i lw teachctrs thou$t th;lt tr;it'htfrs

would bt2 willing to icork on rubrics ritter school houn.

.-\II five ridrninistrators t'rom the Educrition Division thought thrit tt.xhttr> w u l d

not bc ver) ivilling tu stav back aikr school hours and work on rubrics.

On the wholt'. six pcoplc. felt thrit rziichers would nut bt. ver! \villins to stay brick

at'tttr schvvl hours to uork on rubrics whilr five o f lherri k l t that tzrichers wouid be

willing tu work on rubrics aftrfr school hours.

6 . Need of Support for Terichers

3) Pojsibility of C.APSS. EhISS rind BBE providing support ro tttrichers ibith devslopment and 11se of rubrics.

Table 1 la CAPSS, EhISS and BBE Supporting Teachers on Ruhrics

Type of resaonsc

res. 1 res, 2 res. 3 res. 4

a Teachers Administrators

In r;ibltt 1 l a ahote. on rhz qusstiùn of whc:thc:r CXPSS. EhISS rind BBE v.iiuici

prcividz jupport tu wlichers ~ k i t h the tiewlopmenr and use i31'rubncs. tuo tclic'hzrs rtlr

thrit i t wuld be dune n i t h somz difticulty %hile I'ourot'thctin felt thlit i t couid bti Jonc

vithout any iiifficulty.

A11 the tive riilministrcitors frvm thcl Eilucrition Division thought that i t c';in btt

donc with sorntt difficulty.

On rlie wholr. w t e n people fiIr that it could be donc: with wme difficultt uhilc:

tour people thought thnt i r could bt: dune wi th nu dit'ficulty.

b ) Willingness on the part of DEOs and head texhers to protide support to the texhers with the develupnient and use of rubrics.

Table l l b DEOs and Head Teachers Providing Support on Rubrics

TY ee of respo rise

Teachers 1 Administrators

ln table I I b cibove. on the question of the wil l ingws of DEOs and hrcid te;ichc'rs

to provide support to the terichers with the developrncnt and of rubrics. three texhers

thought thlit i t could br done with some difficulty and three of theni felt that i t could be

done with no difficulty.

One ~idrninistrmi fiorn the Educririon Division thought that i t wris just

impossible and two of thtm felt that i t couid bc: done with great difficulty. T ~ i o of them

felt that i t couid be dune with wme diftïculty.

On rhe whole. one person felt chat i t as just irnpossiblr hile two people felt

thlit i t could be done with yeat difficulty. Fitr proplr t'eh that i t cuuld bt: Jonr uith

some difficulty and three of them rhousht thlit i t could be done with no difficulty.

PORTFOLIOS

Need for Consultants and Facilitators

a) Availability cii cducators or tzachers in Bhutan proficienr in ond duc ring anci carryiny out ponfolio assessrnent.

Tnhlc 1% Availability of Educators Proficient in PnrtColio Assessnit.nt

Type of resmnse

1 . Sont. A i ilII

2 . feu

3 . Not rnrin? cit' thcm

1. .A lot d i r h ~ i

ms. 1 res. 2 res. 3 res. 4

a Teachars Administrators

In table I l r i above. one teacher f t l t that [ h m w r e no cduc;ltors or [cachers in

Bhutrin, who wzre pmfizitlnt in c'unduciing and carrying out portfolio assessrnent w h i k

one k l t that there wzrr ver) t'ew. Thrw teachm thuupht that there \vert nur riirinp ciT

the111 tvhile rvio textiers tho~ieht rhat there were a lot of thern.

One administrritor frum the Education Division thought that thrrt: W.< no one :it

ail and ont. thought that there were very f w . Two of thcm thought thiit t h m v,t.rc nu[

niciny ot' theni and one of [hem klt that there uere ri lot of them.

Overcill. two pe~plcl thought thrit [hue was no one at al1 and [\&O thourht thclrr

uere very few o f thrm. Five people thought thrit thrrti uere nur m a n ul' [hem and thre

o f them thought thrit there were a lot o f thrm.

b) Kezd for bringing in facilitators from outside the country to train tachers.

Table l l b Bringing in Portfolio Assessrnent Facilitators from Outside

1 . Do no[ :igrtic' 3t a11

2 . .\grse ro soriie ciitem

3 . .A~rse

4. .A lot of thcirii

res. 1 res. 2 res. 3 res. 4

4 Teachers a Administrators

In table 17b above. four terichcrs rigrcd to somtr c'xrcnr thlit ~ i c nccd to bring in

fiicilitators h m outsiciz the count9 to train terichers in portfolio rissessrnent ~,hiic: thrce

of rhern rigretd.

Two adminisrrators from the Education Division did nut a p e at al1 anci thrw of

thcm agreed ro some extent thrit wr n e d to bring in hcilitators froiri outside the country

tu train teachers in portfolio rissesment.

On the whole, two people ciid not r q e e rit riIl and sevsn of thcm agreed to sorne

extent whik three pei~ple agreed thrit we need to brin3 in facilitritors from outside the

country to train our t e x h m in portfolio messment.

c ) Need to train terichers i n portfolio assesmient outside the country.

Table I Lc Training Teachers in Portfolio .Assessrnent Outside the Country

1 . Do not agree at dl

2 . .\gt.c: to so~iic ctxtent

3 .&pe

4. .Agee stron_sl-

O -

res. 1 res. 2 res. 3 res. 4

4 Teachers a Administrators

in table l2c ribove. three tzachers agrezci tu some extcnt that we neèd tu train

terichers in portfolio assessment outside the counrr) . Ttvo of [hem ageed ivhile t w

others agreed strongly that we netrd to train rzachrtrs in purtl'olio assessriient outside the

country.

One adninisrrator t'rom thr: Educlition Division did not azrw at al1 and thrw o f

theni rigreed to sornz sxtent cvhile one rigreed thar we nwd to train tcachers in portfolio

assessment outside the country.

Overall. one person did not rigret: at riIl and six people ageed to sonle extent that

u e need to train terichers in portfolio assessmznr. Three people agreed &hile t u o people

cigreed strongly that we need to train teachers in portfolio cissessnient outside the country.

Need for Sufficient Time for Conferencing with Students

ai Usc of free periods and instruction pttriocls for conferencing.

Table 13a Using Free and Instruction Periods for Conferencing with Students

res. 1 res. 2 res. 3 res. 4

a Teachers 1 Administrators

In table 13a above, one tericher thuught that [cachers cou1J use ver- little of the

tirne from the tlee and instruction perioh t'or mnferencing with students uhile six of

thern thought that terichers could use sornc: of the time.

Two administrators from the Eciucatiun Division felt thrit teachers could use vcry

little of the tirne from the fret and instruction periods while thrtte others felt thrit terichers

woulci be able to utilizt: sunie of the time.

On the whole. three people iklt that [cachers could use cery l i t t l t t of the tirtie whik

nine of thrrn feel thrit teachers cuuld utilizt: sornr: of the tirne.

b ) Ttxhers' willingnzss to conference u i th students afirr school hours.

Table 13b Teachers' Willingness to Conference with Studcnts after Schoul

Tvpe of response

1 . L'nuilling

2 . Nor ber\ btilling

3. h'iLl~n$

4. L'CQ iviiling

res. 1 res. 2 res. 3 res. 4

Teachers Administrators

In table 13b above, t i ~ u telicliers klt thrit teac'htrs WUICI nor bc ber) willins tci

zcinferenctt with students rii'ter schoul huurs and i ive ul'therti thou~ht thlit texhers ~ c o u l d

be uil l inz to stay back dter jchool hours 2nd conl'erenct with studtlnts.

Four administrators t'rom the Educaiion Division k1t thiit tt3ache1.s ~ o u l d no[ be

ter! willing to stliç. biick ltfrer jchool hours to conference uith studtnts and one of [hem

thought thar ttiachttrs would be willing.

On the ~ h u l s . six people thought thrit t e x h m would not be \es willins to

conference with jtudrntj after ~ C ~ U O I heurs and the other six people thought that reacl~ers

woulcl be willing.

3. Need for Constant P r a c t k

Table 14 'Tcachcrs' N'illingncss to Practice Crsc of Portt'oliu .4sscssment

Tvpe of rcsponse

res. 1 res. 2 res. 3 res. 4

Teachers 1 Administrators

in table 1-4 ribo~e. ri11 seven terichers klt that teachers woulcf be !$illin2 tu practice

using portibtio risaessnient with some difficultç.

One ridministrritor t'rom the Educrition Division klt rhat terichers uould do i r tvith

g e a t ciifficulty while four of theni thought thrit terichers would practice using portfolio

rissessrnent with some difficulty.

On the whole. one person felt thrit terichers uould do i t nirh p r i t dit'ficulty ikhile

&\en of them thought thrit terichers would do i t uith sume dit'fii.ulty.

4. Need to Define the P u r ~ o s e of Assessment

; h5essrnenr. a ) Xbility to define the purposc of 1, -

Table 15 Teachers' Ability to Definc the Purpose of Assessment

res. 1 res. 2 res. 3 res. 4

Teachers Administrators

In table 15 above. thrttr irachers klt thrit tsashers uould bc rible tu detint. the

purpuse of assessrnent with some difiiculty and four of thrim klt th;it terichers w u l d br

able to define the purpose of rissessrnent with no Jit'iïculty.

One administrator trom thr: Educrition Diviaion f d t that tcachers would be able tu

define thr: purpose of assessrnent with srrat difficultp and twu of thcm klt thrit i t coulti

be dune with some difficulty. Two others frlt that terichers would be able to define the

purpose of assessment with no Jifficulty.

On the whole. one person thought that trachers would be able to define the

purpose of rissessrnent with great difficulty and five of them thousht thrit it could be done

with sorne difticulty while six orhers k l t thrit it cuuld be done without any difficultp.

5. Need to develop criteria or methods to determinc what is put into ~ortfolios, I i y whom and w hen

a ) Ability of tttxhers tu develop rhe crireiili.

Table 16u Teachers' Ability to Develop Critcrizi

res. 1 res. 2 res. 3 res. 4

1 Teachers Administrators

In table 16a above. four terichers klr thlit t e x h m wuuld bt: able IO J t t ~ e l o p the

criteria for determining ~ h a t is put in tù portfolios. bc i ~ h o n i and uhcn. uith jcirntt

ditlÏcultc and thrtie of thzm felt thrit teachers ~ t v u i d btt able tc, JO i t ibiith no di f f icu l t~ .

Two ridrninistrstors from the Educatiùn Division felt thlit tsachtrs ivould do i t

*ith geat difficulry and t h r w of [hem M i that tttlichtrs M-ould bi: able t i ~ do i r with soriie

cliffi~ulty.

On t h e wholz. iwo people thuught rhat t exhers boulcl be able to do i t ibith grerit

difticulty and jeten of theni t'elt thrit tririchers ivould bc: able io do it ibith iome diff icul t~.

Thrw of thcm rhousht thrit terichers ivould b r A l r i ro du i t with no difticultc.

b f Ability of tscichers to dscids whsn and ibhat is put into portfolios

Table 16b 'Teachers' Ability to Decide When and \Vhat Goes into Portfolios

res. 1 res. 2 res. 3 res. 4

]a81 Teachers Administrators

In table I6b ~ i b o ~ c . . on the question of ivhtrthtr ttxcher.; uoiild br able t c ~ drcidci

whrn and whrit is put into the portfolios of students. three t exh r r s thought that i t wuld

be done with somr dit'ficult~ while tour of thrm thuught thrit tcrichcrs could do i t with no

difficulty.

Onr administrritor from the Educrition Division frlt that terichers coulci c10 i t tvith

grrat difficulry anci t h w of them rhoupht th;tt i t could br donc with sonir ciifficulp. One

of thrm rhought [ha[ i t could br dons with no dit'ficulty.

