Diversifying ways to assess qualities and abilities of primary school students

Looking back at nearly 5 years of implementing Circular No.27/2020/TT-BGDDT (Circular No.27) regulating the assessment of primary school students in Vinh Phuc Province, many education managers and teachers believe that this assessment method is humane and creates a big change in educational methods and educational relations.
Students of Dai Dong Primary School, Vinh Tuong District are excited with the Hanoi Flagpole model presented by Nhan Dan Newspaper.
Students of Dai Dong Primary School, Vinh Tuong District are excited with the Hanoi Flagpole model presented by Nhan Dan Newspaper.

At Hop Chau Primary School, Tam Dao District, teachers are trained every year on how to assess students. Every month, the school organises professional activities at the school level once, professional groups meet twice, focusing on teaching methods and student assessment methods.

Tran Xuan Ngoc, Principal of the school, said, the method of assessing students depends on the feelings of each teacher, there is no scale for comparison in selecting excellent students. Therefore, in order to reward correctly, there are cases where the Board of Directors has to re-examine students to ensure accuracy.

Having taught at Hop Chau Primary School for many years, Do Thi Hong Dung shared her experience: Teachers must pay attention to observing and increasing interaction with students, especially those who are shy and lack confidence. For students with weak abilities, teachers should let them interact and communicate more to improve.

Evaluating first graders is even more difficult. Le Thi Hong Van, Dai Dong Primary School, Vinh Tuong District, shared: “I mark on the books to see if the students are making progress or not, I have to pay attention and have a separate method for each first grader. In addition to regular parent meetings, teachers also talk privately with parents whose children need to make efforts.”

Hoang Thi Ngoc Lan, Principal of Dai Dong Primary School, said the school evaluates very seriously, even forcing students to repeat a grade. Fortunately, parents are very cooperative in evaluating and classifying students.

Students of Dong Tam Primary School, Vinh Yen City attend an extra activity at school.

Students of Dong Tam Primary School, Vinh Yen City attend an extra activity at school.

Commenting on the regulations on evaluating primary school students, Vu Thi Thanh Van, Principal of Duc Bac Primary School, Song Lo District, said: Circular No.27 is very humane. Teachers mainly use measures to motivate and encourage students; do not publicize survey scores, give private comments on individual cases, but do not present them to the class or parents. Students are happier and more joyful when they go to school.

In general, the team of education managers and primary school teachers highly appreciate the humaneness of Circular No.27. Teachers have paid more attention to evaluating students’ progress, regularly encouraging and motivating students to make the most of their own abilities and capacities. The assessment method also ensures timeliness, fairness, objectivity, does not compare one student with another, does not create pressure on students, teachers and parents.

To implement Circular No.27, every year, the Department of Education and Training (DoET) of Vinh Phuc organizes training for all managers and teachers at the primary level, and at the same time strengthens periodic and surprise inspections and checks of the Departments of Education and Training.

The assessment results of the schools are uploaded to the industry database system, which is used as a basis for consideration of promotion to the next grade or retention, and consideration of completion of the primary school programme. In the 2023-2024 school year, Vinh Phuc province has 514 primary school students who have to be retained, accounting for 0.4% of the total number of students, lower than the national average rate of 1.3%.

The Department of Education and Training of Vinh Phuc province affirmed that after nearly 5 years of implementing primary school student assessment according to Circular No.27, the majority of primary school teachers have mastered the content, methods, processes, assessment records and the use of assessment results. Managers and teachers have firmly grasped the purpose of assessment, which is to provide accurate and timely information, and determine learning and training achievements according to the level of meeting the requirements of the primary education programme.

Teachers and students of Duc Bac Primary School, Song Lo District are excited to experience the Dien Bien Phu panorama painting presented by Nhan Dan Newspaper.

Teachers and students of Duc Bac Primary School, Song Lo District are excited to experience the Dien Bien Phu panorama painting presented by Nhan Dan Newspaper.

After 4 years of implementing Circular No.27, teachers of primary schools such as Duc Bac, Hop Chau, and Dai Dong have become familiar with the new assessment method, knowing how to use language to describe relatively accurately the qualities and abilities of students instead of evaluating by scores as before. Parents are satisfied with the assessment because through the teachers' comments, even though they are just words of encouragement, they still know what level their children are at and what they need to try.

For children who are slow to progress, teachers invite parents to school to discuss and advise parents on educational methods. Schools all focus on self-assessment, self-assessment of quality, and organise additional tests to ensure accurate assessment results. Thanks to that, the educational quality of these schools is always among the top in the locality.

Hoang Minh Tuan, Head of the General Education Department under the Department of Education and Training of Vinh Phuc said after a period of implementing Circular No.27, the team of education managers and primary school teachers in the whole province has mastered and drawn a lot of experience from previous school years to assess the qualities and abilities of 5th grade students to ensure effectiveness, publicity, transparency, and strive for 100% of 5th grade students to complete the primary school programme.

To continue implementing Circular No.27 well, the Department of Education and Training has directed the Departments of Education and Training of districts and cities to organise acceptance and handover of educational results for students completing primary school programs to 6th grade in accordance with the conditions of schools and localities. The Departments of Education and Training of districts and cities has directed the principals of primary schools to organise supervision and grading of tests with the participation of teachers from junior high schools in the same area. The homeroom teachers complete the student assessment records and hand them over to the school.

However, applying the new assessment method also creates some difficulties for teachers. Talent subjects are also assessed like other subjects, while teaching an average of only 1 period/week, so there is not much time to observe and interact with students. Meanwhile, not all students have a talent for singing or drawing, so there needs to be guidance on calculating competition points so that good and well-behaved students who have not yet shown their talent are not disadvantaged, ensuring fairness in assessment activities.

Primary school students often lack stability in their learning results, affected by psychology and health, so periodic subject tests may not be really accurate, objective and convincing. Many parents still focus on academic achievements through scores. It is very difficult to determine the boundaries for grouping to find outstanding students.

In the near future, the Department of Education and Training of Vinh Phuc will organise an output assessment test for 5th grade students to see an overview of primary education, on that basis, propose solutions to assess the qualities and abilities of primary school students in a truly scientific and accurate way.