The chaotic Kerala secondary education - Continuous evaluation

Higher secondary results are out yesterday and I got  a chance to look at some of the results of my nieces and nephews. I have been an observer of Kerala education reforms that have taken place while I started my career in Kerala public education starting from DPEP to the establishment of higher secondary classes in schools. Overall, the goal of the State to revamp the curriculum and educational practices are good, but the surrounding confusion and lack of clarity in implementing their goals have made the department a target of jokes from the beginning. The faults and errors in executing them often causes public anxiety and uninformed people mistake the implementation errors to failure of the program. Recently, the 10th grade result that came out in record time just a couple of weeks after the exam, was full of errors. One of the mistakes was students getting passing grade when they didn't write the exam. Another issue that got magnified was grade inflation. If the general conscience  is that  public education is going down the drain, we can’t blame them. There are enough proofs around us that make us think that is the case.

As I was going through the results, It came to my attention that most all students got full marks for continuous evaluation(CE) which is part of the overall grade and that doesn’t correlate with their actual grades they are receiving on their final exams. If the continuous evaluation measures the progress of the students and if the teachers measure it to a perfect grade, then shouldn’t you expect that particular student to fair well on the final examination as well? Continues evaluation is not meant to give some freebies for the students so school can boast of a better result. What good is it going to do to students if teachers are not keeping them accountable? What use it is to have a grade when it doesn’t reflect on what your true abilities are?

What is continues evaluation

Continuous evaluation is the process of examining the students over a period of time. There are many pros using this type of evaluation to assess student achievement as opposed to one final examination. Some of them can be summarized as follows.

• It helps teachers get feedback on how well the students are learning and modify their instructional practices or perhaps through remedial teaching, can reinforce the concepts that were challenging to students.
• It helps students know whether they comprehend the materials being taught and adjust their study habits and seek help when needed.
• If students are evaluated continuously by various means such as homework, classwork and projects by establishing deadlines, students develop good work ethic and study habits which are more useful in the real world than any subject they study in a classroom.
• Continuous evaluation is also a comprehensive measure of what the student learned in that year. The more diverse assessment tools a teacher uses, the more diverse learners can be accommodated.

By not doing what it is supposed to do, this component of their grade, CE- continues evaluation - is hurting students in the long run than helping them.  Teachers should have proper training on how to continually assess students. More assessments means more work for teachers, but teachers should be willing to take it as part of their professional responsibility and systematically grade the assessments and record it. By the end of the year they can award the average of these assessments as the grade for CE. There can be a school wide policy or a statewide policy on how to categorize and weigh different assessments with rooms for creativity for teachers to experiment their own methods and intuitions that can fit in a classroom. These are the decisions that should be made at the state level.

Few challenges that I foresee

• Push back from teachers and administrators

Well, I am an educator, so I don’t mean disrespect to anyone. But continuous evaluation is a lot of responsibility on teachers which calls for lot of work and dedication. Teachers need to be on top of things like making up new assessments, designing projects, continuously researching and updating their knowledge and skills, grading the assessments and finally record keeping. There will be teachers who are used to not having such responsibilities and may push back. There will be administrators who want to have that free marks given to students so as to have a better school wide results. Proper training should remedy this and when teachers are equipped with the resources, they may be more willing to take up the challenge.

• Not enough resources for teachers

While Kerala is pretty connected by internet, there are number of schools without  computers or teachers who are not computer literates. Again, training the teachers and equipping them with the latest technology is the solution. At least in higher secondary level, this should be doable very cost effectively. Once they are connected, they can share their ideas with other teachers from the district who teach the same subject and support each other.

• lack of effective training

There are a lot of money and time spent on training. Teachers should utilize it effectively and people who are conducting the training need to be aware of the pitfalls of the system so they can remedy it through the training. Without any additional money spent, Training can be more effective if there is clarity as to what needs to change.

• Lack of foresight and supervision from hierarchy

There should be accountability on part of teachers and the school when it comes to awarding the students these grades. A student getting 20/20 in CE and getting 10/80 on the final exam definitely send a message that something is gone terribly wrong. Such cases needs to be identified and proper consequences for the school and the teacher should be established. It doesn’t require a lot of resources to do it. One look at the mark list of students are very revealing. District educational officers should be supervising these disparities and take the measure against the teacher and school as and when needed.

Teachers are professionals who need to act within a certain ethics. The type of education Kerala Education Department envisions also demand a set of dedicated teachers who will abide by the professional ethics and honor code and help students develop  their full potential. It is not easy to educate a population. Teachers have a huge responsibility which doesn't end when the students pass the class with an A plus. It is for the teachers along side the parents to instill virtues and values in a child and help build their character. Today's students are tomorrow's workforce. They will be the one who is treating us, building bridges, making things we use and educate the next generation. If we fail to bring up a strong generation, we fail ourselves. Helping these children grow up to be a responsible adult is the best we can do to make sure we have a better tomorrow.