On the whole, ont: prrson thought that i t could br done with srrat difficult) ancl

six of thsm fslt that teachers could do i t with jotllr dit 'ficult~ whilc f i ~ r of [hem t'rlt thrit

i t could bz Jonc with no difficulty.

c ) Ability of parents to drcide when and what is put into portfolios of their children.

Table 16c Parents Dcciding What 1s Put into Portfolios of Their Children

Tvae of rcsnonse

res. 1 res. 2 res. 3 res. 4

a Teachers Administrators

In table 16c above. two teâc'hers felt that it just impussiblc for parents to

decide when and whlit is put into the portfolios of their chi1drt.n \chile t o u r ot'thcrrn t'elt

that parents could do i t ~ç i th g r u t diEticulty. One te;icher felt that pmnrs could do i t

with surne difficulty.

Four adniinistrators t'roni the Education Division felt that parents could do i t with

zseat difficulty while ont: thought that parents could do i t with surne difficulty. - On the whole. two people iklt that i t would bc: just impossible t'or parents to

decidé when and what is put into the ponfolios of their children while eighr of thern t'elt

that parents could do it with great difficult~ and two of then1 thousht that parents could

do i r with sorne difficulty.

d) Xbility of students to dscide \b hes and what is put into their portfolios.

Table 16d Students Deciding When and IVhat Goes into ï h e i r Portfoiios

res. 1 res. 2 res. 3 res. 4

a Teachers 1 Administrators

Tvac of rcsponsc

In table 163 ribovs. thrtx tsuchers felt ttiat .;tudents zould decide when ~ind what

was pui into their portfolios hith grrat Jifficulty while hur of rherti thou~ht that jtuclents

could do i t with soriie difticulty.

One adrninistrritor iï-on1 thc Educririon Division klt t h l i t iitiiilent?; could do i t uirh

.relit diffiiulty whilt: four of thern felr t h t .;tudents could do it with soriie diffisulty. D

On thc whole, four people felt that studentj suuld do i t with g r m difficulry and

eight uf thein felt rhx studsnrs crluld do i r tbith sunie difficult~.

SS

Discussion

The questionnaire on rubrics and portfolio assessment has been surnmarized into

four units namely, (i) factors pron?otin_g feasibility of nibrics in Bhutan (ii) factors

inhibitine - feasibility of rubrics in Bhutan ( i i i ) factors promoting portfolio assessrnent in

Bhutan and (iv) factors inhibiting portfolio assessment in Bhutm.

i) Factors Promoting Feas ib i l i~ of Rubrics in Bhutan

The panicipants rhought that materials on rubrics could be provided to schools by

the Education Division. A 'one shot deal' would not be possible and neithrr v.ould i t bc:

dssiriible but rather providing rnaterials should be donz sloivly but at a steady p a x . The

ocneral feeling of the participants was that the Education Division could also brin? in 2

consultants and facilitators kom outside to train kcy persons (teachers and lecturers) in

dsveloping and usin; mbrics. Some teachers and lecturers could also bc sent out to learn

about rubrics. The participants also felt that teachzrs could work toeether on rubrics since

most teachers - especially those in the lower classes - already work collaboratively, and

that teachers would be willing to utilize some of their free time and after school hours for

working on rubrics. The participants seemed optimistic on getting help and support from

CAPSS. EMSS and BBE.

i i) Factors Inhibiting Feasibilitv of Rubrics in Bhutan

The participants felt that materials on rubrics were not available presently and in

particular they felt that it would be difficult to provide schools with vidsos and CD

ROMS. Some of them also thought that it would be difficult for teachers to spend their

S 6

free periods and after school hours to work on rubrics since teachers were occupied with a

lot of other school work. Some also thought that it was expensive to bring in consultants

and facilitators whils sirnultaneously sending teachers out of the count l .

iii) Factors Promotine Feasibilitv of Portfolio Assessrnent in Bhutan

There is the gmeral feeling that Bhutan couid bring in consultants and facilitators

%cim outsidè the country to train selected teachers and lecturers in portfolio assessrnent

and that some of thess teachers could also be sent outside too. The participants rtlso felt

that tsachers could dsvote some of thzir tiee periods and rifter school hours to working on

portfolio asszssment. They felt that teachers would be able to definr the purpose of

assessrnent and develop the criteria or methods for detemining what is put into ponfolios

ûi'children provided they received some training.

iv) - Factors Inhibiting Feasibilitv of Portfolio Assessrnent in Bhutan

A s in the case of rubrics, somc participants believed bringing in consultants and

Facilitators from outside and sending other teachers outside would be very expensive for

the Education Division. Some of the participants felt that it would also be difficult for

teachers to spend al1 their free periods and after school hours on portfolio assessment.

Additionally most were of the opinion that parents and students would not be able to

determine when and what is put into portfolios.

The majority of participants responded to item nurnbers 2 and 3 but few

responded to item numbers I and 4. From this 1 inferred that rubrics and portfolio

8 7

assessment can be feasible in the Bhutanese context provided we put in concerted effort.

what Sosniak ( 199 1 ) refers to as "philosophical, pedagogical and economic" effort.

The teacher participants seem ready to adopt these alternative assessment tools

despite the difficulties they thought they might encounter. In fact. some of them felt that

these assessment tools could mhance their present practice of continuous assessment.

something they seem to be floundering with even today. despite its inception sis years

ago.

Several participants have exhibited skepticism on occasion but in senerd they

seem to express hope with the use of rubrics and portfolio assessment in the Bhutanese

contest. over time.

Phase Two: Focus Groups

There were two focus groups. Group one consisted of seven teachers and group

t\vo of tive education administrators. The focus group interviews on rubrics and portfolio

assessrnent were conducted immediately after tabulatioii of the questionnaire responscs of

the participants. The focus group interviews arose as a result of their responses to the

questionnaires. In these interviews, the participants elaborated on why they responded to

a particular item in the questionnaires and justified their reasons.

The focus group interview results may not necessarily correlate with the

questionnaire responses since participants had to work individually on the questionnaires.

but may have been influenced by others, during the focus group interviews. The findings

in the tocus group intenliews are divided into four sections:

1. Teachers' and administrators' perceptions of the conditions facilitating the use of rubrics

7. Teachers' and adminisrrators' perceptions of the conditions facilitating the use of portfolio assessment

3 Teachers' and administrators' perceptions of the conditions inhibitiiig the use of rubrics

4. Teachers' and administrators' perceptions of the conditions inhibit in2 the use of portfolio assessment

1. Teachers' and Administrators' Perceptions of the Conditions Facilitating the Use of Rubrics

Some teacher participants thought that resource materials on rubrics in the form of

books might be available in high school librariss or from some collea~ues. Their =encra1

feeling was that books on nibric'; could be available from teachers who would have been

out of the country for studies. M e n asked whether they had seen materials on rubrics

they remained silent, leadincg me to believe the answer was "no."

Some administraturs also thought that teachers or their staff may have materials

on rubrics. One participant. Tenzin in particular felt sornr teachers whci were

professionally inclined to self-irnprovement might have bought rnaterials on rubrics

during the time of their study outside.

Possibiiity ofprmiding materials tu leachew

Most of the participants felt that materials on rubrics could be made available to

the teachers provided the Education Division wanted to impiemenr mbrics. Tncy did

8 9

however have reservations about how the materials would be distributed across the

country. Kesang says, "1 think in the beginning we might face some difficulties but larer

i t will be easier."

Some of the administrators felt it was possible. Rinchen said that it was a mattsr

of policy and that if mbrics proved useful as an assessmrnt tool then materials could be

made availabie. Dorji too agreed with Rinchen that materials on mbrics coiild be

providsd to schools.

Experrise

The teacher participants felt that despite the fact that Bhutan does not have an?

educators or teachers proticient in developing mbrics, it has a few people who could be

capable of helping teachers with the use of mbrics. Chhoden said, "from our txperienct.

we know that you are the only one who can sivz ideas on rubrics to people but there may

be a few others too who went to Canada, New Zealand and England who might have

some idea."

Some administrators thought that no one in Bhutan was proficient in the

development of rubrics, but that there would be some who would know something about

mbrics. Most of them however, mentioned that they were hearins the word 'mbrics' for

the first time.

AreedJor Facilirators

On the need to bnng in facilitators from outside to train teachers in rubrics. most

of the teacher participants agreed with the idea. These are what some of them had to Say.

90

Chhoden: "1 think that in the initial staze if we bnng in some people from countries

where they have done much extensive research and practice on rubrics. it might give the

teachers a better idea on rubrics."

Lhamo: "Previously we used to have v o l u n t q organization service (VSO) teachers, so

like that 1 thought that they could come fiom outside and help us in the schools."

Laxmi: "1 agree that we need to bring in facilitators from outside so that we can get mors

idsa from them. They will train us."

Barla: "1 agree becausr: they have been working with mbrics so they will have the

experience and skills."

Some of the administrators felt that it would be necessary. Chewang had this to

say, "since rubrics is something new to teachers we do need some good facilitators to

come in and s ivr out teachers some training so thrit it can work et'fectively."

:Vecci to Tsaiti Tenchers

On the need to train teachers in nibrics outside the country, al1 the teacher

participants believed that at some stage selected teachrrs should be sent outside the

country to l e m about rubrics. These teachers could teach and train other teachers on

rubrics in the Bhutanese context after their return.

Most administrators seemed to agree. This is what some had to Say.

Dorji: "1 think teachers need a wider exposure and also see how things work in other

places. Unless one sees a wider view of how it is done, one can't really make decisions

and in foned judgements."

9 1

Tshering: "1 think they need to go out to get some exposure."

Tenzin: "If teachers are sent out they will get a much wider perspective of rubrics."

Teacli ers ' IFilling~ress fo !tbl-.k Collaborariive!i*

Teachers were willing to work collaboratively on rubrics. The teacher participants

felt that this was possible and were willing to do so as long as they could arrange to msst.

They were optimistic about this since teachers, especially those in the loiver classes.

worked together when planning their lessons. Lhamo said. "We get together during fret

periods. As an English teacher I discuss with the other English teachers in the school."

Lami . another participant noted, "ln my school, we've got good coopsration amongst

the teachers. 1 thought if we have to sit and work together we will be able to do i t withuut

any difficulty." Barla too opined. "we usually sit together especially when we have

problems. The subject teachers sit tozether and discuss." They seemed to belisve in the

benefits of teachers working together and considered rubrics development another

expansion of this practice.

The administrators felt that with encouragement, support and 'push' as they called

it. teachers would be willing to work together. The general feeling was that it would be

dificult in the initial stage but they expected improvement in the later stages of

implementation.

Need to Practice Development and Use of R~ibvics

The teacher participants felt that teachers would be able to put into practice the

development and use of nibrics as long as they received some training. They al1 thought

92

that teachers would face problems only in the beginning but with time they would bs

tuned to the use of rubrics and develop confidence.

L'se ql'Ft.cc Pei-ioiis.lOi. Rubi-ics

On the question of the possibility of teachers utilizing fiee periods to ivork on

rubrics, the teachzr participants neatly summed up by saying that teachers ivould btt able

tri spare some of their free periods on mbrics.

I l 'illiiigric~ss KI Jl,'or-k on Rirliks aber ScltooI Hotrrs

Witli regard to teachers' willingness tû ivork on rubrics after school hours al1 th2

tcacher participants stated that teachers would be willing to stay late on certain days.

Chhoden thought that teachers would be willing ro work overtime because it was the

nature of the teaching profession. Kcsmg thought that teachers wauld be motivated by

the predicted benefit to students. Dechen commented thus. "teachers \vil1 be willing

because they want their students to progress and since rubrics is intendsd to do this they

would be willing to sacrifice some time."

.-illocution of Tiiwe by School Ad~lri~ristrcitiorl

Some of the teacher participants felt that DEOs and the hrad teachers would

allocate time and be wiliing to provide support to teachers with the development and use

of rubrics within their capacity.

Some adminisuators felt that it was possible for the school administration to

allocate a certain arnount of tirne in a week for teachers to work on rubncs. wne ot^them.

