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PART A: KNOWING ABOUT STANDARDS BASED EDUCATION
PHILOSOPHY.
1. What is Standards Based Education?
 Standards Based Education is a philosophical concept that is centred on the
process of planning, developing, delivering, monitoring, and improving
education programs.
 A standard is a level of quality or achievement, especially a level that is
thought to be acceptable. It is something used to measure or estimate the
quality or degree of something, for example, how good a piece of work is.
 Standards in Education provide a description of what will be known and done
and an indication of how well it should be known and done.
1.1.
What is foundation for the change of Outcomes Based
Education to Standards Based Education?
 The foundations for the change of OBE curriculum model to SBC is embedded in
students lowering literacy and numeracy standard. There was public outcry and the
Government abolished the OBE in 2008. After 4 years, a task force was established
to investigate OBE. It found pressing English curriculum content that missed
important components to learning English as a second language. It recommended
for a Standard Based Curriculum and a scripted English curriculum for basic
education sector
 The main justification of having a Standards Based Education in PNG is to
raise PNG’s performance competencies in all aspects of education;
curriculum development, teacher training, student and teacher performance
and leadership.
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Curriculum
Monitoring
SBE
Teachers
Training
2. What is Standards Based Curriculum?
 Standards Based curriculum is referred to as a cumulative body of knowledge
and set of competencies that forms the basis for quality education.
 It is built around the principles and perspectives of different curriculum
subjects, processes, the attitudes towards those subjects and the view of
teaching and learning.
 It defines what students should know, understand and be able to do and
creating the accompanying teaching content.
 SBC includes not only goals, objectives, and standards, but everything that is
done to enable attainment of those outcomes and, at the same time, foster
reflection and revision of the curriculum to ensure students' continued growth.
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2.1
What is the focus of standards based curriculum?
 SBC focuses on essential content and relevant context in which they are being
taught which reflects a high level of achievement.
 It sets National content stardards and bench marks for grade-specifics and
allows wide range of participation including special need students.
 In a standards-based curriculum, assessment is viewed not only as a final
product (summative), but also as a continual process (formative) that provides
pupil performance data to teachers and students regarding their progress
towards achieving the standards.
2.2. What is the purpose of adapting a Standards Based Curriculum
in PNG?
 The introduction of Standards Based Education in PNG is an important
Government directive and often referred to as the OBE Task Force or the Czuba
Report (2013).
 "The idea behind standards-based curriculum is to set clear standards for what
we want students to learn and to use those academic standards to drive other
changes in the system and for life -long learning and living."
 PNG chose Standards Based Curriculum because we want to improve the
standard of learning. The teachers would have a clear purpose and focus on
what will be taught and assessed. On the other hand, students know what they
have to know and be able to do.
 Both the teacher and the students understand the purpose and focus of the
curriculum.
2.3. What are the main aspects of Standards Based Curriculum?
•
•
•
Curriculum
Instruction
Assessment
•
•
Professional
development
P & C involvement
•
•
Instructional
leadership
Use of technology &
other resources
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2.4. What role do standards play in relation to teaching- learning assessment process for Standards Based Curriculum?
 Standards require a change in both teaching and assessment. Standards and
assessment are intertwined and need to be integral parts of the curriculum
and the program of instruction.
Curriculum standards, teaching and assessment are interconnected
Curriculum Standards
Teaching/pedagogy
Assessment
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3. What are National Curriculum Standards?
Statements set to find out what students should know at different levels of their
schooling or education. The national curriculum standards establish a common
reference and vision of education, they help educators reach a common
understanding of what students will learn. The examinations given can measure
student progress towards attaining the standards.
Setting national curriculum standards allows for the following:
a. Equal opportunity for the students. All the students are compared to the same
standards.
b. it is clear what pupils should know at different levels of their education
c. Expresses clear expectations of what all pupils should know and be able to do
d. Reflects a high level of achievement, while being realistic and relevant to the
context in which they are being taught.
4.
What is a Content Standard (CS)?
Content standards describe what all students should know and be able to do in each
of the subject areas such as English, Mathematics, Science, Personal Development,
Business Studies, Social Science, etc. The statement comprises of a set of facts,
concepts, principles and ideas that are important or the knowledge and skills students
should attain.
4.1. What is a performance standard?
 There are the “explicit definitions of what students must do to demonstrate
proficiency at a specific level on the content standards”. Sometimes,
performance standards are referred to as ‘performance descriptors’.
 These are the judgments that indicate how well students need to perform.
 Performance standards/descriptors make content standards operational.
 They transform inert (passive) statements of content into active expectations
for performance.
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 They take the content standards an essential step further by giving meaning to
the idea of meeting the standard and a level of proficiency that must be
demonstrated to indicate that the knowledge and skills in the content standard
have been attained.
4.2.
What are the three components of a performance standard?
1. performance descriptions,
2. samples of student work, and
3. Commentaries on student work.



