The Kingdom has been always seeking to establish the right educational regulations and methods that facilitate and maximize the educational and cultural output. One of the most important foundations developed by the Kingdom is to improve the quality of education and educational attainment, in general, is the system of continuous evaluation.
Saudi Arabia Cancels Continuous Evaluation
The Ministry of Education of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has announced the cancellation of the system of continuous evaluation starting from the fourth grade. The Minister of Education, Dr. Hamad Al-Sheikh, stated in many newspapers that what exists now is not originally the system of continuous evaluation. “We aim to highlight the creative, talented, and distinguished traits of our students, giving them the right to shape their academic future by motivating and honoring them, as the leaders of tomorrow,” he added.
He also stressed the rights of students to express their opinion and participate in drawing their educational journey in multiple ways, explaining that the Ministry of Education is working to establish a council for male and female students in different departments, in order to discuss their demands, recommendations, and problems.
What is the Continuous Evaluation System?
It’s a system designed to continuously evaluate students’ achievement in order to increase their academic efficiency on so many levels. By evaluating and analyzing students’ performance, the system keeps a strict pace with the teaching process itself, and through the results of the evaluation, the entire educational pathway is modified or edited to avoid any educational delay.
The continuous evaluation is divided into four branches:
– Tribal Evaluation
– Constructive or Formative Evaluation
– Identification Evaluation
– Terminal Evaluation
Tribal Evaluation
The student undergoes reading, writing, and debating tests to determine his skills and language ability, and then his basic mental and mathematical skills are tested so that the student can apply for the new academic year or new academic course. It’s the main requirement for admission and the first step to get accepted and start the academic year.
What are the fundamental benefits of the tribal calendar?
– To accommodate the student in a place that is intellectually and scientifically appropriate for him.
– Ensure that the student succeeds in those carefully selected subjects.
– Completion of education without any overpayment;
Constructive or Formative Evaluation
Is the translation of data on student performance and achievement to design a curriculum suitable for their own stage and individual mental abilities, as well as their skills and academic needs. The structural or formative evaluation continues throughout the learning period to make changes and adjustments over the student’s long school years for maximum scientific benefit.
Identification Evaluation
It enables teachers to assess the specific strengths, weaknesses, and skills of each student separately and then the teacher gives advice to the student based on the final outcome of the evaluation.
Terminal Evaluation
It is the last stage of the continuous evaluation, where the efficiency of the students is measured to the extent of acquiring certain skills on both the personal and academic levels. The terminal evaluation is usually conducted at the end of the semester or school year. It helps the student to consider and avoid shortcomings in the upcoming year and plan well for their academic future.
Alternatives to the Continuous Evaluation system
An alternative system that focuses more on pedagogical aspects and realistic simulations of situations that in return strengthen a student’s personality, improve their educational attainment by monitoring their responses, and helping them measure their own performance. This happens when the student does certain assignments that simulate his critical and academically thinking both outside and inside the school to be able to solve problems.
Performance-based evaluation strategy
This strategy provides an integrated evaluation that allows students to play a positive role in employing, testing, and developing their skills through simulation of reality, and that strategy is carried out in various stages, including evaluation, simulation, and demonstration.
The Impact of Alternative Evaluation on Educational Philosophy
The greatest impact and radical transformation of the alternative evaluation have emerged in the educational philosophy of the Kingdom, 2030 vision in the aspect of educational development.
- Dispensing with the rigorous test-based evaluation policy entirely and replacing it with multiple evaluations.
- Mixing knowledge with skills.
- Shifting from a separate evaluation to a full one.
The general implications of the alternative evaluation also include:
- A change from an easy-to-measure evaluation to a tangible benefit.
- From an evaluation based on scientific knowledge to one based on absorbing and understanding information.
- Shifting from measuring the knowledge learning outcomes of conservation, understanding, and application to measuring cognitive outcomes such as analysis, evaluation, and critical thinking.