93

Chewang. felt some time From CO-curricular activities could be allocated for teachers to

work on rubrics.

Supporrji,oin C.APSS, EIVISS and rlze BBE

All the teacher participants expressed confidence that CAPSS. EMSS and BBE

would provide support to teachers with the development and use of rubrics. They lookzd

up to tliese offices with high regard as professional units of the Education Division. Thsy

indicated that these three offices were there to provide professional support to schools

and teachsrs besides their other responsibilities.

Some of the administrators felt that it was a part of the duty of these thrée offices

to provide any type of professional support to schools. Tenzin noted. "with the right

professional mind set, 1 believe that CAPSS, EMSS and BBE have the nscessary skiils

and with some effort and initiative, support can be provided to teachers." Cheivang on the

other hand felt that officers of the EMSS could play a major role in supporting teachers

since they paid visits to schools to rnonitor progress and procredings. They also felt that

DEOs and head teachers would be willing to provide support to teachers within their

capacity.

2. Teachers' and Administrators' Perceptions of the Conditions Facilitating the Use of Portfolio Assessrnent

Experrise

The teacher participants thought that lecturers at the National Institute of

Education (NIE) and the Teacher Training College (TTC) and sorne officers tiom the

94

CAPSS. EMSS and BBE would have some idea of portfolio assessment. These

individuals were identified arnong rhose as having an idea on portfolio assessrnent in

Bhutan.

Most of the administrators notecl that there ivere a few teachers who carrisd out

continuous assessment sirnilar in nature to portfolio assessment. Dorji citc'd examples of

ssveral tsachers who kept records of children's work and remarks in the form of shssts

cornbined together. Rinchen too had this to share about what teacliers did in schools. He

said. "there are soms teachers in schools who do something similar to this. They may not

cal1 it portfolio assessrnent but some of the things they are doing in the classroom are

similu to it."

.CkeOor Fcrcilitarors

Most of the teacher participants felt that we need facilitators frorn outside. They

Imd several reasons for stating. this. Here are their responses.

Kesang: "1 thought that if we bring in facilitators frorn outside. they will bring in more

ideas which they will teach to the teachtrs."

Lhamo: "1 thought like people those who know about this portfolio assessrnent c m corne

and teach us."

Laumi: "Yes, we need to bring in facilitators fiom outside the country to train teachers in

portfolio assessment because they have better idea about it. If we bring in facilitators

from outside they will train more teachers in the field."

9 5

!Vced ro Train Teacliers

The teacher paticipants unanimously believed that teachers needed to be trained

in portfolio assessment outside the country. They stated that a 'selected y o u p of teachers'

should be sent out to be trained in the development and use of portfolio assessment.

Dechen felt that if some teachers were sent out. when they retumed they could in turn

train other teachers. Tshomo also thought that those toachers ~vould be in a position to

conduct workshops by relating everything to the Bhutanesz context. Then there \vas the

rzeneral feeling amonest them that sending some teachers out would give thom exposure b

and a wider horizon of understanding of portfolio assessment.

The administrators strongly felt that teachers would need to be trained. Some of

the reasons they cited for the need to send teachers out were, "to gain experiencc and

esposure." and to see "how teachers in those countries where portfolio assessment was

established worked." The following are excerpts of ~vhat soms of them had to Say.

Dorji: "1 think some of our teachers should go and see how teachers elsewhere work with

portfolio assessment."

Tshering: "1 think our teachers need exposure and to see how teachers in other countries

work with portfolio assessment."

Chewang: "Teachers need exposure and they also need to and compare what they are

doing with that of others and also to get a better understandin? and deeper knowledge of

portfolio assessment."

Tenzin: "Teachers need to go out and see what is actually happening and see what they

practice in Bhutan is any different from what is being practiced elsewhere."

96

Cor!/èrencitl,o irith Srudenrs Dicring Free Per-iods aard afier Scllool Horrrs

Most of the teacher participants stated that teachers could use some of the free

periods or instruction periods for conferencing with students. Some pointed o ~ i t that

several teachers do actually spend parts of their free periods helping academically \vsak

students.

On teachers' willingness to conference with students after school hours. they felt

teachers would be willing to stay late. They thought that it was an obligation of teachers

to stay late afer school hours and complete the day's work if necessary. These are what

soms of them said.

Chhoden: "If the need arises everyone will be willing to sacrifice some of the time after

school hours."

Dechen: "Teachers would be willing if necessary and especially if the teachers think that

it \vil1 benefit the students."

Barla: "Teachers will stay back because completing work is a part of their job."

IC'illi~tgness ro Pracrice Use ofPor!folio ..lssesstnetir

A11 teacher participants agreed that teachers would be willing to practice the use

of portfolio assessment. However they were concemed about difticulties that might be

experienced in the initial stages. The participants were optimistic in their beliefs that with

the passage of time teachers would develop competence and confidence in their use of

portfolio assessrnent.

9 7

Most of the administrators felt that teachers would be willing. Chewano - thought

that if portfolio assessment was included within continuous assessrnent then teachers

would gladly work on it. Tenzin on the other hand thought that teachers ~vould face some

difficulties in the beginning but with consistent use teachers would develop competence.

Rinchen had this to add. "with my experience with teachers. I found that if ive give them

new ideas. our teachers are v e y receptive and if we ask them to do on the spur of the

moment they are willing. In that way our tsachers are good. If they are given something

to do they try their bsst. Because ofthis 1 feel that if our teachers are asksd to t r y out

portfolio assessment, they will detinitcly try and they rviil embark upon this task."

Dqfinirig ,lssessmcnr Plirpose

On the topic of the ability of teachers to define the purpose of assessment. most of

the teacher participants seemed confident in stating that teachers would be able to do it.

Chhoden mentioned that teachers would know the purpose of assessment because they

have been assessing children for so many years. Kesang noted. "as teachers when we

assess anything in a student we do it with a purpose. Even if it is a srnaIl work we have to

do it with a purpose." Lhamo stated that as teachers, they know why students are assessed

while Barla rnentioned that teachers know the purpose, objectives and goals of student

assessment.

The general feeling of the administrators was that teachers would be able to carry

out this task. Moreover they felt that teachers had access to the curriculum documents

which contain the aims and objectives of each unit of study.

9 S

Deldopinmt ofCriteria.for Por~folio .4ssesniient

Some of the teacher participants felt that if teachers were trainsd in portfolio

assessment they would be able to develop the criteria. The? complemented this statement

by noting that teachers usually worked together, a practice which would be useful when

developing the criteria for portfolio assessment. One of thern noted that subjsct teachers

regularly sat together and discussed lessons, problems. and difficultiss. so developing a

sriteria for portfolio assessrnent would not be very difficult.

The administrators felt that as long as teachers were taught and trained in the use

of portfolio assessrnent they would not face many difficulties.

.Clakitig Decisiorls about Stirdertt Por.rfolios

Deciding what to put into portfolios was foreseen by some of ths teacher

participants as areas of concem especially in the initial stage of implementation. They feli

ho\vever. that later teachers would develop cornpetence. As for parents being, able to

decide when and what is put into the portfolios of their children, the participants felt that

somi: parents in urban schouls would be able to make decisions and participate in the

assessment of their children.

The administrators felt that once teachers were able to decide on criteria. they

would nat have problems with making decisions about student portfolios. Rinchen neatly

summed this up by saying, "with a little discussion amongst groups of teachers, they

shouid be able to decide when and what is put into portfolios of their students." On the

question of parents and students deciding when and what 1s put into portfoiios, the

99

participants felt that some of the parents in the urban schools would be able to make

decisions. As for students. they felt that if students were explained the purpose and

objectives of portfolio assessment especially in the higher classes, they would be able to

decide to a certain extent when and what went into their portfolios. These are what some

of the participants had to say regarding student participation in portfolio assessment.

Dorji: "Practice is a key element. If our students are made to practice and cary this otit

they could do it provided they are told the purpose. use and benefits of portfolio

assessment."

Tshering: "Once portfolio assessment is established. L thinh they will be able to do it."

Tenzin: "1 think it wouldn't be difticult for students to decide when and what went into

their portfolios provided teachers had a clear idea about it."

Rinchen: "Once students are explained the purpose and objectives of portfolio

assessment. 1 think the students c m follow it."

3. Teachers' and Administrators' Perceptions of Conditions Inhihiting the Use of Rubrics

All teacher participants felt that it would be difficult for the Education Division to

provide al1 schools with CD ROMS and videos. Barla had this to say. "1 think videos and

CD ROMS will take some time to get to schools."

Some of the administrators felt that neither teachers nor schools would have any

CD ROMS since they were new concepts that they were hearing about for the first tirne.

And with regard to the possibility of making materials available to Our teachers, they felt

IO0

it would be difficult to provide schools with videos and CD ROMS to assist teachers with

rubrics. Some of them mentioned that it would take a long time to provide al1 the schools

Lvith the required materials on rubrics, and that funding would br: a lirniting factor

Lack q/'E.vperrisc

Rcgarding the availability of educators or teachers in Bhutan protïcient in

deidoping mbrics, the teachtir participants felt that there were none. Thsy al1 felt rubrics

ivere a new concept that they were hearing for the first time.

Tcacliers E~~gaged iri May7 .-lcti\*ities

The tsacher participants were positive about teachers working collaboratively on

rubrics. but thcy felt that logistic problems in terms of class periods could cause

diftïculties. Chhoden felt that the fTee periods of some trachers might not coincide.

Moreover. some teachers she Mt. were occupied throughout the day. All participants

mentionsd that the few free periods that teachers had were mostly spent in correcting

students' note books or taking substitution classes for colleagues who may be on leave.

With regard to teachers' ability to put into practice the development and use of

rubrics, the administrators felt teachers would find it dit'tlcult. Rinchen thought teachers

would face 'lo_eistic' and 'individual' problems. Dorji also felt teachers would face

difficulties when he said, "the difficulty 1 personally see is the personal ability of the

teachers to develop and use rubrics and time factor that is available for them to discuss,

develop and use rubrics."

101

On the question of teachers utilizing free periods to work on rubrics, they were

skeptical. They stated reasons like 'teachers having very little fiee time' which is furthsr

aggravated by 'teacher shonage'. The teachers also need to cover the syllabus for their

respective subjects and classes and they have to cover for colleagues on leave.

Difficulh- -. i11 .4 llocatirig Tinte

On the allocation of time by school administration for teachrrs to ~vork on nibrics.

the tacher participants felt that it would be difficult. They knew that head teachers wers

acquainted with the syllabus that had to be covered. The? also felt that allocation of time

fur teachers to work on rubrics would be difficult as long as they knew nothing of rubrics

and their benetits.

Some administrators felt i t would be difficult for the school administration to

allocate time. Rinchen felt that throughout the week, periods were allocated for teaching.

while Dorji nored that besidss subject periods, time was also allocated for various

curricular and CO-cunicular activities. To sum it up simply. thcy thought teachers had a

lot to cope with. and that the school administration was unlikely to allocate more time for

them to i\.ork on rubrics.

Orlier Obligutiorrs/or- Teacliers

With the question of teachers' willingness to work on rubrics at'ter school hours,

one of the teacher participants felt that teachers would not be willing. She felt that

teachers had so many other domestic chores to attend to at home.

The administrators felt that teachers would not be willing. They had their reasons.

1 O3

Rinchen: "Teachers are tired by the end of the day. after teaching seven to eight periods."

Dorji: "Most teachers work for seven to eight periods and then they have to supenise

socially useful productive work (SUPW), curricular activities and cultural activities."

Chewang: "Teachers are just cxhausted at the end of the day."

Lnck q f'St1pp01.r

On the issue of willingness on the part of DEOs and head teachers to provide

support to the teachers with the development and use of mbrics, the administrators felt it

would be difficult. This was because according to their knowledge the DEOs wsre mostly

engaged in "administrative duty" and not inclined to professional work.

