Secondary School Examinations: Facts and Commentary presents the importance and development of the secondary school examinations. This book explains the pass/fail concept of the General Certificate Education (G.C.E.) wherein the candidates would be classified as either passing or failing with no sub-divisions within these two categories. Organized into eight chapters, this book begins with an overview of the underlying principles of the G.C.E. examination for teachers, students, and parents. This text then examines the development of Schools Council for Curriculum and Examinations, which signaled a fresh approach by the central authority to the problem of comparing standards by means of calibration tests. Other chapters consider the method of appointing small sub-committees to work on a syllabus whereby the subject advisory panels take care to guarantee a preponderance of teachers, not forgetting to ensure that boys' as well as girls' schools are represented. This book is a valuable resource for teachers, students, and parents.

Summative assessment has been a contentious issue in educational circles for several decades, particularly high-stakes assessment events which arise at various junctures of the school cycle, especially those at the end of it. The French Baccalaureat and English A-Levels and their numerous clones throughout the francophone and anglophone worlds are household names and represent milestone events in people's lives, as their outcomes are principal determinants of young people's future prospects. These examinations are external--they are devised, conducted and processed by agencies outside the schools, usually ministerial examination units. As such, they act as 'blind' arbiters of student achievement, providing the proverbial 'level playing field' which ensures the comparability of outcomes. In the pyramidal school structures of yesteryear, examinations acted as filters, regulating the progression of pupils to subsequent tiers of formal education. Exit points occurred from primary school level up, from where unsuccessful candidates could enter the labour force and/or embark on occupationally specific further education and training. With the modernisation of the labour market and an ever-higher social demand for access to higher levels of formal education, the filtering function of examinations at lower levels of schooling has been gradually eroded, while burgeoning numbers of students at the upper secondary level have brought about reforms that include curricular diversification and sometimes radical overhauls of terminating assessment systems (including the modification and, in some instances, abandonment of external examinations). This edited volume brings together the experiences of twenty examination systems from around the world to show how these dynamic entities have adapted over time to the changing context of schooling. Following an introduction by Stephen P. Heyneman of World Bank repute, there are sixteen chapters presenting Country Case Studies, which have been written up under common subheadings, thereby highlighting the comparative nature of the work and facilitating cross-referencing. The subsequent four chapters elaborate on the theme of 'external examinations beyond national borders', including a contribution by the International Baccalaureate Organisation. A defining feature of the work is the attention it pays to what it calls the 'nuts and bolts' of external examinations, from question-setting to grading procedures. These are, it is argued, instrumental in nurturing and maintaining public confidence in external examinations. The book will be of immense value to people involved in educational policy studies, especially strategic educational planning, as well as those directly concerned with formal assessment. The work has been written to appeal to a wide audience of informed persons--it is accessible to teachers and interested laypeople, as well as to academics."

The title first covers the general concerns in secondary school examinations, such as the pass/fail concept, reforms, interpretation of results, and admissibility of subjects. Next, the selection tackles the examination in the ordinary level. The third chapter discusses the Certificate of Secondary Education (C.S.E.) examination; this chapter details the advantages of the C.S.E. along with its systems. Chapter 4 covers the advanced level and university entrance requirements. The next two chapters deal with the General Certificate of Education (G.C.E.) examining bodies. The seventh chapter examines the secondary school testing system in the U.S., while the last chapter talks about the future of the English secondary school examinations. The book will be of great use to both in-training and professional teachers. School administrators will also benefit from the text.

Economic and social changes, fast evolution of technology, and the growing importance of Internet services and international communications--all these require secondary education providers to adapt what is taught and learned in schools. However, in Africa the content of secondary curricula is in most cases ill-adapted to 21st century challenges, where young people are mobile, have access to 'more and instant information,' and face health threats such as HIV/AIDS. In addition, implementation problems exist, and the time for instruction is often much less then what is required by the prescribed secondary curriculum. In Africa there is a need to develop a secondary education curriculum adapted to the local economic and social environment, but with international-comparable performance indicators. This study analyzes that challenge: the quality of curricula and assessment, and their development processes in secondary education in Africa against the background of existing contexts, conditions, and ambitions on the one hand and current pedagogical thinking on the other. This World Bank Working Paper was prepared as part of the Secondary Education and Training in Africa (SEIA) initiative which aims to assist countries to develop sustainable strategies for expansion and quality improvements in secondary education and training.