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The Education Bureau (EDB) today (November 7) received from the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) the report of the 2014 Territory-wide System Assessment (TSA). The HKEAA will provide school level data to schools shortly for school improvement in learning and teaching.
"Some 106,000 students at Primary 3 and Secondary 3 levels took part in the TSA this year. Their performance in the three core subjects of Chinese Language, English Language and Mathematics is steady," a spokesman for the EDB said.
Introduced in 2004 at Primary 3 and extended to cover Primary 6 and Secondary 3 levels in the two subsequent years, the TSA aims to help schools understand students' performance in attaining basic competency, and their strengths and weaknesses in the three core subjects at various key learning stages. Individual schools could make use of the school level report to devise suitable curriculum plans as well as learning and teaching strategies that could enhance student learning.
The TSA this year has implemented the following new measures announced in April 2014 in response to the concerns over pressure and workload expressed by schools:
* providing an interactive reporting platform in phases to facilitate teachers' analysis of student performance;
* not disclosing the percentage of students achieving basic competency in the three subjects in the primary school level reports;
* removing the TSA from the Key Performance Measures for primary schools; and
* suspending the Primary 6 TSA this year because the Primary 6 TSA and the Pre-Secondary One Hong Kong Attainment Test (Pre-S1 HKAT) are conducted in alternate years, i.e. the Primary 6 TSA in odd-numbered years and the Pre-S1 HKAT in even-numbered years.
The spokesman added, "The TSA is a low-stakes assessment which does not provide data on individual students. It serves to enhance learning and teaching and is not a tool for ranking students and schools, and also is not for screening students. The assessment scope of the TSA covers basic competency which is part of the curriculum including the knowledge necessary for students to progress learning further. The EDB believes the decision of not releasing the basic competency attainment rates to individual primary schools from this year onwards can help gradually alleviate the excessive drilling practices in schools and relieve the pressure on primary schools' students, teachers and parents.
"We hope that schools would not treat the TSA data as the only indicator of students' performance. Schools should make fuller use of the TSA Item Analysis Reports and other available assessment information in schools to understand the students' strengths and weaknesses in various learning dimensions, thereby improving learning and teaching."
With a view to promoting the proper use of assessment in schools, the EDB will continue to provide professional development programmes, targeted on-site school-based support services and seminars to facilitate the sharing of good practices among schools. The value and benefits of the TSA would also be communicated to parents.
The territory-wide percentages of students achieving basic competency in 2004-14 are shown in the Annex. Details of the TSA and this year's results can be found on the HKEAA's website (www.bca.hkeaa.edu.hk).
Ends/Friday, November 7, 2014
Issued at HKT 16:01
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