4. Teachers' and Administrators' Perceptions of the Conditions Inhibiting the Use of Portfolio Assessrnent

Lnck q/'Esper-rise

On the question of availability of sducators or teachers in Bhutan proficient in

conducting and carrying out portfolio assessment. they felt thert: would not be any at the

moment. They believed however that there could be a few lecturers in the NIE and TTC

who may have some idea on portfolio assessment.

Al1 of the administrators were of the opinion that there was no one proficient in

the use of portfolio assessment.

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Espemiw

In response to the need for bringing in facilitators from outside the country to

train teachers in portfolio assessment, the administrators felt i t uras expensive and rather

thought it was better to use whatever limited resources Bhutan had.

Tcacliws Et~gaged il1 Too ~Llatz~. ri cririries

With regard to use of free periods and instruction periods for conferencing with

students. the teacher participants felt that teachers would not be able to utilize al1 of their

fret- periods for conferencing. This was because teachers had to correct notebooks of

students and teach substitution classes in place of colleagues who may bs on leave and

preparc for the next lesson.

The administrators felt that teachers actually had very little time to spare. They

mentioned teachers had to cover the syllabus on time and moreover there was alsci teacher

shortage in most schools. In the words of Rinchen. "we have a big shortago of teachers

and teachers have very few free periods. Those few free periods are mostly used for

correcting student notebooks and lesson preparation."

On the issue of teachers' willingness to conference with students after school

hours, they felt teachers would be 'tired' after seven to eight periods of non-stop reaching

and rnoreover teachers were entrusted with so many other responsibilities in the schools.

Diffictcrrlh~ in Im~olving Parenrs

On the issue of parents and students deciding when and what is put into portfolios.

the teacher participants felt that most Bhutanese parents would not be able to participate

1 O-i

in the assessment of their children. Tshomo mentioned that parents were not evsn aware

of their children's day-to-day performance in the school. The gencral feeling was that

most parents were illiterate and literate parenrs would be too bus? tvith their oivn ~vork

and would not find the time ro participate in the assessment of thtir chiidren. And as for

students, they felt that students would nor be able to decide when and what should be put

into thrir portfolios. They felt children would be confused. Most of them feit that

Bhutanese children are not yet rçady for assessing their own work.

The administrators felt that it would be difficult. They rnentioned that majority of

the Bhutanese parents were not yet ready for such tasks and that parents had the feeling

that school work was the responsibility of teachers. Sorne of them also noted that parenrs

~vould firstly nsed to be inforrned about portfolio assessrnent in order to make them

participate.

Table 17 Conditions Facilitating Andlor Inhibiting the Use of Rubrics

(As Perceived by Teachers and Administrators)

Facilitate

1 . Materials -materials c m be providsd to schools in the form of books

2. Human Resources -teachers can be trained -facilitators can be invited from outside

3. School Organization -teachers ivould be able to work in collaboration -teachers can utilize some of the free time in school -head teachers can allocatc time for teac hers

4. WillingnessiReadiness -teachers would be willing to practice the drvelopment and use on rubrics -teachers would be willing to work afier classes on some days

5. Support -confident that CAPSS, EMSS and BBE c m and will provide support to teachers -DEOS can provide support to teachers

Inhibit -- ~ --

1. Materials .difficulty in getting materials in the form ~f videos and CD ROMS .videos and CD ROMS would be of no lse in schools without vidros and :omputers

2. Human Resourccs .presently no nationals proticient in developing rubrics

3. School Organization -teachers are ensaged in su many other CO-curricular activitiss besides tcaching many periods and subjects -0versized classes (10 - 50 students in a c l a s )

Table 18 Conditions Facilitating A n d o r lnhibiting the Use of Portfolio Assessment

(As Perceived by Teachers and Administrators)

Facilitate --- - -

1. Materials -materials c m be providsd to schools in thc form of books

2. Human Resources -teachers can be trained -facilitators can be invited fiom outside

3. School Organization -trachers ikmld be able to define the purpose of assessment and develop the criteria for portfolio assessment -teachers would be able to make decisions on student portfolios -head teachers would be able to allocate tirne for teachers to work on student portfolios

1. \YillingnesslReadiness -teachers would be willing to work in collaboration -teachers would be willing to implement the use of portfolio assessment -teachers would be willing to conference with students after school hours

5. Support -confident that CAPSS , EMMS and BBE cm provide support -DEOS cm also provide support to schools

Inhibit

1. Materials -difticulty in getting materials in the hm of videos and CD ROMS -videos and CD ROMS would be of no use in schools wirhout videos and cornputers

2. Human Rcsources -presently the are no nationals protkient in the knowledge of portfolio assessnisnt

3. School Organization -teachers are engrteed in so rnany other CO-curricular activities besides teaching so many periods and subjects -0versized classes (10 - 50 students in a ciass) -parents and students would not be able to make decisions about portfolios

1 O?

Discussion

The two focus Sroups pointed out that it would be difficult to provide schools

~vith materials such as videos and CD ROIMS. 1 agree with them but at the same tims I

would like to contend that it would not be a difficult task to provide these materials to

schools. Many hish schools are equipped with computers and more schools are due to

rt.çsi~.s computers. So schools equipped with computers could invest a little rnoney on

CD ROMS on mbrics and portfolio assessment. This has also been boosted by the

launching b of Internet in Thimphu. and soon to be expanded to o h s r Dzongkhags

(Kuensel. Sept 18-24. vol XIV. No.37, p.3). Intemet facilities will enable teachsrs to

access materials on nibrics (ttt~.tv.rubrics.comi and portfolio assessment. Besides thesr.

videos (ASCD. Redesigning Assessrnent) are also available. 1 must not deny the hct that

it wiil take us some time for al1 schools to be well equipped but it is achievable.

The two focus groups also indicated that there are no educators in Bhutan

proficient in mbrics and portfolio assessment. 1 concur with them on this as well, as thess

were new terms that most of them were coming across for the first tirne. But there are

ways by which some educators could become proficient in the development and use of

mbrics and portfolio assessment and thereby play a pivotal role in training the other

tsachers in the country. Fullan (1993) posits that. in order to be effective at change,

mastery is essential both in relation to specific innovations and as a persona1 habit. New

cornpetencies and know-how are requirernents for better understanding and judging the

new and are the route to greater effectiveness (p. 17). As pointed out by him, a group of

educators could be sent out and trained in the development and use of mbrics and

1 OS

portfolio assessment. This group of educators could impart regular in-service training to

teachers. after their return. Lecturers of NIE and TTC in the group could renirn to their

respective institutes and train the student teachers who could then employ them in schools

after they graduate. Wideen and Andrews (1987) cite Griffin (1987) who notes that.

successful programs are ongoing, have a thread of continuity and are not characterized as

either single events or 'fits and starts' efforts. They move through time. Tied to the fact

that they are ongoing. they are continuous and developmental (p. 35). Training teachrrs is

hrther supported by Fullan (1993) who contends that, change simply cannot be addressed

unless ive treat continuous teachers education - pre-service and in-service - as the major

vehicle for producing teachers as change azents (p.7).

The administrators had indicated that there )vas no need for bringing in facilitators

from outside to train teachers in portfolio assessment. To be cost-effective, experts on

both rubrics and portfolio assessment could bt: invited rather then hnving an expert on

rubrics and another on portfolio assessment. It would be to the benefit of the teachers if

an expert on rubrics and portfolios assessment was invited to conduct workshops with

teachers during implementation. This is supported by McLaughlin ( 1987) who states that.

consultants c m be engaged to furnish missing expertise (p. 172). There is more evidence

to show that teachers benefit from experts as Hargreaves and Fullan (1992) point out that,

teachers learn a great deal from contact with many other people who are knowledgeable

about and have experience of teaching and learning. They leam fiom 'experts' by taking

courses or undergoing programs of staff training in new techniques and approaches

(p.? 16).

1 O9

The teachers participants had felt that it would be difficult for teachers to work

collaboratively and that they would be unwilling to work together. Their feeling has been

supported by McLaughlin (1957) who notes that, will. or the attitudes. motivation, and

beliefs are less amenable (p. 172) but rny contention here is that teachers in Bhutan could

ivork together and in collaboration with encouragement and support Erom the Educrition

Division. Prior to that. teachers must be convinced of the bendits of collaborative work.

Fullan (1993) states that, collaboration is essrntial for personal learnin,o and people need

one another to leam and to accomplish things (p. 17). And as a matter of fact, once

teachers begin to work collaborarively the? will naturally tend to realize for themselves

the benefits of collaborative work. After al1 rnost teachers do work together whttn

planning lessons and discussing subject problems and difficulties. so working

collaboratively on rubrics and portfolio assessment shouldn't be a problem.

On the issue of teachers having to utilize free periods to work on nibrics and

portfolio assessment. teachers would not have CO use every free period for the two. They

may have to spend more time and put extra effort in the initial stage of implemttntation

and with constant practice they could begin to develop competency in their use. So as

teachers begin to use rubrics and portfoiio assessrnent for assessing student work in the

day-to-day assessment they could utilize their free periods for instructional and other

purposes in the school. In fact teachers would not have to find separate time ta work on

rubrics and portfolio assessment. The same would stand true on the need for teachers

having to stay back after school hours. The need would arise only in the initial stage but

with constant use and as teachers gain mastery over their use, there would not be any

110

need for them to remain after school hours. As Eisner (1993) aprly States. teachers

develop, appropriate. and invent forms of professional adaptation that enable them to

cope iieith the nurnerous demands that constitute their professional life (p.7). reachsrs will

sventually acccpt and integrate rubrics and portfolio assessrnent into their rvery da! work

habit.

Contrary to what the administrators had stated, it is possible for head reachsrs to

allocate tirne for their staff to work an rubrics and portfolio assessment as Ions as they are

appraised on the wo tools of assessment. This would mean involvin_g not just teachrrs

but even head teachczrs in in-service programs and workshops on rubrics and portfolio

assessment thus enabling head teachers to undentand the benefits and importance oi'the

t~vo tools of assessment and also providing necessary support and assistance to teachers,

.As for parents and students being involved in assessment. the teacher participants

had expressed skepticism. 1 concur with them but in due time they could be involved in

assessment. Portfolio assessment in particular allows that. There is no denying that there

are a lot of illiterate parents but teachers could at least, slowly involve parents who are

titerate. A trend once set should grow stronger. Students as compared to parents could al1

be involved in assessment since they c m begin to be responsible for their own work and

leming. This asain bails dotvn to the fact that teachers will have to take the initiative bÿ

developing more divergence in their thinking and fostering greatrr ssnse of student

aivarmess.

In generai. the conditions that are present m&or could be strengthened to

facilitate the use of rubrics and portfolio assessment are:

- materials in the f o m of books can be provided to schools - teachers can be trained - facilitators c m be invited - teachers can work in collaboration and utilize some free time for the two assessment 1001s - teachers can define assessment purpose - teachers would be willing to practice the use of the two assessment tools - support c m be provided by CAPSS, EMSS and BBE

Conditions that inhibit the use of rubrics and portfolio assessment are:

- difticulty in getting materials in the f o n of videos and CD R O M - presently no nationals proficient in the use of rubrics and portfolio assessrnent - teachers are engagrd in other CO-curricular activities besides many teachine psriods - oversized classes (40 - 50 students a class)

As c m bc seen from the response of the two focus groups, rubrics and portfolio

asstissment scem feasible in the Bhutanese context. h Ï t h practice, teachers will begin to

devrlop confidence and cornpetence in their use of the two tools of assessment. Grcdler

(1996) cites Hall (1992) ~ v h o States that. for the classroom teacher. irnplementation and

use of an innovation is a developmental phenomenon during which teachsr concems and

practices evolve and change. In other words teachers constmct meaning of the innovation

and interpret the innovation differently at different times in the change process (p.276). In

the same way too, Bhutanese teachers will go through dif'ferent phases of chanse

developing proficiency al1 the way in the use of rubrics and portfolio assessment.

