Abstract:

There are a number of indicators for quality of education; the most vital one is the level of achievement. The levels of achievement for any nation are so important that they need to be known periodically to keep a tab on the general health of the education system. Such a requirement warrants the conduct of periodic achievement surveys at different stages of school education in order to initiate remedial measures to improve the quality of education. The achievement surveys done on large scale provide data to monitor and keep a track record of development of the system over time. At class III level, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) carried out the Baseline Achievement Survey under Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) in the year 2003-2005. After that the Mid Term Achievement Survey was carried out in 2007-2009. These surveys were conducted to find out the achievement in language and mathematics in all the states/UTs of the country. The tests comprised 35 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) in each subject. In the year 2013, NCERT is conducting the third cycle of Class III Achievement Survey. During the last decade a number of educational reforms have taken place in the country and there has been a paradigm shift in the curriculum, syllabi, textbooks and the teaching learning strategies. Educationists have started questioning the rationale of using MCQs to gauge the achievement level for Class III students. To attempt a MCQ, involves reading the stem and the options, understand and analyze them, and to arrive at the correct option from the given choices. The format of MCQ may not be ideal to measure the achievement level of an 8 or 9 year old in the subject area. This study was undertaken to explore the question - Is the achievement in mathematics significantly lowered for a class III student while responding through an MCQ format?

Keywords:

Achievement Survey.