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SACMEQ and PASEC
Programme d’Analyse des Systèmes Educatifs de la CONFEMEN (PASEC)
The Analysis Programme of the CONFEMEN Education Systems (PASEC) has been administered in 13 countries in Francophone West Africa. PASEC is designed to assess student abilities in mathematics and reading French. The program is managed by CONFEMEN (La Conférence des Ministres de l’Education des pays ayant le français en partage) and has been in place since 1993. The assessment is administered in different years in different countries. PASEC is typically administered to students in 2nd and 5th grades at the beginning and end of the same school year, and is designed to measure students’ growth over the course of that year. Assessment results are intended for use primarily as a diagnostic tool.
PASEC scores are reported as the average percentage of correct responses scored on the test, and can range from 0 to 100. PASEC benchmarks are not tied to specific ability levels or education goals.
SOURCE: PASEC country reports
Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ)
SACMEQ reading and math assessments have been carried out in countries in Anglophone East Africa in 1995, 2000, and 2007. SACMEQ is administered in school to children in the 6th grade of formal school and is designed to assess student abilities in mathematics and reading English.
SACMEQ scores are scaled to have an international average value of 500 and a standard deviation of 100 points. This means that 68% of scores can be expected to fall within 100 points of 500, and 95% of scores can be expected to fall within 200 points of 500. Reading ability level benchmarks established by SACMEQ offer some understanding of the ability levels associated with different score levels.
Following Shabalala (2005) and Spaull (2011), who describe performance at Levels 1 and 2 of the SACMEQ as representing functional illiteracy and innumeracy, EPDC uses Level 3 (Basic Reading) as the lowest performance benchmark. This means that performance at Level 1 (Pre Reading) or Level 2 (Emergent Reading) are categorized as below the lowest learning benchmark. Students at these levels have answered a minimum of questions – or, in extreme cases, no questions – correctly.
Leveled indicators can be found in the other research documents folder: Supplementary Data for SACMEQ 1999, 2003, 2007
SACMEQ Reading assessment
SOURCE: SACMEQ III Results
SACMEQ Math assessment
SOURCE: SACMEQ III Results
References:
Spaull, N. (2011). Primary School Performance in Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, and South Africa. SACMEQ Working Paper. Retrieved from http://www.sacmeq.org/sites/default/files/sacmeq/publications/08_comparison_final_18oct2011.pdf
Shabalala, J. (2005). The SACMEQ II Project in Swaziland: A Study of the Conditions of Schooling and the Quality of Education. Retrieved from www.sacmeq.org/sacmeq-members/swaziland/sacmeq-reports