Through an observation of tables 17 and 18. one can see that there are certain

conditions in place that can facilitate the implementation of the two tools of assessment

as indicated by the two focus groups. They have indicated that rubrics and portfolios are

112

feasible in the Bhutanese context provided those conditions that are lackin_o are

strengthened or put in place. These two tools of assessment can help alleviate most of the

problems of the present practice of continuous assessment. One potential problem thar

tmerges from the research. however. is that the members of the focus groups. while asksd

to consider the feasibility of rubrics and portfolio assessrnent specitically. may in fact

have responded in the context of professional development in general. For examplr. ~vhilt.

thrir specific obsenlations c m apply to rubrics and portfolio assessment. they c m also

apply to the conduct of professional drveloprnent on any innovation.

Chapter Five

Summary and Recommendations

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study was to determine the feasibility of implementing rubrics

and portfolio assessment as tools for use in continuous assessment in Bhutan. The

Bhutanese education system has emphasized the importance of continuous assessment

ivhich has been in use since 1994. together with interna1 and extemal examinations. Thc

teachers have been entrusted with the task of carrying out continuous assessment of their

studcnts but they do not always have the knowled_gc and skills of c a l i n ? out effscriîfe

continuous assessment. Ofien teachers have been lefi to carry out continuous assessment

in their own ways.

The research method used for this study {vas feasibility assessment. Feasibility

asssssment according to Hughes and Urasa ( 1 997) is conceived of as the process of

determining whether a program, technology or innovation from one place can be

undertaken successfu1ly in another situation (p. 77). For an innovation to be successhlly

implemented. certain conditions must be available or in place. The required conditions for

the successful implementation ofrubrics and portfolio assessment were identifird from

the literature. And in order to detemine xvhether those necessary conditions for nibriçs

and portfolio assessment were in place, two data collection techniques were employed in

two phases.

Questionnaires and focus groups were employed for the purpose of data collection

to determine the 'do-ability' and 'work-ability' of rubrics and portfolio assessment. The

1 l - l

perceptions were based on the responses of two focus goups consisting of seven teachers

from the field and five administrators from the Education Division. The participants

worked individually on the questionnaires and were then interviewed, based on their

questionnaire responses.

Analysis of the data involved a graphic presentation of the questionnaire

responses of each individual and a detailed study of each individual's intenrieiv

responses. The next step involved a process of cross-cornparison of finding out the

commonalities between the rrsponses of the two focus groups, paying special attention to

the themes to trace [heir views and thoughts on the feasibility of the two tools of

The two groups indicated that certain conditions for the successful

implementation of rubrics and ponfolio assessment could readily be made available in the

Bhutanese context. They are:

- human resources could be developed

- teachers could work collaboratively and spare some of their free time for rubrics and portfolio assessment

- teachers would be willing to practice developrnent and use of nibrics and portfolio assessment

- CAPSS, EMSS, BBE, NIE and TTC would providc professional support

Certain other conditions need to be created. They are:

- materials must be provided schools

- teachers must be trained

- duties must be properly delegated to teachers

115

It is evident from their indications that rubrics and portfolio assessment are

feasible in Bhutan provided we strengthen andfor put in place those conditions that are

not in place. Basttd on their indications, 1 have made sorne recommendations.

Rccornmcndations

The followin~ recommendations are based on my research findinzs.

1. Since al1 participants felt that there were no nationals proficient in the use of

rubrics and portfolio assessment. a group of people consisting of people from CAPSS.

EMSS, BBE. NIE. TTC and some professionally competent teachers could bct i d m t i k d

to undergo a training program on rubrics and portfolio assessment under the tutelage of

an 'expert' invited from outside the country. This group of people will f o m the key

group and c m undertake the task of training the rest of the teachers in the country in

rubrics and portfolio assessment.

2. In-service training regarding rubrics and portfolio assessment must be provided to

ail teachers, as indicated by the participants. So, before rubrics and portfolio assessment

are implemonted widely throughout the country, they could be pilot tested in three

selected Dzongkhags: Thimphu, Paro and Sarntse because of their close proximity to the

Educarion Division and the teacher training colleges. Prior to the pilot testing. a teacher

from one school in each Dzongkhacg could be norninated to undergo a training program

on the two tools of assessment imparted by the key group. These teachers in tum could

train their colleagues in their respective schools. The pilot testins of rubrics and portfolio

assessment in the three Dzongkhags could be intorrnative in discovering tne

116

shortcornings and difficulties of teachers' experiences. Personnel from the CAPSS.

EMSS, BBE and the two teachers training institutes cm be used to disseminate the use of

rubrics and portfolio assessment.

The outcome of the irnplernentation of the rwo tools of assessment c m be

reviewed afier one or two years. The key group c m look into the benefits as wsll as

difticulties encountered by teachers. It can thsn seek ways to overcome thcst: difficulties.

Thereafter rubrics and portfolio assessment could be made applicable across the countqp.

The Education Division will have to continue to provide materials to the rest of the

Dzongkhags while they must identiQ a school or two as resource centers whsrs the

materials on rubrics and portfolio assessment c m be kept. A similar procedure could bt.

follonwi with rcgard to training the teachers. Each Dzongkhag could nominate two to

three teachers to attend a national level in-service training program on rubrics and

portfolio assessment and these teachers could retum and conduct in-service training

program in their respective Dzongkhags with a participant from each school. These

participants could then return and conduct a school levei in-service training progwn on

the two tools of assessment to their colleagues. This 'cascading effect' is simply a

repetition of the existing practices of National Based In-service Program (NBIP),

Dzongkhag Based In-service Program (DBIP) and SchooI Based In-service Program

(SBIP) which is seen tci he cost-effective and manageable.

Every two or three years selected teachers from the twenty Dzongkhags could

attend in-senrice training programs on rubrics and portfolio assessment conducted by the

Education Division. The participants could take the opportunity of sharing the benefits

117

atid difficulties that they and their colleagues have encountered with the practice of

rubrics and portfolio assessment. Whatever new ideas they obtain could be shared with

thsir colleagues in their respective Dzongkhags.

3. One condition inhibiting the use of rubrics and portfolio assessment as indicarsd

by the participants was difficulty in accessing materials. Resource materials like books

and CD ROMS can bs procured by the Education Division and divided and distributed tci

the thrce Dzongkhags. The materials in each of the three Dzongkhags could bt. kept in a

school ident ified by the DEOs. Teachers fiom other SC hools could access those marcrials

whenever the need arose. For example. the s'risting resource centre in Thimphu

Dzongkhag is iocated in Changangkha Junior High School and provides xcess to other

schools. In the same way materials on rubrics and portfolio assessment for Thimphu

Dzongkhag could be kept here and a similrtr scherne could be worked out t'or the other

two Dzon$hags.

4. One economic and sustainable method recommended by Chewang ( 1 999) sees the

Educarion Division introducing continuous assessment for pre-senice teachers in the

teacher training colleges. I would Iike to reiterate a similar recommendation. The NIE and

TTC could introduce a module on rubrics and portfolio assessrnent as part of continuous

assessment Ior the students. Lecturers h m the key g o u p could be involved in frarning

and designing a module and teaching the students. This is a sustainable way of

implementing the two tools of assessment, and after several years in-service training on

mbrics and portfolio assessment could be reduced as most teachers sain proficiency.

Conclusion

Assessment should be undertaken primarily to aid students. It is incumbent upon the assessor to provide feedback to the student that will be helpful at the present time - identifjing areas of strengh and as well as weakness, giving suggestions of what to study or work on. pointing which habits are productive and which are not. indicating what can be espected in the way of h u r e asssssment. and the like. I t is especially important that some of the feedback take the form of concrete suggestions and indicate relative strengths to build upon. independent of rank within a comparable group of students (Gardner, 1993, p. 178).

In teaching, the work is never ovrr. more c m always be done. thinss can alivays

be improved (Hargreaves. 1993, p. 16). This stands to be very true with the teachins

pro fession where teachers c m always strive for excellence. The more skilled and

knowledeeable the teachers. the better students learn and benetit. The two tools of

assessment \vil1 become new skills for Bhutanese teachers and assist them in their

continuous assessment of students. Judging from the response of the two focus groups I

would like to posit that rubrics and portfolio assessrnent are feasible in the Bhutanese

contest. However. it is my conviction that these two tools of assessment are neither a

'qiiick-fis' solution. a panacea nor a substitute to the present practice of continuous

assessment. They should be seen as compiements to it. It is hoped that teachers. burdened

as thcy may seern. will see their continuous assessment practice as more nieaningful and

rewarding.

Chewang (1999) points out that Bhutanese teachers should be trained to handle

different formats or techniques of continuous assessrnent because they need to know what

kind of activity should be assessed by using what kind of format (p.67). He cites

119

prototype scoring rubrics a? one concrete example. This is exactly what mbrics and

porttoiio assessmcnt are intended for.

The implementation of rubrics and portfolio assessment may seern an extra

burdsn and a fcimidnblr task for teachers and could be intimidating to some. But they

ha\?t. positive benefits in store. Equipped with these two tools of assessment. teachers

ivould bs more effective assessors. Thsy will be able to track the learning o f sach and

tli.sry individual child and monitor the academic growth and progrsss.

Evidsnce of otxr night success is not expected: rather the results will corne

slowly. Continuous assessment of students will be more valid and reliablc and teachrrs

~vill derive professional satisfaction. Constant support and guidance rnust continue to be

$vsn to trachers in order to enable the successhl implementation of these two tools of

assessmcnt. In due time nibrics and portfolio assessment can becorne very effective

continuous assessrnent tools for teachers in the Bhutanese education system. They

promise solid pedagogical results in the long run.

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APPENDIX A Letters

Unversity of New Brunswick Fredericton. NB

Canada 1 l 'h Feb. 1999

The Director CAPSS Education Division Thimphu

Sir,

This is to bring to your kind notice that I (Karma Waqchuk) am presently pursuing a Master in Education at UNB. Canada. As part of the Master's program I have proposcd to conduct a research titled 'Feasibility Assessment of Rubrics and Portfolio Assessment for use in Continuous Assessment.' This study is intended to delise effective ivays of implementing continuous assessment practice in the primary and junior high schools.

The study requires visiting of schools and working with a small g o u p of teachers. As such. I would like to solicit your kind permission in advance to allow me to visit several schools in Thimphu. This will f o m a major part of my data collection with focus on trying to solve the current problems existing in the practice of continuous assessrnent. In the process. I assure you that the group of teachers will not be distracted from thttir regular school work.

For your kind information. 1 am due to arrive Thimphu by the end of .4pril and 1 \vould like to commence work some time toward the second week of May '99 which could run till the end of June '99.

1 look fonvard to your kind support and consideration.

(Karma Wangchuk)

Copy to: 1. Perso~inei Officer, Personnel Section, Education Division, Thimphu 2. Secretary, BBE, Education Division, Thimphu (for kind infonnation)~ 3. Nancy Strickland, CCO, Thimphu 4. Dr. Gerald Clarke, Director, Bhutan Project, W.

q~~%~-j.~jql i a

ROYAL GOVERNUENT OF BHUTAN Ministry of Health and Education

€DUCATION DIVISION TH1MPHU : BHUTAN

h m : Jryr Duqi. Dumat, CARS

. . prrp~rrti& s i m ihm ir IL& nmt.

Krmv Win&&r 2 KhooL z u y hvc pisi 4-5 *phy &m. You m y iih rn h i e nt la* 10 d w h . ïhe iopic w w ~ a v y r incmitly and appmprhtr. Ym -y Ih to d a &rr Vlll intcrid o f v ~ b r c i w ~ . r n i ~ n r * h i ~ un-fer kgtirru.

