Literature review

General Introduction

Education is the foundation for optimal utilization of resources through development of human
capital. To achieve effective education in one country continuous assessment is important.
Assessment consists, essentially, of taking a sample of what students do, making inferences and
estimating the worth of their actions. The fundamental role of assessment is to provide authentic
and meaningful feedback for improving student learning, instructional practice and educational
options. Continuous assessment can be seen as a means of carrying an assessment formally and
informally within the classroom, yet at the same time make valid judgments about a given
students’ progress within a particular subject area [1].

Continuous assessment occurs on a regular and continuous basis, it is an ongoing formative and
summative process, involves the monitoring of pupils, is integrated with teaching, involves a
systematic collection of marks or grades into a final score, may be used to determine the
candidates’ final grades, reflects students’ abilities over a period of time, allows for
improvement, takes care of students’ learning in the three domain of educational objectives, and
it is a cumulative process [2].

Continuous assessment is a factor to assure education quality in colleges and universities. The
teaching learning process of higher education needs assessment in order to accompany it with
quality and bring changes on students’ performance. Therefore, continuous assessment needs
careful implementation in order to sustain quality of education and mold effective citizens all
over the country. The process of continuous assessment is not only examination of pupil
achievement but also it is a powerful diagnostic tool that enables pupils to understand the areas
in which they are having difficulty and to concentrate their efforts in those areas and it allows
teachers to monitor the impact of their lessons on pupil understanding and modify their
pedagogical strategies [3].

Effective school based continuous assessment can be an answer in eliminating the element of
risk associated with a single examination, and providing authentic and meaningful feedback for
improving student learning and hence giving a valid indication of student achievement [3]. Of
course, assessment in education is a challenge for students and teaching staff alike. Moreover,
continuous assessment is a demanding task that requires the use of various assessment tools in
order to assure the achievement of curricular objectives by each and every student [1].

However, one of the expected advantages of continuous assessment lies in its being guidance
oriented [3]. The importance of continuous assessment is not only pedagogic functions, i.e. ‘to
provide students with feedback’, ‘to meet the learning outcomes’ and ‘to motivate students to
study’ but also it provide academics with more control over the assessment within the classroom
rather than leaving it in the hands of the central system. Continuous assessment has the potential
to support student learning through feedback and to increase students’ motivation for learning.
This could play a vital role in diagnosing and remediating areas of learners’ weakness if properly
anchored in what occurs in classroom [3]. In order to produce feedback that is relevant and
informative and meets students’ needs, teachers themselves need good data about how students
are progressing [4].

The disadvantage of continuous assessment is teacher overdependence on measuring students’

progress in the cognitive domain in a school-based assessment with total neglect of the affective
and psychomotor domains of learning. This problem is more serious in the higher or tertiary
institutions where little or no effort is made to assess the students’ affective domain of behavior
[2].

Core principles of continuous assessment

There is a substantial number of continuous assessment strategies which combine to cover the
gamut of functions, or purposes, from adjustment to accountability. The many key principles fall
within four major themes [4]:

1. Fit to purpose. To begin all continuous assessment must ‘include explicit processes to ensure
that information is valid and is as reliable as necessary for its purpose.’ Indeed, there may be
many purposes for assessment in the classroom, illustrated by the notions of summative and
formative assessment, of assessment as, for, and of learning, of monitoring, of feedback and
remediation, and more.
2. Improve classroom teaching and learning. Narrowing the focus on ‘purpose, continuous
assessment should serve especially to strengthen teaching and learning. While this may imply
most directly what happens in the classroom, it also vitally generates information to guide the
policies, plans, technical and material inputs, and other systemic factors which influence the
nature and efficacy of classroom and school practice.
3. Engage students fully and purposefully in their learning. Delving deeper into the learning
dimension, continuous assessment should focus on the student, featuring particularly the aspects
of feedback and tailored guidance, or remediation.
4. Influence factors beyond education. Continuous assessment can, and indeed must, also have
positive impacts on factors beyond the classroom, and even beyond the education system, which
also effect a strong influence on the quality and equity of learning. These may include aspects of
a family-based, community-based, socio-cultural, environmental, economic or other nature.

While three of the four themes relate explicitly to formative or school-based assessment, it
should be clear in all cases that the principles they embody might also pertain to all forms of
assessment, including large-scale, standardized mechanisms. The inherent distinctions are
sometimes only implied in the following analysis [4].

The Ethiopian government has introduced continuous assessment as a mechanism to quality of

education in higher institutions and other education sectors with the education policy of the
country. The aim of the new policy of continuous assessment in Ethiopian context is to bring a
paradigm shift from old aged traditional system of assessment that is a judgmental role in its
orientation to developmental role [5].

