Brochure Etnla Highlights

MAJOR FINDINGS OF THE STUDY 1. The achievement scores at national level for both grades were found lower than the minimum required by the Ethiopian Education and Training Policy. 2. Boys performed better than girls in both grades in more or less similar ways with the previous two studies. This is an indication that the gender gap is still persistent. 3. There is wide variation between high and low achieving regions and in most cases the emerging regions performed less. 4. The gap between urban and rural is narrower in favor of the later. 5. Overall major declines in achievement scores were observed when compared with the First and Second National Learning Assessments.

6. Multiple regression models and analysis of the qualitative data obtained through interviews and focus group discussions identified several factors that influenced both Grade Four and Grade Eight students’ achievement negatively: shortage of school supplies and facilities, problems related to teacher absenteeism and competence, student absenteeism and lack of interest and motivation, difficulty of the curricula to teachers as well as students, low level of parental support, and problems in school administration among others. % Mean Score at Five Key Marker Points 70

EBNLA

ESNLA

ETNLA

47.2 41.3 38.3

41.1 38.7 38.4

40.9 38.2 34.1

40.3 40.1 35.3 32.2

34.7

41.1 39.7 35.6

50

50

Biology

English

Math

Chemistry

Physics*

% Achieved Proficiency Levels by Subjects

40.5

40 30

25

Below Basic

32.5

28

20

15.2%

15.2%

10

25.1%

25.1%

25.1%

59.7%

59.7%

57.9%

Average

17.0%

Basic

Proficient 14.2%

13.9%

29.2%

31.6%

24.0%

56.1%

54.2%

62.1%

14.8%

0 10th

25th Mathematics

50th Biology

75th Chemistry

Physics

90th Average

GENERAL EDUCATION QUALITY ASSURANCE & EXAMINATIONS AGENCY IN COLLABORATION WITH BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAM-USAID

December 2007 For your inquiry mail to: [email protected]

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The Ethiopian Third National Learning Assessment was carried out in 1999 E.C. (2006/2007) academic year on Grade 4 & 8 students across the nation in all the regions. Over 500 schools and about 23,000 students and their teachers participated in the study. This is a bird’s eye view of the project related to the purpose, design, and major findings.

60

English

Trends in Achievement at National Level

HIGHLIGHTS ON ETHIOPIAN THIRD NATIONAL LEARNING ASSESSMENT (ETNLA)

Front cover: Grade 8 students’ performance standard by subjects based on ETNLA findings. Last page: Comparison between the three studies conducted since 1992 E.C.. Back cover: Percentile scores at five key marker points (10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th ) of Grade 8 subjects.

OVERVIEW The main objectives of the two studies were to provide information about the overall learning attainments of Grade Four and Grade Eight students and to identify the major factors that potentially influence academic achievement. To achieve these objectives, both quantitative and qualitative

research approaches were used. The current study used more or less similar instruments and procedures with the Ethiopian Second National Learning Assessment. In Grade Four a total of 11,373 sample students from 305 schools in all regions participated in the study. In Grade Eight a total of 10,806 sample students from 280 schools in all regions were involved. For the purpose of generating data on factors which determine the academic achievement 832 teachers and 305 school principals were included in Grade Four. And in Grade Eight 1,242 teachers and 280 school principals were involved. In the qualitative study, 312 students, 311 teachers and 286 parents participated in focus group discussions.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

DATA ANALYSIS

1. To what extent have intended learning outcomes or objectives for the 1st & 2nd cycles of primary education in selected key subjects been attained across schools of Ethiopia?

1. Basic descriptive statistics such as mean, median, percentile and standard deviations were computed on the test scores. And frequencies were computed on categorical and ordinal variables obtained through the questionnaires.

2. Does achievement differ significantly across subgroups: sex, location, medium of instruction and region? 3. To what degree have the desired attitudes been developed at each level?

2. Ability scores were computed using Item Response (IRT) based on two parameter logistic factors (Difficulty Level & Discrimination Index).

4. Which school and home factors contribute most to academic achievement?

3. Performance standards were determined as ‘Proficient’, ‘Basic’ & ‘Below Basic’ using scaled IRT ability scores.

SAMPLING

4. T-tests and analysis of variance were performed on each test across different subgroups: sex, location, region in order to test whether differences in mean scores are significant or not.

1. Determining grade 4 pupils’ academic achievement in English, mathematics, environmental science and reading in mother tongue;

1. The Ethiopian Third National Learning Assessment was expected to provide good estimates of pupil’s academic achievement at the national level, with reasonable estimates at the regional level.

2. Determine grade 8 pupils’ academic achievement in English, mathematics, biology, chemistry and physics;

2. The target population of the study was defined as Grade 4 & 8 pupils in 1999 E.C. (2006/2007) academic year.

3. Assessing pupils’ attitude towards some of the affective factors of the education system; and

3. Two stage stratified cluster sampling procedure was followed to ensure that the sample contains a sufficient number of schools for each region which permit statistical inferences not only at national but also at regional level.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

4. Providing policy-makers and stakeholders the findings and recommendations of grade 4 and 8 pupils’ academic achievements in the subjects tested.

5. Correlations between different indices related to school and home factors and pupils’ achievements were computed. 6. Multiple regression models were constructed, in order to identify the relative contribution of different types of school and home factors to pupils' achievement. 7. Hierarchical Linear Models (HLM) were constructed to partition the variations observed in achievement scores at different levels (region, school, student).