1 undmmnd h t the min purpw d yrnu m a r d i u Io giw pmcif rcm pndm and nrporum IO n p p l y q sane uuhil mei)urdology H w m . l ibo i b h h i you~ nmnh iwuld prwidt yori with mme SOU lpaund tri rulhnuair Tour amurnenu ri Ih p r p t r mU u in )mur Inb. h e . I iufiff'c r h r ~ u d i r i n a r r u i g t h m ~ ~ o f ) ' c t ÿ s i n ; p l u r ? h n Y ) i r . i h l r ~ o f r r ~ l t I t b ~ m f r r r the 6;ffioiltiri im~ead nf 2-10 Ynu munr n l n bi p v m d to ha dl hndr of nddr. uLk you in wnrning undcr m nriri N a n u . 1 mure yau r h c hb te W h byrn&. hl1 t h kic.

R I w111 appnoaht il aw ot var d d r m n g to pl* r ~ ~ p y *a& of rll rh thmr mnoi ty Bk.utarwe jrudcnu nt UN0 in the put f o i our x w d h m . We -Id pay y ch apen2hÿr rr.nund M thL bL*

ROYAL GOVERNMENT OF BHUTAN Ministry of Health and Education

EOUCATION DIVISION THfMPHU : BHUTAN

17th May 1999

Mr. Karma \Vangchuk. Arts CoordÏnator, BBE is a candidate for Masters of Education ~t the University of New Brunswick in Canada.

As part of his Masters degree he is here on his data collection for his thesis. He 1s conducting a feasibility study of adapting alternative assessment for use in Continuous Assessrnent in Bhutan.

As such. I would like to request ?ou to kindly allow one of your senior teachers from class VI to participate in the feasibility study.

Your Lind cooperation and assisiancc 1s highly solicited to enable the graduate student to mnduct his study.

Thanking you.

Sincerely yours, h

Director, CAPSS

C C

1. Secretary, BBE. Education Division. Thimphu for information 2. Head. Personnel Section. Education Division. Thimphu.

June 5, 1999 The Director CMSS du cati& Division

Sir,

1 am a çraduate srudent snidying at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada.

As pan of my Masters degree 1 am collecting data for my thesis. 1 am conducting 3 feasibiliry study of adapting alternative assessrnent for use in Continuous Assessment in Bhutan.

As such, 1 would like to request your good self to allow two or three officers fiom the CAPSS to participate in the feasibility study.

Looking fonvard to your kind and considerate assistance please. Thanking you,

Yours tjithfully,

Karma Wangîhuk

June S, 1999 The Director EMSS Education Division

1 am a gaduate snident studying at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada.

As part of my Mastcrs degree I am coilecting data for my thesis. 1 am conducting a feasibility smdy of adapting alternative assessrnent for use in Continuous Assessrnent in Bhutan.

As such. 1 would like to request your good self ta allow wo or three officers from the EMSS to participate in the feasibility study.

Lookinç fonvard to your kind and considerate assistance please. Thanking you.

Yours hithfully,

~ h e > e c r e t a r ~ BBE Education Division

As pan of my Masters degree 1 am collecting data for my thesis. 1 am conductinç 3 feasibility snidy of adapting alternative assessrnent for use in Continuous Assessment in Bhutan.

As such, 1 would like to request your good self to allow two or three officers from the Bhutan Board of Examinations to participate in the feasibility study .

Looking fonvard to your kind m d considerate assistance please. Thanking you,

K a m a Wançchuk

APPENDIX B Reading Materials

Two tools of assessrnent for use in continuous assessment (Extracted from the thesis litrrature revieiv)

1. Rubrics

According to Herrnan. Aschbacher 8: Winters ( 1 992). rubrics is the criteria for

judging student performance (p.44). Goodrich (1996) menrions that a rubric is a scorin?

tool that lists the criteria for a piece of ivork and it also articulates gradations of qualit'

for each criterion, from ttxcellsnt to poor (p. 1 ). More specifically. a scorin_o rubric

according tci Marzano. Pickering & McTighe (1993). consists of'a fixed scale m d a list of

characteristics drscribing performance for each of the points on the scale (p.79). Rubrics

have become increasingly popular with educators moving toward more authentic.

performance-based assessments.

Below are sorne examples of rubrics from the work of blarzano. Pickering &

A . Ceneric Rubric for Procedural Standards

4 Demonstrates mastery over the process of converting measurements from the metric system into the English system. Can perforrn the process without error and with little

or no conscious effort.

3 Carries out the process of converting measurement from the metric system into the English system without significant error.

2 Makes significant enors when converting measurements from the metric system to the English system but c m complete a rough approximation of the process.

1 Makes rnany critical enors when converting measurements h m the metric system to the English system (p.66).

B. Rubrics for Effective Communication Skills

4 Clearly and effectively communicates the main idea or theme and provides support that contains rich. vivid, and powerful detail.

3 Clearly communicates the main idea or theme and provides suitable support and drtail.

7 Communicates important information but not a clear theme or overall structure.

I Communicates information as isolated in a random fashion (p.85).

C. Rubrics for Collaboration/Cooperation Standards

Dciiiclrisrrares c(fécrii.e irrrer personal skills

Actively promotes effective group interaction and the expression of ideas and opinions in a way that is sensitive to the feelings and knowledge base of others.

Participates in group interaction without promptin;. Expresses ideas and opinions in a way that is sensitive to the feelings and knowledge base of others.

Participates in group interaction with prompting or expresses ideas and opinions without considering the feelings and knowledge base of others.

Does not participate in group interaction, even with prompting. or expresses ideas and opinions in a way that is insensitive to the feelings or knowledge base of others (p.87).

Rubrics describe levels of performance so they provide important information to

teachers, parents, and others interested in what students know and c m do. And in the

words of Marzano, Pickering, and McTighe (1993), 'Rubrics promote leaming by

offering clear performance targets to students for agreed - upon standards' (p.29).

Popham (1997) maintains that a rubrics has three essential features, namely

evaluative criteria, quality definitions, and a scoring strategy.

138

Evaluative Cnteria are used to distinguish acceptable responses from

unacceptable responses. The criteria will obviously Vary from rubric to rubric. depending

on the skill involved. For instance. when evaluating written compositions, teachers often

use such evaluative criteria as organization, mechanics. word choice, and supporting

dttails.

Qualirv Definitions describs the way that qualitative differencss in students'

responses are to be judged. For instance. if mechanics is an evaluative criterion. the nibric

may indicate that to earn the maximum number of points for mechanics, a student's

composition should contain no mechanical errors. The mbrics must provide a separate

description for each qualitative Iwel. This means that if four different levels of quality

are assigned to a wntten composition's organization. the rubric provides the description

for each of rhose levels.

Scoring Strateev may be either holistic or analytic. Using a holistic strategy. the

scorer takes al1 of the evaluative criteria into consideration but aggregates them to make a

single. ovrrall quality judgement. An analytic strategy requires the scorer to render

criterion - by- criterion scores that may or may not ultimately be aggregated into an

overall score (p.72).

Goodrich (1 996) explicitly articulates the reasons for the use of nibrics. First they

are powerful tools for both teaching and assessrnent since they c m improve student

performance, as well as monitor it, by makine teachers' expectations clear and by

showing students how to rneet these expectations. Second, nibrics are useful since they

help students become more thoughtful judges of the quality of their own and others'

I 39

work. Third, mbrics reduce the amount of time teacher spend evaluating student work.

Tsachers tend to find that by the time a piece has been self-and peer- assessed according

ta a rubric. they have little lefi to say about it. M e n they have something to Say. the? can

oftsn simply circle an item in the rubric, rather than stmggling to explain the flow or

strength they have noticed. Students are provided ~vith more informative feedback about

their strength and areas in need of improvement. Fourth. rubrics allow tzachsrs to

accommodate hstsrogenous classes. Rubrics can be set to retlect the ivork of both gifted

students and those with learning difficulties (p. 1. 7).

Goodrich ( 1496) mentions that m e n t publications by Brewer. 1996 and btarzano

et al, 1993 contain rubrics but developments would be needed to retlect one's oivn

curriculum and teaching style. She maintains that in order to boost the Iearning leverage

of mbrics, the design process should engage students in the following stcps:

Look at models: show students examples of good and not-so-gond work. Identib the characteristics that rnalre the good ones good and the bad ones bad.

List crireria: use the discussion on rnodels to begin a list of what counts in quality wo rks.

Articulate gradations of quality: describe the best and worst levels of quality, then fil1 in the rniddle levels based on your knowledge of cornmon problems and the discussion of not- so-good work.

Practice on models: have students use the mbrics to evaluate the models you gave them in step 1 .

L'se self- and peer-assessment: Give students their task. As they work. stop them occasionally for self- and peer-assessment.

Revise: Always give student tirne to revise their work based on the feed back they get in step 5.

7. Use teacher assessment: Use the same nibric students used to assess their work yourself.

Step 1 may be necessary only when you are asking students to engage in a task

with which they are unfamiliar. Step 3 and 4 are useful but time consuming: you c m do

these on your own, especially when you've been using rubrics for a while (p.2. 3).

As far as resources and requirrments are concemed. we can see that tirne is a

major factor. Teachers need ample time to prepare iubrics and implement thern.

Resources like books on mbrics are equally important. Teachers also need expertise on

creating rubrics which can be brouzht about by imparting the knowledge and skills of

rubrics development to them by knowledgeable people throush frequent in-senice

programs.

Rubrics can have tlaws. Popham (1997) points out several flagrant tlaws of

rubrics.

Flaw 1: Task-specific evaluative criteria - A rubric's most important component is the set of evaluative criteria to be used when judging students' performances. But what if the cvaluative criteria in a rubric are linked only to the specific elements in a pariicular performance test'? For example. a task that presents a cross-section picture of a vacuum bottle. calls on students to idenrie the materials that had to be invented before sacuum bottles could be widely used. But the accornpanying rubric has evaluative criteria that are totally task- specific. Teachers need evaluative criteria that capture the essential ingredient of the skill being rneasured, not the particular display of that skill applied to a specific task.

Flaw 3: Excessively general evaluative criteria - Just as task-specific evaluative criteria render a rubric instructionally useless, so too do excessively general evaluative criteria. Many commercially published rubrics provide several qualitative levels so that teachers can hardly distinguish arnong students' performances. The highest level of student performance is labeled 'advanced' - or some suitable synonym, then described as 'a superior response to the task presented in the performance test'. A second, lower lever of response is described in slightly less positive terms, and so on. In essence, these overly eeneral critena allow both teachers and students to conclude that really sood student C

responses to the task are, well, really good and, of course, really bad students responses arc. rsally bad. Many rubrics now being billed as instmctionally usehl provide teachers and students with absolutely no cues about what is generally significant in a studtmt's response. and they offer teachers no guidance on they key features of the tested skills,

Fiaw 3: Dysfunctional details - Another shortcoming in many rubrics is excessive length. Busy tsachers won't have anything to do with thern. If we want rubrics to make a differencr: in classroom instruction. we need to creatr rubrics that teachers will use (p.73, 74).

Fischer and King ( 1 995) note that. teachers need considerable time to créate

appropriate rubrics and analysis structures. This may include using outside consultants

and facilitators. instructional aides, and clerical support. as well as ctinsidzrabic: time

uorking with one another. They also state that teachers need to mke time tosethsr to

thoughtfully identif'v purposr. eoals, and direction (p.50).

Fischer and King (1995) further state that. when teachers use mbrics. the! must bs

sncouraged to work togcther to make the best use of them. Rubrics can corne fiom

another source: can be modified and adapted to fit personai course. classroom. or school

widc needs; and c m be created in the district or at the school site. The greatest challerye

is for teachers and, ultirnately students to translate the performance of various

assi_ments to the rubrics fairly and reliably. For this they need support. time. and

practice (p. 5 1-53).

VOICE

(5) Thc writcr spcaks dircctly to the rcadcr in a way tliat is individualistic, czprcssivc and engaging. Clcarly. the irriter is involvcd in the tcxt, is scnsitivc to thc nccds of an audience. and is writing to be read.