Nature of continuous assessment in the context of international perspectives concerning teacher

assessments is organized under the following subtopics: continuous assessment and curriculum-
based assessments: Watkins explains, in countries that have evidently designed national
curriculum, continuing, influential assessment is typically based on aim and attached directly to
the aims for the curriculum designed for all the students. National strategies for assessment may
define what needs to be assessed and how it is to be assessed. Inside the countries using this
method, main features is that developing and applying assessment is mostly the duty of
conventional schools and class teachers. This is according to the purpose of such assessment for
notifying decisions about next steps in an individual student’s learning [6].
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT AS A LEARNING TOOL

Experiments revealed that continuous assessment has positive effect on students’ learning and
achievement. Significantly better performance of experimental group in the subject of social
studies shows that Continuous assessment does affect the students’ achievement. This concept
has also been discussed in a previous study done by Abejehu in which he discussed that
continuous assessment affects the primary school students’ performance [7]. He has also
emphasized on the importance of continuous assessment as means of informing educators and
learners about the learner’s progress which would ultimately benefit the learning process. Baker
also discussed this method as an alternative assessment method which was initially used in
education systems in 1991 and after continuous reforms, it evolved into continuous assessment
[8]. The study further reveals that the high achievers and the low achievers of experimental
group showed significantly better performance as compared to the high achievers and the low
achievers of the control group. The difference between the means of the low achievers of both
the groups is greater than the mean difference between the high achievers of both the groups. It
means that the low achievers were benefitted more from this approach [8]. This finding is also
supported by a study conducted by Bayo who was of the view that continuous assessment has the
potency to motivating and focusing learner’s attention on the lesson. As a result, students with
learning issues like lack of focus and motivation can be benefitted from this method. It highlights
that if the teachers use continuous assessment in teachings, all the students have chance to learn
and succeed. Almost similar conclusion has been drawn in number of researches [8].

Continuous assessment motivates all learners for active participation in learning process. It also
provides constructive and rapid feedback to all students. Significantly better performance of low
achievers of experimental group on retention test is its evidence.

The responses of the students of experimental group revealed their liking of this approach. They
opined that continuous assessment techniques promote better understanding of the content and it
develops confidence and self-evaluation attributes. This finding closely correlates with a study
conducted by Frederickson in which he emphasized the importance of assessment as a means of
developing self-confidence of students. Students get insight into misconceptions and proceed at
their own speed. The difference between the means of the high achievers and low achievers of
both the groups on retention test is greater than the difference between means on post-test. It
indicates that both the high and the low achievers of the experimental group better understand
the concept of social studies than the control group [10]. This is the evidence that continuous
assessment focuses on students understanding rather than memorization. The teacher of
experimental group was of the view that continuous assessment help teachers to get better
understanding of learning needs of the students. In this way they gain a deeper understanding of
teaching and learning strategies.

References

1. Abera, A. (2012). Continuous Assessment (Ca) Vis-À-Vis the Attainment of Major

Educational Domains of Physical Education in Ethiopia. International Journal of Social
Science & Interdisciplinary Research. Vol. 1 Issue 11
2. Awofala, O. A., and Babajide, F. T. (2013). Examining Attitude towards Continuous
Assessment Practices among Nigerian Pre-service STM Teachers. Journal of Education
and Practice. Vol. 4, No. 13
3. USAID (2003). Educational Quality in the Developing World. Vol. 1, No. 1
4. UNESCO (August, 2017), Continuous Assessment for Improved Teaching and Learning:
A Critical Review to Inform Policy and Practice, No. 13
5. Birhanu, M. (2013). Continuous Assessment Issues and Practices in Secondary Schools
of Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia: The "Big Picture" of Assessment Mechanism: Palgo
 Journal of Education Research.
6. Watkins, A. (ed.) (2007). Assessment in inclusive settings: key issues for policy and
practice. Odense, Denmark: European Agency for Development in Special Needs
Education
7. Abejehu, S.B. (2016). The practice of contuous assessment in primary schools: The case
of Chagni, Ethiopia. Journal of Education and Pratice
8. Baker, E. L., & Stites, R. (1991).Trends in testing in the USA.Politics of Education
Association yearbook. London: Taylor & Francis.
9. Bayo, C.O (2005). The basic of research methodology. Lagos: Kotleb Publishers.
10. Frederickson, N. (1992). Curriculum-based assessment: broadening the base. In Cline, T.
(ed.) The assessment of special educational needs: International perspectives