Promoting Inclusivity Through Quality Assessment in Rural Secondary Schools
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Date
2020
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Springer Nature
Abstract
The current trend in the education systems globally is the focus on education for sustainable development, which emphasises on lifelong learning for all learners with or without disabilities. The education systems are expected to create environments that promote inclusivity in all levels of education. The aspect of assessment in inclusive education plays a pivotal role in the teaching and learning process. It is critical that the assessment practices adopted by schools should be of high quality to promote inclusivity. Depending on the purposes of assessment, schools mainly employ formative and summative assessments, which are referred to as assessment for learning and assessment of learning, respectively. The assessment practices in inclusive education system should ensure collaboration of all stakeholders to meet the diverse needs of every learner. However, myriad obstacles that hinder quality assessment in inclusive education have been identified in rural schools. These include lack of teacher competencies to deal with diverse needs of learners in regular classes, inadequate resources and facilities, passive pedagogical methods, and inflexible curriculum that offers no accommodation, modification, or personalization. Capacitating teachers through continuous professional development and transforming the teacher education curriculum are some of the suggested intervention strategies that could enhance inclusive education in rural schools. This chapter, therefore, presents how inclusive education can be enhanced through quality assessment in rural secondary schools. The issues of inclusive education concept, principles of quality assessment, types of assessment, assessment practices in inclusive learning, constraining factors to quality assessment, and intervention strategies are dealt with in this chapter.
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Sibanda, L. and Mathwasa, J., 2020. Promoting Inclusivity Through Quality Assessment in Rural Secondary Schools. The Education Systems of Africa, pp.1-18.