This was presented at the East Asia Regional Conference on Benchmarking Education Systems for Results. The presentation focuses on the case of Singapore.

1. The Role Of High-stakes Examination in SingaporeYeap Ban Har National Institute of Education banhar.yeap@nie.edu.sg Benchmarking Education Systems for Results East Asia Regional Conference, 21-23 June 2010 Singapore

2. National Examinations in Singapore Part 1

3. Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) at the end of Grade 6 is the only compulsory national examination National Examinations in Singapore

4. General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level (GCE O Level) at the end of Grade 10 National Examinations in Singapore

5. General Certificate of Education Advanced Level (GCE A Level) at the end of Grade 12 National Examinations in Singapore

6. Generally, examinations are important in determining subsequent educational paths of students. Examination results is not the only determinant but an important one. National Examinations in Singapore

7. How the System Use Examinations Results Part 2

8. Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) consists of tests in English Language and mother tongue (written, oral and listening), Mathematics (written) and Science (written) The Case of Primary School

9. Three indicators are used by the education system. There is an indicator for students who have not met the minimum requirement to handle subsequent stage in the education system. This is called the U Grade. The Case of Primary School

10. There is an indicator for students who have met the goals of the curriculum. This is called the Pass Grade (C to A*). The Case of Primary School

11. There is an indicator for students who have excelled in a subject. This is called the Quality Pass Grade (A or A*). The Case of Primary School

12. How the Schools Use Examination Results Part 3

13. ‘Comparable schools' are schools with students of similar socio-economic and family backgrounds. Schools compare their average to a comparable school and if their average is below that of a comparable school, they know that they need to improve their programme. The Case of Primary School

14. Taken from Northland Primary School’s website

15. Part 4 How Examinations Affect School Programmes

16. The mathematics examination includes hardly any multiple-choice items - none for Grades 10 and 12 and 20% of the total test score for Grade 6. The Case of Mathematics

17. A significant proportion of the tasks are new or complex problems. The Case of Primary Mathematics

18. PSLE 2009

19. PSLE 2009

20. PSLE 2009

21. PSLE 2009 chocolates sweets 12 Jim 12 12 12 12 12 18 Ken 3 parts  12 + 12 + 12 + 12 + 18 = 66 1 part  22 Half of the sweets Ken bought = 22 + 12 = 34 So Ken bought 68 sweets.`

22. Students are expected to reach these standards. Classroom practices are geared towards these - procedural teaching is deemed not effective. Teachers provide higher-order thinking tasks. The Case of Primary Mathematics

23. Teaching for conceptual understanding is essential to have students do well in such examinations The Case of Primary Mathematics

24. Teachers find their present competency – content and pedagogical – inadequate and seek professional development. The Case of Primary Mathematics

25. The Case of Primary Mathematics The system provides professional development structures.

26. The Case of Primary Mathematics Schools are expected to have Professional Learning Communities by 2012. There is a Staff Developer in many schools now.

27. How National Examinations Bring About Changes in Classroom Practices Conclusion

28. National examinations demands students to perform challenging tasks. Trilogy

29. Teachers include them in the instruction but find existing pedagogy inadequate. They find themselves needing professional development. Trilogy

30. There exist within the structure of the system an array of instruments for professional development. Trilogy

31. www.banhar.blogspot.com