Abstract:
An empirical review was carried out to explore competency-based assessment in
Tanzania's primary and secondary schools. The study was guided by
constructivism and social theory. It was a desk review whereby several empirical
studies relating to competency-based assessment were reviewed to assess
types, effectiveness, challenges, and strategies adopted to design improved
competency-based assessment in primary and secondary schools in Tanzania.
The study revealed that formative and summative assessments are the main
assessments used in primary and secondary schools. Although diagnostic,
evaluative, and placement assessments were important, they were rarely used.
The study also found that the competency-based assessment is effective
because it allows the assessor to discover the learner's talents, design tailor made lessons to fit them and lead the individual learner to meet predetermined
goals. The challenges for competency-based were achieving excellence, large
class size, infrastructure for learning, assessment standards, and broad
recognition and understanding. The study explored the strategies for
competency-based assessment criteria and determined that they should be clear,
specific, measurable, and based on the expected performance levels for the job
role and the organization. The study concludes that competency-based
assessment is reasonable, provided that the implementers know the goals and
get appropriate in-service training to fit the goals. The study recommends that
assessors should apply all assessment types to identify talents and position the
learners to where they fit, and also, several learners per class should adhere to
enable a conducive learning environment.