5.
Performance descriptions. These distill the content standards to identify what is
essential and what is able to be assessed. (Content standards commonly include
expectations that cannot be assessed validly or reliably, such as "develop a love of
reading.") Content standards that may run to several pages are thus reduced to a
concise set of statements of what students should be expected to know and be able to
do.
Samples of student work. The performance descriptions are matched with samples
of student work that have been judged to illustrate the quality of work expected to meet
the standard at a given grade level.
Commentaries on student work. The student work samples are accompanied by
commentary that explains how the student work illustrates the quality required to meet
the expectations set out in the performance descriptions.
Standard Based Assessment





-
Standards Based assessment is a learning focus system and is a systematic
and ongoing process of collecting and interpreting information about students
achievements.
Standards Based assessment assumes that all students are capable of
reaching a certain expectation & measure (yard stick) of learning
Thus, it focuses on what students know and are able to do while at the same
time, assessment practices should identify areas where students can improve.
Will use all the different types of assessment as highlighted under section 5.2
Promotes Modern Assessment Theory : In a Modern Assessment Theory, it
is important to draw the IMAGE of Assessment. We have to develop it as a
continuum so that the evidence is seen as a Build-up than a stand-alone.
Assessment is a collection of information for a purpose. Those dealing with
assessment should know the following:
How do teachers collect information about the students
How do we collect information about the impact of the resources?
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-
-
We give test to collect written evidence and one evidence does not tell you
everything. It is important to continue all the time to collect evidence using
multiple mediums that would provide sufficient evidence. Therefore, we should
ensure that when teaching, assessment should be constantly done because
every evidence collected challenges the image set up at the beginning.
In Modern Assessment Theory, Curriculum, Assessment and teaching and
learning are interwoven as shown below.
curriculum
Assessment
-
-
Teaching
and learning
Curriculum should be written to collect evidence of a child’s developmental
progress. It can be as far back as when a child is 3 months before delivery.
Then track him/her along a developmental continuum (learning journey).
Provide avenues to move the child as fast as possible and monitor the
movement of progress. In order to monitor the movement, we use objectives,
learning outcomes or attainment targets.
How do we determine that the child has achieved the outcome or not?
It is important to note that “Assessment should not be done at the end of the
development. Assessment is a big part and parcel of the curriculum”.
5.1. How do we assess standards?
•
•
•
•
•
When working with standards, the assessment system needs to be compatible
or consistent with what is being tested and how it is tested.
Standards-based assessment, assesses pupils’ performance are compared to
that of other pupils normally referred to as norm-reference assessment as well
as pupils assessed against a curriculum content standard normally referred to
as (criterion-referenced assessment.
The assessment is viewed not only as a final product (summative), but also as
a continual process (formative) that provides pupil performance data to
teachers and students regarding their progress towards achieving the
standards.
This shift to standards-based assessment helps create ‘a culture of success,’
where all pupils can achieve an acceptable level. This is in contrast to the
variation in pupils learning as expected in the bell-shaped distribution of grades
The curriculum sets benchmark levels of pupils’ achievement and progress
towards meeting the standards by describing what the pupils can do with
particular areas of learning such as language. Therefore, it is necessary to
move beyond testing methods which concentrate on memory, and develop
those which measure understanding and application (Genesee, et.al., 1998;
Winters, 1995).
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•
In order to assess if pupils have achieved the different benchmarks, they are
expected to demonstrate what they can do (with the language) by applying
what they know (about the language) to real-life situations.
Assessing pupils’ performance focuses on their ability to actively use language,
which can be accomplished by using performance assessment methods.
Teachers need to determine the following:
-
which benchmarks to assess,
define the evidence of learning,
create a context,
decide on an audience,
develop a scoring guide and
review and revise the task
Kentucky Department of
Education, 1998.
This provides pupils and parents with useful information about pupil performance
towards attaining the standards.
5.2. What is the focus of Assessment in Standards Based Curriculum for
PNG?
The focus of Assessment in SBC for PNG include:
•
Assessment As/In learning
•
Assessment for learning
•
Assessment of learning
a. Assessment As/In learning