Tlic rcridcr kels 3 strong interaction with the wntcr, scnsing the person behind the wurds The tons and \ ciicc g n t tlavor to the message and seem appropnatc hir the purposc and audience O Sarrativc witing sccrns honcst. cippcaling. and wntren tiom the hem Expositoy or persuasive \vriting retlccts a strong conimitnicnt to the topic and an effort to bnng the topic ici lifc by anticip;iting the rcader's questions. and .iIi~\\iiig ivhy the rcadcr should carc or tvruit to knou Iiiiirc.

(3) Tlic w i t c r sccms sinccrc. but not fuliy cngagcd or invol\cd. The rcsult is plcasant or cven pcrsonablc. but no1 compclling.

The tvriting cimniunicatcs in an earncst. plcasing n1;innc.r. hlovcmcnts hcrc and therc surprise. amuse or niove thc ri:~dcr L'oicc may emergc strongly on iulision thcn rctrecit behind gencral. dispassionatc languagc O The ivnting hidcs as muçh of the wnter as l t r c t c ~ l s Tlic \criter sccms atvare of an audience. hur oilen ro w igh words carcfully or discard persona1 insights in hvor of safc genenilitics.

(1) Thc writcr secms indiffcrcnt. uninvolved o r distanccd from the topic andlor the audience. As a rcsiilt. the writing is lifcless o r mechanical: dcpcnding on the topic, it may bc ovcrly technical o r jargonistic. The pnpcr rcflccts morc than one of the follolr ing problems: O It is hard to scnse the wnter bchind the words. The nrircr does not scem to reach out to an audience or to anticiparc their inrercst and questions O The \vnter spcriks in a kind of monotone that tlattens al1 potential highs or 10u.s of the messagc The writing may cornmunicare on i~ funcrional lcvcl but I I docs not movc or involvc the rcedcr O The unter does not seem suffic!cntly at home with the topic to take risk. share personal insights or makc the topivstory penonal and red for the reader.

WORD CHOICE

5) \Yards convcy the intendcd message in a prccisc. ntcrcsting and natural way. D Words are spccitic and accuratc. I I is es! tn lnderstand just whar the tvnter melin5 O The Innguligc s natunl aiid never ovcrdonc. phrasing is highl! ndividual Lively vcrbs c n e r p c the \vriting. Prccisc iouns and modificrs creatr picnires in the reader's minci D Striking words and phrases oftcn critch the rt~dcr'.; :y and Iinger in the rcader's mind O Cliches and argon are used sparingl> only for cffcct.

3 ) The languagc is funcrional, cvcn if it lacks punch: il is casy Io figure out the writcr's mcanin, a on a gcncral lcvcl. B \\'ords are almost aIw;i>s corrccr and ;idequate; rlicy ;imply Iack tlair Familiar tvords and phrrws :ommunicatc bur nrcly capturc the rcadcr'c imagination. Still the paper may have one or t\ro tinc moments .Attempts 31 colorful languagc cilme clnsc to the mark but somctimcs sccm incrdonc Energctic vcrbs or picturesque phnises Iivcn thiiigs up now and tlien. the rcnder longs for more. -- - - - - -- - - - -

(1) The writcr strugglcs with a limitcd v o c ~ b u l a n . scarching for words to convcy mcnning. The \r riting rcflccts morc than one of thesc problcms: O Language is so vague (cg. . I I \vas fun timc. Shc \vas neat. It \vas nice. We did lots of stuft) that only the rnost gcnenl messagc cornes through O Persistcnr redundancy dismcts the rcrider Jargon tir ciiches scnc as a cnitch IVords arc uscd incorrcctly. sometimes making the message hard to deciphcr O Problems with languagc Icci\c the ruder :\ondering what the writer 1s trying to sa)

( ( 5 ) The writing has an casy flow and rhythm when read aloud. Scntcnccs arc wcll built. with strong and v a r i d structure thrt invitcs expressive oral rcading.

Senrencrs arc consmrcred in a un? rhat hclps niakc mcaning clear 0 Purposrtbi srnrrnce bcginning shou hnw cach scnicnce rclairs to 2nd huild upon the one heforc it Thr wntrng h z ctidcnccs ;LC i f ~ h c irrirrr l i s rhought abour the stiund

\ 3. in Icngtli :is ncll ;is struçturc Frigrnents if uscd ildd SI!.IC D i ~ l q u c . if USCYI, sound narural

-- --

(31 Thc tcxt h u m ~ along \rith a stcady bcat, but tends to bc morc plcasant or busincsslikc than musical. more mcchanical than iluid. # Sriirenccs mliy ncit sccm üniliciülly crdtcd or itiusiciil bu[ t h q arc usurilly yxnmotical. Thcy hmg togcther. Thcy ger rtic job donc a Thcte 1s at lcast some Lanation in scnrrncc lcngth and structure.

Scnrcncc hcginnings arc NOT dl dike # Thc rclidrr sornctimes h a ta llunt for CIULS (C.E.. connccting ~ o r d s m d phmes liki: ho\ve\.er. thercfore. narurirlly. aftcr a whilc, un rhc iither hand. to be spccific. for cxnmple. ncxr. althouçh etc.) Parts of thc tcxt in1 ire csprcssivc oral rrading. athers ma? be stiff. awk~bard or chiippy. Ovcnll though i t 1s prctty caiy in rcad the püptr alliud rvirh a Iittlc pncticc.

( 1 ) The reader has to practice quite a bit in order to give this paper a fair intcrpretive reading. The writing reflects more than one of the following problems: + Sentences are choppy. incomplete. nrnbling or awkward. they need work Phrasing does not sound natunl. the way someone might speak. The m d e r niur i sornerimer pause or read ovcr ro set the meaning Many sentences begin the same way . . . and may follow the

l same patterns (e.g.. subject-verb-subject) in a monotonous pattern O Endless connectives (and. and so. but then. bccause, and tlien. etc.) create a massive jurnble o f language in which clear sentence beginnings and endings get swallowed up O The tex[ does not invite

, expressive on1 reading. I I

CONVESTIOKS

( 5 ) The writer dcmonstraits a good grasp of standard w i t ing conventions (c.g., grammm-. capitalizarion. punctuation, usagc. spclling. paragraphing) and uses conventions cffcctiicly to cnhancc rcadability. Errors tcnd io bc so fcw and so minor ihat thc rcadcr tan casil? overlooii them unlcss hunting for thcm specifically.

Pmçnphing rends IO he siiund rind io rcinbiru ilic organi7atiunal struçturc 0 Gr~nimür rind usligc 3rc ciirrrct and conrrjhuic in clanty and stylt! Puncruarioii 1s ;lccur31e md guidcs the rcadcr ihrough ihc tcxt 0 Spelling is gcncnlly çorreci eten on m m difticulr irords

The unrr r rnüy mlinipul;trc ctinvrniiuns espc.c.isli~ grnmmrir and spelling for stylistic cfkcr The ivnting i s sutkicnrly long and complcx ro allon- thr wntcr 117 .ihou skilis i n usine a widc range ot'conventi«ni;.

(3) Thc writer shows rcasonable conirol over a limitcd range of standard writing conventions. Conlentions arc somctimes handlcd wcll and enhancc rcadability: at othcr times, crrors arc distracting and impair rcadability.

Paraçnphing is nttcmptcd. Pardgr~phs sornetimcs run togrrhcr ur b e y in the wong plriccs Problcms with grammnr or ussgc are not scrious cnuugh to disrcin merininç Tcrminal (end-of scnicnçc) punctuailon 1 5

usunlly correct. intrrnd punctulitirin (cornmas. aposrrophcs. semicolons. dashes. colons. parenrhrsçs) 1s

scimcrimcs missing or wrong 8 Spclling is usually surrtct ur reaonably phonetic on ccirnmon words i Modcnrc cditing would bt. rcquird io pcilish the rcxr for publication. -. . p~ -.

(1) Errors in spelling, punctuation. usage and grammar, capitalization, and/or parsgraphing repeatedly distract the rcadcr and makc the test dilficult 10 read. The writing reflects m o r t than one of these problems:

Paragraphing is missing. irrcgular. or so frcquent te.:.. wrry senience) thar i t has no rclalionsiiip to the organizntional structure of the text Errors in gnmrnar or usage are v r p notjceable. and m. affect meaning Punctuaticn (includirig terminal punctuation) is often missing or incorrect Spelljng m o r s are tiequent. even on common words

The reader must read once to decode. then again for rneaning Extensive editing would be required IO polish the tex1 for publication.

Xcw Brunswick Provincial Assessrnent a t G r a d e 6 Writing Criteria

Supcrior Focus sustaincd Cohcreni. uell-dc\eloped structure u hich sustains interest Srnicncc structure effective and vancd Dr[ai]s effective. spccitis and approprratc Strong hcginning and cnding individuül \ ~i icc rmcrginç P ~ W I S L ' C ~ L I I C C of w r d b Compertnr aptlling. meçlisnics and usagc: minimal tl31rs

Cornpctcnt Fricus clcnr Srmciurc apparent: ii scnsc ofsequcnce and loçiç Supponing dctatl apprapnatrty chosen A sensr: uf clusurr: a c h ~ c w d Individual siyle.rmcrging vuiçc cvidrni \'iicribulriy cifcsrive and rippriipririic Scnicncc srmc.turc r aricd Spclling. mrichmtçs aiid usage pcricnlly v e p y o d : ocçuionnl tlarrs

:\cccptilLilc Foçus c n c n l f - cvdcnr Stmcture gcncnlly appnrcnr: crihrrent drvelopmcnt Somc supporriny dciail. nor n l y i s oppropriate Closurc is atrrrnprcd .A srnse of vwcc bcginning to emcrgc Vaçabuliuy stmmonplxc. wirh siime cffccrivc chaiçcs Sume vantty in scnttncc sinicturc Somc rnectiantcal tlarvs bur not sufficicnt to 1nicd5rc with uvcnll mrsning

l la rg ina l Purpose for w x i n g emrrgcs bu[ foçus ma! bc los1 rit timcs Suppontng dctail sporsr o r unconnrcrrd Ending sornrttmcs abnipl Connecting \tords arc rhc obvious ones (but: whcnk Scntcncc srructurc rcpeiitivc Vocabulap lirnited Mcchnnicsl fiairs are dtsrraciing and interirrc a-ith ovrrall menning

No rcal focus Relevant dcioil missing Endhg inappropriaie or no[ included Structure iind developrnent not apparent Basic and lirnitcd voçribulary used Srntencc smicrurc immature Mcchanical Raws are jarring and seriously inrerfere with ovenll meaning

Cnraiable lnsufficient work to be m a r k ~ d Totally illegiblc kiimiuS

146

7 -. Portfolios

Campbell, et al ( 1993) note that, a portfolio is a chronological collection of

s m p l e s of a student 's work such as notebook or journal pages. diagams and ivritren

recordings of activities. video or audio recordings, photographs. and l a r p pieces of work

such as projects (p.3). Portfolios can be kept or maintained in large tiles or folders. Baron

and Boschee ( 1995) state that. portfolios consist of collections of students' work that

provide tangible - evidence of their knowledge. abilities, and academic progress in relation

ro established outcomes. Portfolios furnish students. teachers. and parents rich, authentic

evidence of the student's performance capabilities and academic gowth (p.67). Fischer

and King ( 1 995) say that portfolios are more than folders filled with student work

samplrs. Portfolios are visual presentations of a student's accomplishments. capabilities.

strengths. weaknesses. and progress over time (p. II). They also contend that. daily and

ongoing observations of students are at the heart of collecting and building portfolios. By

observing the student while he or she is participating in a lesson. working with an adult or

other students, or working independently, the teacher gains important information about

the processes students use to learn (p. 15).

Portfolios in the words of Archbald and Newmann (1988) are files or folders

containing a variety of information that documents a student's experiences and

accomplishments. They c m contain s u m m q descriptions of accomplishments, official

records, and diary items (p.29). They also state that portfolios prevent comprehensive

surnmaries of a variety of accomplishments, thus giving both the student and the public a

147

more global, slaborate record of achievement Q.31). Portfolios, as we can see. consist of

a collection of students' work.

