CBC Assessment in Kenya: Methods, Tools and Recording

CBC assessment is how teachers keep track of what each learner can actually do, strand by strand, throughout the term. Instead of one exam deciding a learner's result, you gather evidence from observation, oral questions, written and practical tasks, projects and portfolios, and record it as a performance level: Exceeding Expectation (EE), Meeting Expectation (ME), Approaching Expectation (AE) or Below Expectation (BE).

This guide covers the main assessment methods, the tools you record with, a step-by-step way to keep your records, and the mistakes that cause the most trouble. For what the four levels and their EE1 to BE2 sub-levels mean, read our guide to CBC strand-based grading.

What CBC assessment is

Most CBC assessment is formative. It happens while you teach, so that you and the learner can see what is working and what needs more practice. Summative assessment checks what a learner has achieved at the end of a unit, term or stage.

A large part of the picture is school-based assessment (SBA): assessment done in school by teachers, following KICD and KNEC guidelines. It counts toward national results. For KPSEA, SBA from Grades 4, 5 and 6 makes up about 60% of the final score and the national assessment makes up the other 40%.

The main assessment methods

You do not need a different method for every lesson. Pick the one that fits what the learner is meant to be able to do.

• Observation. Watching learners as they work alone, in pairs or in groups, and noting what they can do and how independently.
• Oral questions and discussion. Asking learners to explain, answer or retell. This works especially well for younger learners and for language learning areas.
• Written tasks and quizzes. Short exercises, worksheets and tests that give a mark you can convert to a level.
• Practical work and experiments. Learners carry out a task such as measuring, planting or a simple experiment, and you assess how they work as well as their answer.
• Projects and performance tasks. Longer tasks, done alone or in groups, where learners apply what they have learned: a model, a presentation, a performance.
• Portfolios. A collection of a learner's work over time that shows progress.
• Self and peer assessment. Learners reflect on their own work, or give feedback to classmates, against clear criteria.

Assessment tools: what you record with

A method is how you gather evidence. A tool is how you record it.

• Assessment rubric. A table that describes what a learner's work looks like at each performance level. It is the most important tool for grading a sub-strand consistently.
• Checklist. A list of things a learner should be able to do, ticked off as you see them.
• Observation schedule and rating scale. A planned way to watch learners and rate what you see, for example from "rarely" to "always".
• Anecdotal record. A short note about something specific you saw a learner do or say. Useful for evidence and for report comments.
• Portfolio and learner profile. Samples of work and a running summary of a learner's strengths and needs.

Because KICD's curriculum designs provide assessment rubrics for each sub-strand, start from those instead of writing your own from scratch, and adapt them to your class.

A sample rubric

Here is how a rubric describes one learning outcome at four levels. It is an invented example for illustration, not taken from a KICD design.

Outcome: the learner measures the length of objects using a ruler.

• EE (Exceeding Expectation): Measures and records the length of five objects correctly, uses the right units, and explains where they placed the ruler, without help.
• ME (Meeting Expectation): Measures and records the length of five objects correctly with the right units, with a little prompting.
• AE (Approaching Expectation): Measures some objects correctly but misses the starting point or the units, and needs reminders.
• BE (Below Expectation): Cannot yet measure with a ruler without direct help.

Notice that each descriptor says what you can see the learner do. "Understands measurement" cannot be checked. "Records the length of five objects correctly" can.

How to record CBC assessment, step by step

1. Plan it in your scheme of work. For each sub-strand, note which method and tool you will use. Our guide to schemes of work shows where this fits.
2. Tell learners what is expected. Share the learning outcome in simple words before the task.
3. Collect evidence in normal lessons. Observe, listen, ask questions and set short tasks as you teach. You do not need a separate test for every sub-strand.
4. Record the level straight away. Write each learner's level for the sub-strand soon after you see the evidence, because memory is the weakest record.
5. Keep a sample of evidence. For learners near a boundary, such as between ME and AE, keep a piece of work or a short note that supports your judgment.
6. Review at the end of the sub-strand and the term. Look for learners who need more support and for sub-strands that most of the class found hard.
7. Report. Levels go into the learner's progress report. For assessed grades, schools also upload SBA scores to KNEC's Competency-Based Assessment portal.

Turning marks into levels

When you give a written task marked out of a total, you work out the percentage and then pick the level. These are the score bands DARASA uses for the eight levels, from EE1 (8 points) to BE2 (1 point):

• EE1: 90–100% (8 points)
• EE2: 75–89% (7 points)
• ME1: 58–74% (6 points)
• ME2: 41–57% (5 points)
• AE1: 31–40% (4 points)
• AE2: 21–30% (3 points)
• BE1: 11–20% (2 points)
• BE2: 0–10% (1 point)

Rubric and observation judgments do not need a percentage at all. You compare what the learner did with the descriptors and choose the level. Your school may ask you to record only the four main bands (EE, ME, AE, BE) or the eight sub-levels, so check which one it expects.

School-based and national assessment

SBA is not only an internal record. It feeds into the national results. At Grade 9, the KJSEA summative assessment makes up 60% of the final score, the learner's KPSEA result contributes 20%, and school-based assessment from Grades 7 and 8 contributes the other 20%.

KNEC has also said that KJSEA does not give a single total score across subjects. Each subject is reported on its own as a performance level, which is why you should not add up a learner's subjects into a "KJSEA mean" the way an 8-4-4 mean grade was worked out.

Common mistakes

• Treating every task as a test. Most evidence should come from normal lessons.
• Writing vague rubrics. If you cannot see it, you cannot grade it.
• Recording late. Levels written a week later are guesses.
• Using 8-4-4 habits on CBC results. KNEC has warned schools against ranking learners and producing mean scores from KJSEA results. The point of CBC reporting is to show what each learner can do.
• Keeping no evidence. A level with nothing behind it is hard to explain to a parent.
• Copying a rubric you have not checked. Use the KICD design for your grade and subject.

How DARASA helps

DARASA's CBC gradebook records each assessment against a strand and sub-strand and turns scores into performance levels from EE1 to BE2, so you do not work them out by hand. You can plan the sub-strands with the CBC lesson planner and your schemes of work. Marks can be entered offline and sync when you are back online. Start your free trial and try it with one class.

Quick answers

What are the types of assessment in CBC?

The two main types are formative assessment, which happens during teaching, and summative assessment, which checks achievement at the end of a unit, term or stage. School-based assessment and national assessment are the two settings in which they are used.

What is the difference between formative and summative assessment?

Formative assessment is used to improve learning while it is happening, so it is often not graded in a final way. Summative assessment measures what a learner has achieved at the end of a period.

What are CBC assessment tools?

They are the instruments teachers use to record evidence: rubrics, checklists, observation schedules, rating scales, anecdotal records, portfolios and learner profiles.

Is CBC assessment only about exams?

No. Exams and written tasks are one source of evidence among several. Observation, oral questions, practical work, projects and portfolios all count.