It is designed to inform students what they do well and what they need to
improve on daily/weekly as an integral part of everyday teaching and learning
such as exercises, activities or experiments students do or practice in each
lesson.

Help teachers to identify those students who need extra help and those who
need to be further challenged in their learning

Teachers identify learning problems as they arise so students can be given
help straight away to improve their work
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
Normally referred to as formative assessment
b. Assessment for learning
•
A common form of assessment for learning is ''diagnostic assessment''.
•
Diagnostic assessment measures a student's current knowledge and skills for
the purpose of identifying a suitable program of learning.
•
Is generally carried out throughout a course or project.
•
Also referred to as Formative assessment and is used to aid learning.
•
In an educational setting, formative assessment might be a teacher (or peer
group or the learner, providing feedback on a student's work and would not
necessarily be used for grading purposes.
•
Can take the form of diagnostic or standardized tests.
c. Assessment of learning
 It is designed to provide a summary of students learning over a set period of
time and is generally carried out at the end of a course or project.
 Sometimes referred to as summative assessment and are evaluative
 Typically used to assign students a course grade
 It summarises student learning for a particular purpose such as;
o
end of term or end of year reports
o
Grade 8, 10 or 12 certificates
o
for selection
5.3. What is Bench marking in Education?
 Bench marking is a standard against which something can be measured or
assessed. In PNG, bench marking is referred to as Assessment of content
standards at the end of each level of schooling such elementary 2, Grade 5 or Grade
8. Attainments of bench marks will be monitored and assessed through tools such as
CSMT, EGRA or EGMA
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 Bench marking test brings accountability to schools by measuring student
learning against quantifiable standards. Teachers use the results of bench mark
tests to modify their instructions as needed and to prepare students for end of
year standardized achievement tests.
 Bench marks promotes assessment and accountable systems to monitor
progress of student performance within school systems or across regions,
provinces, districts or schools.
5.4. What is the difference between summative and formative
assessment?
•
Educational researcher ; Robert_Stake explains the difference between
formative and summative assessment with the following analogy:
•
When the cook tastes the soup, that's formative. When the guests taste the
soup, that's summative.
6.0. How do we report standard?
Standards cannot be tested by current evaluative methods. Moreover, schools will
have to change the present method of reporting pupils’ progress to parents and pupils.
When working with a standards-based curriculum, schools will be able to report pupils’
progress towards achieving the standards by indicating the benchmarks they have
achieved.
The ultimate judgment on the value of standards must be whether their use in the
classroom actually improves pupil performance (Ravitch, 1996). Assessment provides
the information necessary to guide educators in determining pupil progress in attaining
the standards, as specified in the curriculum. Teachers, schools and the state are
accountable for pupils’ learning based on the attainment of these standards. Since the
standards provide a clear and defined framework for assessment, it is therefore
possible to ascertain the extent to which the standards have been met.
Thus, Standards Based curriculum guides students learning using a clearly defined
set of goals. These standards focus on the knowledge that students should have
before graduating from high school.
Report cards associated with this type of learning DO NOT use traditional lettergrades. Rather, it employs a simple number system such as 1-4 that shows whether
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a student has mastered each specific skill. SBC reports clearly the understanding of
whether the student has mastered the content and skill highlighted in the content
standard.
6.1 Designing Assessment rubrics
What are Rubrics?
Rubrics are the descriptors of activities or things that children can do along the way in
the process of learning.
Guided questions
-
How far is along the journey for achieving the expected goal?
What do I expect to see children in different topics or areas eg spelling, written
sentences? It should be based on a piece of work than a grade. It should be
linked to the improvement of an aspect of learning domain.
When developing rubrics note the following questions
a. What descriptions of what students can do?
b. What am I trying to measure?