According to Fischer and King (199.5)' there are different types of portfolios; the

most common being the working portfoiio. the showcase portfolio, and the record-

krsping portfolio.

The workinr! portfolio: it is one in which the teacher and student assess and

evaluatr together. The students select samples to include in the portfolios that they

believe show their leaming and growth. Parents can add comments and the teacher can

add sarnples aiid other records. It presents the perspectives of the student, teacher, and

parents to forrn a more accurate picture of the student's daily progress. The student feels

ownership and the teacher does not dominate the processes of selecting and contributing

pieces to the portfolio.

The showcase ~ortfolio: It is similar to that of an artist's portfolio. which is

prepared to show the artist's best work. This portfolio is limited to only the most

outstanding pieces. Works in progress are not included. This type of portfolio motivates

students complete projects and other demonstrations of their best work and ability. In this

portfoiio, the student has total ownership of the selections for the portfolio. This type of

portfolio is not as useful for guiding instruction because the day-to-day performance is

not included. When the portfolio is shared with parents. the parents are usually very

impressed with their child's work, but they are not able to get a clear picture of their

child's needs because only the best work is included.

13s

The record-keepine uortfolio: It is often used along with the showcase portfolio to

contain a record of the completion of the necessary assessrnent and svaluation samples

not chosen for the showcase portfolio but needed to document the completion of certain

assignments (p. 17). Fischer and King (1995) maintain that, the teacher. studrnt. and oftzn

the puent are al1 involved in contributing to the portfolio, and as teachers obssne and

interact ivith the students, they collect samplcs. make anecdotd records, and note

evidsncs of pragnss (p. 13). This is supported by baron and Boschee ( 1993) ivho state

that. portfolio contents are selected by the student and based on the student's expressed

purpose for developing the portfolio (p.69).

Portfolios according to Baron and Boschee (1993) c m serve various educational

purposes, such as:

- assessing the quality of students' sustained work over varying periods of time

- as ses sin^ students' achievement of learner outcomes. program outcomes. and learner exit outcomes

- allowing students to showcase rvork thnt reprrstints thsir olvn spsçial interests and abilities

- documenthg improvement of students' work

- encouraging the development and improvement of qualities such as pride in workmanship, ability to effectively self evaluate, and the ability to accomplish meaningful tasks

- providing a cumulative collection of work students may use in the future for appiying to college and seeking employrnent (p.68.69).

Fischer and King (1995) mention that, portfolios provide an awareness of where a

student has been, what steps were taken, and an idea of where the student is going.

Portfolios guide instruction and give insight into a student's decision-making and

leamin2 processes (p. 1 1 ).

In carrying out portfolio assessments. resources are important too. Materials liks

folders or tiles are required for ench individual student fro putting in their work. More

important is the time factor. Teachers as well students need timt: to -et together to ivork

collaboratively on rhe portfoIios. Fischer and King (1995) support the statement on rirnrl

by sriltins that. ouing to time constraints and the difficulty of storing and handling

masses of information. the old adage of promoting quality over quantity must apply \iht.n

preparing or selecting materials for a broad-based assessment portfolio (p. 15).

Portfolios have several benefits. The benetits of portfolios according tci Baron and

Bcischee ( 1 993) are:

- Most of the contents of the porrfolio are actual pieces of the studrnt's work ratfier than approximations provided by standardized test scores

- Students have a vested, interest in the creation of their portfolios - their tangible accomplishments generate much more ownership than files full of tests scores stored in the main office

- CVhen portfolios are part of the ongoing classroom activity. the assessmsnt is a model of the natural rhythm that leaming takes in the real world. .4ssessment of the student's product is followed by a cycle of revision and assessment untii a satisfactory final product is produced

- Portfolio development and assessment are consistent with current learning theory regarding diversity in the pace and style of cognitive development among children. Due to the personalized nature of portfolios. they create an excellent structure for individualized learning

- Portfoiios require students to be active participants by making them partners in the development and assessment of their own work

- Portfolios fumish students, teachers, and parents rich. authentic evidence of the students' performance capabilities and academic groi;th (p.68).

Herman, Aschbacher and Winters (1 995) state three conditions that help to

détermine \vhat to include in a given portfolio, which are ( 1 ) an assessment is defined

( 2 ) criteria or methods for determinine what is put into the portfolio. by whom. and when.

are esplicated: and (3) criteria for assessing either the collection or individual pieces of

work xr: idzntitied (p.72).

Baron and Boschee (1995) note that. when teachers are provided guided prnctice

in rating student performance related to an outcorne, they better understand what childrcn

look likz when they are achieving that particular outcorne. They further note that, when

teachers are given sufficient tirne and practice, most of them begin to internalizs the

criteria and rate student performances with increasing consistency (p.86).

(Note: The participants were s h o w a video on portfolio assessment titled "Redesigning

Assessment," 1992, an ASCD production).

APPENDIX C Questionnaires

Questionnaire A Rubrics

1. The research literature has suggested that in order for teachers to make productiife use of rubrics as a tool in continuous assessment, they must have access to a ranse of instructional materials. The instructional materials c m be in the form of guide books. resource books, videos and CD Roms.

a. In your view, are such materials nolv available to our teachers in Bhutan'.' Available to .Available to Availablt: to Available al1 teachers most teachers few teachers to none

4 3 - 7 1

b. In your vie~v. could such materials bs made available to our teachers'? Wirh no With Iittlc With great Just difticultÿ difficulty difficulty impussibls

4 3 2 1

2. The research has suggested that in order for teachers to make productive use of rubrics as tool in continuous assessment. there is the need for consultants and facilitators. Consultants and facilitators cari be either from outside the country or from within the country. Facilitators can be from the Education Division or from the Dzongkhags or within the schools. who can help teachers with rubrics from time to time.

a. In ÿour view, do we have educators or teachers in Bhutan who are proficient in developing rubrics?

A lot Not many V e q None of them of them few at al1

4 3 2 1

b. In your view, do we need to bring in facilitators from outside the country to train teachers in rubrics?

Agree Agree to Do not agree strongly Agree some extent at al1

3 3 - 7 1

c. In your view, should we train teachers in rubrics outside the country and thsn they in turn as facilitators train other teachers?

Agree Agree to Do not agree strongly A g e e some extent at al1

4 3 3 I

3. The research has suggested that in order for teachers to maki: productive use of rubrics as tool in continuous assessment. teachers need to work collaboratively. This means that subject teachers must discuss and share ideas on improvin_s the rubrics. They may also need to work together to share their experiences with rubrics and the difficulties they encounter when working with rubrics.

a. ln your view, could aur teachers work tozether when working on rubrics'? With no With little With great Just diffïculty difficulty difficulty impossible

4 3 - 1 7

b. In your view. would our teachers be willing to work together when working on rubrics'?

With no With little With great Just dit'ticulty difficulty difficulty impossible

4 3 - 7 I

4. The research has sugested that in order for teachers to make productive use of rubrics as tool in continuous assessment. teachers need practice. They need to work on rubrics constantly in groups and even individually ti l l they develop confidence and skill in the development and effective use of rubrics.

a. In your view, would our teachers be willing to put into practice the development and use of mbrics?

With no With little With great Just difficulty difficulty difficulty impossible

4 3 - 7 1

5. The research has suggested that in order for teachers to make productive use of rubrics as tool in continuous assessment, teachers need time to creatr appropriate rubrics. This means that teachers need time for modifying and developing the rubrics for their respective subjects. They need time to identiS, worthwhile tasks that they want their students to achieve. It would mean teachers working on rubrics during free periods and even working over time after school hours in the initial satge.

a. In your view, could Our teachers utilize the time during free periods to work on rubrics? -411 of Some of Very little of Not at the time the time the time al1

4 3 - 3 I

b. In your view. could certain amount of time be allocated in a week by the school administration, for teachers to work on rubrics'?

With no With iittle With great Just difficulty difficulty difficulty impossible

4 3 - 1 7

c. In your vietv. would our teachers be wilIing to work on rubrics after school hours'? AI1 of Some of V ~ N little of Not at

4 3 2 1

6. The research has suggested that in order for teachers to make productive use of rubrics as tool in continuous assesment. tsachers need support. Support can corne from C.4PSS, EMSS, BBE. the District Education Officcr's oftice and the Head trachers. Support can be provided in the form of providing materials that teachers need and allowing timr for teachers to work on rubrics and giving encouragement.

ri. In your view. would CAPSS. EMSS. and BBE provide support to the teachers with the dcvelopment and use of rubrics'?

With no With little With great Just difficulty difficulty difficulty impossible

4 3 2 1

b. In your view, would the District Education Officers and Head teachers be willing to provide support to the teachers tvith the development and use of rubrics'?

With no With Iittle With great Just difficulty difficulty difficulty impossible

4 3 - 1 7

Questionnaire B Portfolio Assessment

1. The research has suggested that in order for teachers to make productive use of portfolio assessment, there is the need for consultants and facilitators. Consultants and facilitators can be either from outside the country or from within the country. Facilitators can be from the Education Division or fiom the Dzongkhags or within the schools. ivho c m help teachers with nibrics from time to time.

a. In your vie\v. do we have sducators or teachsrs in Bhutan who are proticient in developing rubrics'?

A lot Nat many Very Nonr of them of them few at al1

4 3 - 1 3

b. In vour vis~v. do ws nrttd to bring in facilitators from outsids the country to train ttachsrs in nibrics?

Agree Agree to Do not a p e strongly Agree some extent at al1

3 3 - 7 1

c. In your view. should we train teachers in nibrics outside the country and then they in turn as facilitators train other teachers?

Agree Agree to Do not agrer strongl y Agree sorne extsnt at al1

3 3 2 1

2. The research has suggestrd that in order for teachers to make productive use of portfolio assessment, they need sufficicnt time for conferencing with individual students and srna11 groups of students. This means that need rime to talk and discuss nith individuals and groups of srudents about their problems, difficulties and their progress. Teachers may need to utilize class tirne and free periods or even sacrifice some time aficr school hours for conferencing with students.

a. In jrour view, could our teachers be use the time during free periods and instruction periods for conferencing with students'?

All of Some of Very little of Not at the time the time the time al1

4 3 - 7 1

b. In your view, would our tsachers be willing to conference with studrnts afier school hours if necessary?

Al1 of Some of Very little of Not at the time the time the time al1

4 3 - 1 1

3. The research has suggested that in order for teachers to make productive use of portfolio assessment. thoy need practice. Teachers need to work constantntly with portfolio assessment initially, till they gain experience where after the work gets casier for them.

a. In your view. ivould our teacher be willing to practice the use of portfolio assessment? With no With little With great Just difficulty dificulty difficulty impossible

4 3 2 1

1. The research has suggested that in order for teachers to rnake productive use of portfolio assrssment. they need to define the asszssmznt purpose. This mcans that they niust know for what reasons they are assessing students. and the learning outcornes. _goals and objectives must be clearly stated by the teachers.

a. In your view, would Our teachers be able to define the purpose of assessment? With no With little With great Just difficulty difficulty diftïculty impossiblti

4 3 - 1 7

5. The research has suggested that in order for teachers to make productive use of portfolio assessment, they need to develop criteria or methods for determinin2 what is put into the portfolio, by whom and when.

a. In your view, could teachers develop the criteria for determining what is to be put into the portfolios of students'?

With no With little With great Just difficulty difficulty difficulty in~possible

4 3 - 3 1

b. In your view, could teachers decide when and what is put into the portfolios of students?

With no With little With great Just difficulty difficulty difficulty impossible

4 3 - 1 7

c. In your view. could parents decide when and what is put into the portfolios of théir children?

With no With little With great l u sr difficulty di fficulty difficulty impossible

4 3 - 1 7

d. In your view. students decide when and what is put into their portfolios'? With no ivith little Ltrith grear Just difficulty difficulty difficulty impossible

4 3 - 1 7