Feeling trapped

Feeling trapped....

..is when you want to do some thing and you hold back because you have a higher goal to reach, but the frustration of not doing what you want now kills you inside

..is when you know you have a way out but you don't have yet found out

..is when you know the situation is unfair but the whole world is moving ahead without a care, the only choice left to you is to march along.

..is when you see wrong and fail to gather enough courage to stand up for it.

..is when you see things coming your way and yet you get drenched in it

..is when you see yourself in the middle of an ocean all alone and not knowing which direction to swim to get to the shore

..is when you are lively in mind and body, every inch of it, and everything else around you drains the life out of you.

..is when you know your choices are limited and either of the choices bring you to the same destination.

people who feel trapped must swim their way in search of a shore, they may or may not reach the other end. But the decision to swim is the most important one, for if you don't there is no hope left to live.

there is a vagueness about life that makes it so intriguing, we never know what is in store for us tomorrow, this unpredictability is what makes it worth living.

Teaching teenagers about substance abuse.

Teaching young adults about substance abuse is a tight rope walk- Give a long list of advice and they are sure to shrug it off. An autobiographical account from someone who experienced it first hand may feel like a looser to them. But if the speaker can make them see the destruction that can come ones way when people get addicted, they may listen and perhaps buy into it. This is what happened when Mr. Chris Harran, the founder of “project purple” talked to my high school students today- students listened attentively to what Chris had to say. The message was powerful and intense. He was able to make them think and look around for examples among themselves and by the end of his session, perhaps make a resolution in their mind to look after each other and talk to people when in trouble.

Here is a man who could have become a star NBA player, lost his career even before he began. Chris was one of the top and upcoming basketball player in in the country during his high school career and was highly sought after by colleges. Aspiring to stay local, he ended up at Boston college where he was expelled as he could not pass the drug test three times in the firs three months of the college. Peer pressure has pushed him to a drug addict by then. However, He was given a second chance at Fresno state college where he played for the college team. At the end of his senior year, He was drafted by NBA and was playing for teams like Denver Nuggets and Celtics. By that time, his addiction was his enemy. He was released by the Celtics due to couple of pending cases on drug usage. Eventually his fate became that of an addict loosing everything and shuttling between rehabilitation and short periods of work.

In his speech, he mentioned how he was dragged into this addiction and his long battles to come out of it. He urged the students to reflect on what it is that they think they don't have it that make them go to these parties on Friday nights and drink. Here is a man, so close to every basketball players dream and lost everything as he could not come out of addiction. Chris also eloquently talked about what starts as a peer pressure can lead to something that take over one's life. He challenged every students to help the friend who is in this situation. Peer pressure can be used positively to support each other- which is what project purple aims to do- To build a support net work for students.

He also talked about life of an addict and the hurt he inflicts to the people who love him. Such emotional stories can convey things we otherwise can not make the students understand. There are students who come from such back grounds and yet strive to be the best they can be every single day. Yet at times they get treated harshly by their schoolmates and get bullied. Stories such as this help other kids who act rudely understand that not everyone has the same background and each one fight their own battles.

Every man has a mission in life to fulfill, for Chris, it is to help and bring changes to students life across the country. Had he become a successful basketball player, he would not be able to have an impact on others as much as he has right now. His program has been helping teenagers around the country to deal with addiction and rehabilitation. I was also impressed by how Chris turned around his fate and made a mission for life. Everyone makes mistakes. When you shield kids from making mistakes, they become less and less resilient. The one thing that goes wrong, they tend to give up. His story was also an illustration that making a mistake is not the end of life, another shot in life is still possible in every stage! You just have to seek it out!

As I was listening to him, I thought a similar session for parents would be a great idea too. When kids come home drunk, parents should be ready to handle it effectively without panicking. According to Chris, instead of asking who you were with or who forced you to drink, why you drank would be a better question. This would put the spot light directly on the person and he probably can identify what it is that he thought he needed to drink that day for. He also urged the students to talk to parents or adults if they are in trouble. That open communication is something that parents can encourage in their children. Children should not be afraid to come and tell the parents that they have made a mistake.

Couple of my students broke in tears as the session progressed. At the end they hugged and supported students who come from challenging families. As I observed their interactions with each other after this session, I thought to myself that most people are inherently good. They learn mechanisms to defense themselves from their environment. When you give them a nurturing environment, a positive person emerge. They have in them the feeling of sympathy for their fellow beings. We only have to show them how to express it. The younger they are when learning it, the better. And together they can support and look after each other.

Here is a link to Chris Harren's TED Talk at U Mass Amherst.

Chris Harren's TED Talk