c. What are we trying to improve?
When the assessment rubrics are correctly done or designed, an explicit evidence of
work should be shown to inform the next level of development in relation to student
learning.
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Sample assessment rubric
The table below shows a sample of an assessment rubric for an Assessment task
that reads:
Assessment
task
Latent [1]
Emerging [2]
Established [3]
Advanced[4]
Write a recount
on a favourite
topic or story
with correct
conventions of
Standard
English showing
clearly the
capitalization,
punctuation and
spelling.
The text is not well
organised, the
ideas of text are not
related and are not
sequenced.
Text is based on
the correct function
or purpose
A lot of language
errors throughout
The text is
organised but the
ideas of text are not
related and are not
sequenced.
Text is based on
the correct function
or purpose
There were
language errors
throughout
Use of tenses and
punctuation
including capital
letters and full
stops in the text are
partly correct
Few vocabulary
used were
inappropriate
The text is
organised, the
ideas of text are
related and are well
sequenced.
Text is based on
the correct function
or purpose
Limited language
errors throughout
The text is well
organised, the ideas
of text are related
and are well
sequenced.
Text is based on
the correct function
or purpose
Limited language
errors throughout
Use of tenses and
punctuation
including capital
letters and full
stops in the text are
correct
Appropriate use of
variety of
vocabulary
Use of tenses and
punctuation
including capital
letters and full
stops in the text are
correct
Appropriate use of
variety of
vocabulary
Use of tenses and
punctuation
including capital
letters and full
stops in the text are
not correct
A lot of vocabulary
used were
inappropriate
7.0. What are the implications of Standards Based Curriculum?
The implications of a standards-based curriculum for the learning-teachingassessment process include:





both formative and summative assessment
a variety of assessment methods
assessment tasks which allow the pupils to demonstrate their knowledge,
including the criteria for assessment
developmental assessment showing progress towards attaining the standards
assessment tasks which are integrated within the learning-teachingassessment process and do not consist of only the final product.
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PART B: STANDARDS BASED CURRICULUM FOR PNG
1
What are the principles of the PNG Standards Based Curriculum?
(adapted from PNG OBC)
i.
Clarity of focus through learning statements (content standard, Performance
indicators and assessment tasks)
ii.
High expectations of all students
iii.
Equal opportunities for all students
iv.
Expanded opportunities to learn
ii.
Clarity of focus through learning statements (content standard,
Performance indicators and assessment tasks)
Everything teachers plan for teaching and assessing should be clearly focused on
what students should know and be able to do successfully. These expectations are
expressed in the content standards, student’s performance standards and bench
marks.
iii.
High expectations of all students
The principle of high expectation is about insisting that work be at a very high
standard before it is accepted as completed and achieved. Opportunities
should be provided for students to work towards reaching the set standards.
Teachers should provide the necessary support for students to realise their
potentials in relation to the achievement of the standards.
iv.
Equal opportunities for all students
In a standards Based curriculum, the national content standards are designed
for all students throughout the country regardless of the context. These
standards are clearly outlined in the syllabus. It is up to individual schools,
classes and teachers to plan how these standards can be achieved. A national
assessment and monitoring tool will be used to assess, monitor and evaluate
the success of the students’ attainment or achievements for the set national
and content standards.
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v.
Expanded opportunities to learn
The SBC will target the empowerment of rural, urban, average and intellectual
population. It allows flexibility to accommodate both able and disadvantaged to
fit in and discover their potential in order to pursue their interest through the
learning standards set in the curriculum. It establishes clarity about the
standards we expect our young people to achieve so that they can compete
confidently with the best of their peers globally. The learning is progressive.
2.
Types of Education Standards for PNG
PNG education will adapt and use the following standards for general and curriculum
purposes.
i.
National Education Standards
ii.
National Curriculum Standards
iii.
Content Standards
iv.
Performance indicators
v.
Assessment benchmark
National Education Standards (NES)

