ETNLA is coming soon !!!

l Government ETHIOPIAN THIRD NATIONAL

Target Groups: al
ith Grade 4 LEARNING ASSESSMENT
(Public) schools w t
T h e E th i o p i an T h i r d N a t i on al
d/ or G rade 8 cl ass size of at leas
Learning Assessment is the third in an
May 2007.
the series since 2000 (1992 E.C.). 20 pupils in April/
I t u s e s s i m i l a r i n str u m e n t s h e n c e
helps us to see progress and how 16,000 students selected following a
Achievement Tests
t h e r e c om m e n da t i o n s o f p r e v i ou s two stage stratified random sampling
s t u d i e s t a k e n u p . T h e T e chn i ca l Attitude Survey
procedure taking schools as primary Focus Group
Working Group hosted at the Discussions
sampling units & region as stratum
G E Q AE A h a v e v e ry s t r o n g d e s i r e
to work in collaboration with
s t a k e h old e r s a t a l l l e v el s . W e a r e Background Questionnaires
l o o ki n g f o r w a rd f o r y o u r s u g g e s - about 3,600 teachers
t i o n s a n d c o n s t r u c t i v e c r i ti c i s m s .
The Regional Education Bureaus & 400 school principals

Amhara
Oromia

SNNPR
d i f f e r en t d e p a r t m en t s o f M i n i s t r y REGIONS

Somali
Tigray

Harari

B. G.
D. D.

A. A.

Afar
o f E du c a ti o n s h o u l d b e re p r e - about 200 parents & Oromia ● ● ● ● ( ( ( ( ( (
sented in the National Advisory community leaders Tigray ● ● ● ● ( ( ( ( ( (
Amhara ● ● ● ● ( ( ( ( ( (
C ou n ci l a n d p l a y a c t i v e r ol e a n d Harari ● ● ● ● ( ( ( ( ( (
follow up the activities of the Somali
D. D.
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Technical Working Group. SNNPR
A. A.
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Afar * * * * * * * ● ● ●
F o r ad d i ti o na l i n fo r ma tio n o n B. G. * * * * * * * * ● ●
● statistically no significant difference between the regions
p r e v i o u s & c u r r en t u n d er t ak i n g s * ( statistically significant difference between the regions in favor of the direction
shown
p l ea s e c on t a c t t h e A g e n cy .
E - m ai l: z e wd u g b@ gm a i l. c o m USAID IN COLLABORATION WITH
USAID IN COLLABORATION WITH
z e w du g _ k i da n @ y ah o o. co m GENERAL EDUCATION QUALITY
G E N E R A L E D U C A T I O N Q U A L I TY
e r k d e s r e d@y a h o o . c om ASSURANCE & EXAMINATIONS ASSURANCE & EXAMINATIONS
AGENCY AGENCY
Front Cover: Multiple comparisons of mean composite
scores of Grade 8 achievement tests by regions based on the P.O.Box 30747
findings of the Ethiopian Second National Learning Assess- Addis Ababa
ment (ESNLA). Phone: +25111232875
GEQAEA
Fax: +25111232891

Ethiopian Third National Learning Assessment
The Ethiopian Third National Learning
Assessment (ETNLA) will be conducted in
April/May 2007 across the nation in about
400 selected sample schools taking regions as
stratification variable. General Education
Quality Assurance & Examinations Agency
(GEQAEA) will conduct the study in close
collaboration with the REBs, USAID and
other stakeholders. The Agency strongly be-
lieves that this is a timely undertaking, since
Ministry of Education is committed to bring
about quality education at all levels.
What is a national learning
assessment?
A national assessment may be defined as
an exercise designed to describe the level
of achievements, not of individual stu-
dents, but of a whole education system, or
a clearly defined part of it (e.g., fourth
grade pupils or 11-year olds). The center-
piece of the assessment is the collection
of data in schools. Usually students re-
spond to assessment instruments and
questionnaires. Teachers may also be re-
quested to complete questionnaires in
which they provide information consid-
ered relevant to an interpretation of their
students’ achievements. In some assess-
ments, teachers also take achievement
tests.
Why national learning
assessment?
During the 1990s, assessment came to the
forefront in educational policy as concern
grew about what students were actually
learning in school. While up to then, the
main focus in assessing the quality of edu-
cation was on inputs (e.g., physical facilities,
curriculum materials, access to textbooks,
teacher training etc.), the shift to a concern
about outputs asked if students as a result of
their exposure to schooling acquired appro-
priate knowledge, skills, behaviour, and atti-
tudes.
Five main issues are addressed in national
assessments: How well are students learning? Is there
particular strengths or weaknesses in their knowledge
and skills? Do achievements of subgroups in the
population differ? To what extent is achievement as-
sociated with characteristics of learning environment?
And do the achievements of students change over
time? (Kellaghan & Greaney)
National Learning Assessments in
Ethiopia
In Ethiopia two national learning assess-
ments were conducted in the past seven
years. The Ethiopian Baseline National
Learning Assessment (EBNLA) in
1999/2000 (1992 E.C.) and the Ethiopian
Second National Learning Assessment
(ESNLA) in 2003/2004 (1996 E.C.). Both
national assessments tried to address the
above issues. The findings showed that the
attitudes of students towards socially relevant
issues were in the desired direction but the
achievement levels in the tested subjects were
low. Furthermore disparities between sub-
groups (e.g., gender, regions, locations, lan-
guages of instruction) were also observed.
The Ethiopian Third National Learning
Assessment will be conducted this academic
year and the main objectives are:
• to determine the achievement levels of
Grade 4 students in mathematics,
English, reading & environmental
science;
• to determine the achievement levels of
Grade 8 students in mathematics,
English, biology, chemistry & physics ;
• to compare current outcomes with the
outcomes of previous national assess-
ments;
• to describe relationships between
achievement standards and school,
teacher, home background, and
pupil factors;
• to provide a basis with which to com-
pare future assessments of the subjects
tested and
• to provide high quality, reliable data
which will assist in policy
review and for mulation, and
resource allocation.