Testing, Testing, One, Two, Three

This week, students at Emafini Primary School engaged in their end of the year testing. The testing structure or lack thereof was very different from what we are used to in The United States. The first major contrast between testing here and in the U.S. was that there was no real set time limit. Each day, we started at a different time as we had to wait for students who were late to trickle into the classroom. Many of the students are forced to walk to school and thus many of them come to class tardy. Once the students got into the classroom, they had a few minutes to acclimate themselves and get ready. As a class the students said a prayer lead by Mrs. Manzanse. Which I later found out was the "Our Father." The breakdown of the weeks exams was as follows:

On Monday, students sat down to take their Numeracy (Mathematics) exams. This consisted of 25 questions on the topics of two-digit addition, sequence of #'s as well as less than greater than. The students started the exam at around 8:15 and the majority finished by 9:30. After the exams, Maria and I were in charge of grading. Out of the 38 students in our class, the lowest test score was a 2/25 and the highest test score was a 25/25.

Students had a day off from testing on Tuesday. Testing resumed again on Wednesday with an exam on Reading Comprehension. Mrs. Manzanse proctored the exam and read students a passage about Nelson Mandela. Students (Learner's as they call them here) were then required to answer basic questions about this great political leader, in Xhosa. After grading the exams, the range was very similar to that of the Numeracy exams taken on Monday. The lowest score being a 3/25 and the highest being a 25/25. This broad range is most likely due to the heterogeneous composition of the classroom, and the fact that there are several special needs students within our class.

There is a contingent of students, with noticeable learning disabilities. Yet they still take the same exam as the rest of the class. There are no accommodations made to help these specialized learners. It was heartbreaking to see many of these students stare at their exams blankly, and struggle to finish problems that the majority of the class were breezing through. Unfortunately, in South Africa, it takes about 5 years for special needs students to be processed and placed at a special needs school. I found this apalling that these poor students have to struggle for so long before they can receive the help that they need.

On Thursday, students had their exams on writing. Again the test consisted of 25 questions. The first section required students to come up with English words, based on a list of letters. For most of the students, this was a seemingly easy task. However, a few of the learners were unable to come up with English words and had to resort to using Xhosa. After the word lists, students were asked to fill in the blanks to basic sentences in English. Most of the students were able to complete this part of the exam effectively, with few errors. The next section consisted of several sentences in English dealing with the different phrases that you say throughout the day, i.e.) In the morning we say "Good morning." Students were then required to fill in the blanks using a word bank provided below. The majority of students were able to answer these questions, but there were a few who confused some of the phrases.

The last section of the exam, consisted of 5 spelling words. Students had to spell the words, "fool, meet, soon, book, and seek." Most of the students were able to spell each word correctly. This section was probably the most unscathed by the wrath of the red pen. Overall, there was about an 80% passing rate for the writing exam.

In conclusion, some of the major testing differences between here and the U.S. are as follows:  Students here are free to take their time on the exams as there is no set ending time. In the U.S. we are a lot more punctual. Tests must begin at a certain time and end at a certain time. Our schools adhere to a strict schedule, whereas here they tend to go with the flow, with little punctuality. Also, after the tests are finished, the teacher immediately starts grading. During this time, students sit at their seats and if Maria and I were not there, would otherwise have no instruction. In the U.S., this would be viewed as a waste of instructional time, here it is viewed as common practice.

Most notably, there is little or no support given towards the students with special needs. They are forced to take the same exam, and there are no accommodations to help these students with their test. It is extremely sad to think that these students will simply get left behind due to their learning disabilities and the lack of support available to them. It is my hope that these students will receive the necessary help and resources that they need to succeed in the classroom, and reach their ultimate potential.