NES are overarching goals or competencies for the whole system.

Reflects all areas of NDoE including curriculum development, assessment, teacher
training, leadership, reporting, monitoring and evaluation
National Curriculum Standards (NCS)
•
Overall curriculum attainment targets and competencies
•
Set to assess the standards students are expected to attain at the end of schooling
•
What students will know and be able to do by the end of Grade 12.
•
NCS are foundations for Content standards to be designed downwards, upwards or
inside/out wards.
•
NCS are contained in the National Curriculum Policy Framework
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Why do we set National Curriculum Standards?
•
Setting national curriculum standards allows for the following:
•
Equal opportunity for the students. All the students are compared to the same
standards.
•
it is clear what pupils should know at different levels of their education
•
Expresses clear expectations of what all pupils should know and be able to do
•
Reflects a high level of achievement, while being realistic and relevant to the context
in which they are being taught.
Content Standards
•
Describe what all students should know and be able to do in each of the subject
areas such as English, Mathematics, Science, Personal Development, Business
Studies etc.
•
The statement comprises of a set of facts, concepts, principles and ideas that are
important or the knowledge and skills students should attain.
Performance indicators
•
There are the "explicit definitions of what students must do to demonstrate proficiency
at a specific level on the content standards”, sometimes referred to as operational
bench marks
•
These are the judgments that indicate how well students need to perform,
•
It is a level of proficiency that must be demonstrated to indicate that the knowledge
and skills in the content standard have been attained.
•
They make content standards operational. They take the content standards an
essential step further by giving meaning to the idea of meeting the standard.
•
They transform inert (passive) statements of content into active expectations for
performance.
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Sample content standard and performance indicator
Social Science
Content Standard: By the end of Grade 8; students should understand and be able to
discuss the impact of over -population on rural environment and geography
Performance indicator

Discuss factors influencing overpopulation in PNG
•
Analyse human interventions & choices linking to factors/causes of overpopulation
•
Describe the relationship between land and population in PNG overtime.
•
Discuss the social and environmental impact of overpopulation in PNG
•
Describe different ways to control population growth rate in PNG
Assessment Bench mark
The Assessment benchmark sets levels of pupils’ achievement and progress towards
meeting the content standard end of a schooling level. They describe what the pupils
can do with particular areas of learning contained in the units or topics.
Conceptual framework of the types of standards in PNG
National
Education
Standards
National
curriculum
standards
Content
standards
performance
indicators
Assessment
bench mark
Content
standards
content
standards
performance
indicators
performance
indicators
Assessment
benchmark
Assessment
benchmark
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3
What is the focus of Assessment in Standards Based Curriculum
for PNG?
The focus of Assessment in SBC for PNG include:
•
Assessment As/In learning
•
Assessment for learning
•
Assessment of learning
Conclusion
We need to be confident that what we teach, the way in which we teach it, and how
we assess and examine the knowledge we impart, targets 21st century visions and
matches the best in the world. Curriculum, pedagogy and assessment must always
be interwoven in order to experience a difference in our knowledge and skills
compatibility, proficiencies and competencies.
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