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We invite SEAB-ling readers to give us your feedback on this issue. Let us know how to make Seab-ling a publication truly worth reading. Please write in to: SEAB_Seabling@seab.gov.sg

ADVISORS: Raymond Lim, Toh Poh Guan, Tan Eng HongEDITORIAL TEAM: Connie Tay, Premalatha d/o Parasuraman, Gerard James Ortega, Kwek Siew Puay, Anthony Ng

The SEAB-ling Editorial Team

we Value your Views

This issue of the newsletter brings you highlights of the 32nd IAEA Conference which SEAB organised. The IAEA Conference is an annual event that gathers together educational professionals the world over for synergistic discussion and sharing of ideas. The conference is traditionally held in different locations around the globe and this year, Singapore had the honour of playing host to numerous educationists as well as showcasing aspects of the Singapore education system.

Because it was held in Singapore, the conference gave many MOE teachers from various schools and teaching levels the chance to engage and exchange ideas with their foreign counterparts. No doubt, our Singapore teachers contributed greatly to the foreign delegates leaving Singapore with fond memories of the conference experience, both professional and personal.

While on the point of educational assessment, it bears mention that the results of any educational assessment can never truly be valid if the assessment is not properly or uniformly administered. To this end, SEAB constantly looks into new ways of enhancing examination administration in our own national examinations. However, SEAB is always mindful of the constraints that schools experience. In view of this, SEAB explored at the GCE Mid-Year Examinations this year the idea of posting invigilators back to their own teaching schools. We have included an article that covers the feedback we received from the schools that participated in this trial and the findings that influence the way posting for national examina-tions is conducted.

Since SEAB is committed to managing constraints where possible to ensure that examinations are fair to all, we are expanding our pool of examination personnel to cater to candidates with special needs. We have a write-up in this issue with some information on how this is currently done and what you can do to play a part in furthering this initiative.

Last but certainly not least, turn to our back page to see the human dimension of SEAB. On this note, and since the GCE Examinations are approaching, we wish you a pleasant examination experience.

Issue No 04OCT 2006

32nd Annual

The 32nd Annual International Association of Educational Assessment (IAEA) Conference was successfully organised by SEAB. The conference was held at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, from 22 to 26 May 2006. Being an international conference that focuses on assessment issues, the theme was ‘Assessment in an Era of Rapid Change: Innovation and Best Practices’.

IAEA Conference

The students divided themselves into two teams and debated the motion ‘This house would favour school autonomy in setting examinations over national examinations’. Team Singapore impressed participants with their wit and eloquence as well as their grasp of the issues involved.

Feedback from participants was very positive and encouraging. Results collated from feedback forms showed that most participants agreed that the conference was very well run, that there were plenty of learning opportunities, and that the quality of the service provided by conference staff was very good. Participants also indicated that they had learnt more about innovations and best practices in assessment, e.g. e-marking and assessment for learning. They also appreciated the opportunity to network with educational professionals from other countries. In all, SEAB achieved its objective of enhancing participants’ experience at the conference.

For more information, the abstracts and full text of the conference papers, please access the website at http://www.iaea2006.seab.gov.sg/.

Memorable moments of the IAEA Conference

This theme was selected so as to focus the conference discussion on how assessment agencies are responding to educational reforms in various countries around the world.

There were 430 participants comprising 212 Singaporeans and 218 overseas participants from 40 countries. A total of 100 papers and 3 workshops were presented. Among them, 8 were from SEAB, 8 from NIE and MOE, and 4 from our schools.

SEAB invited two keynote speakers to give their perspectives on assessment. Prof Barry McGaw, formerly Director for Education, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, spoke on the topic ‘Assessment – Fit for Purpose’ while Dr Randy Bennett from Education Testing Services focused on the topic ‘Technology and Writing Assessment: Lessons Learned from the US National Assessment of Educational Progress’.

The conference was also a platform for SEAB to showcase our students’ many talents and abilities, and Singapore’s education system. At the welcome cocktail reception, students from the Raffles Junior College Music Elective Programme entertained the

participants with a varied mix of musical masterpieces which lent an air of festivity to the evening’s programme. At the opening session, students from Millennia Institute staged an Angklung performance. This was very well received especially by overseas participants as many of them were not familiar with this musical instrument. Another item at the opening session was the play ‘Printed Dreams, Paper Castles’ produced and performed by students from CHIJ Katong Convent and Victoria School. In the play, the students expressed their feelings on examinations and offered their own suggestions for different modes of assessment. The play was also well received. A student video crew from Nanyang Junior College documented the conference proceedings. They captured

key activities of the conference and produced a 6-minute video summary of the highlights of the conference. This video clip was shown to participants at the closing session. The closing session also featured a debate by our national school debating team, Team Singapore.

Behind the Scenes with HQ CPEs…

Feedback from Schools on Internal Posting

of Invigilators for National Examinations

At this year’s GCE Mid-Year Mother Tongue Language Examinations, SEAB conducted a trial to ascertain if schools preferred having their own teachers as invigilators for national examinations and if doing so would in any way compromise the integrity of national examinations. To address the latter concern, we introduced an additional External Presiding Examiner (EPE) from another school to assist the Chief Presiding Examiner (CPE). In addition to surveying the CPE and EPE, we also surveyed the Principals (P), Vice-Principals (VP), Presiding Examiners (PE), invigilators and IES Coordinators to find out their views on this initiative. The feedback received showed that:

a. PEs and invigilators were generally in favour of this proposed initiative;b. CPEs and EPEs were generally not in favour of it;c. Ps/VPs and IES Coordinators gave lukewarm support to it;d. All groups of respondents agreed that it was important to have the additional EPE;e. IES Coordinators registered concerns that they would face difficulties in appointing EPEs.

We also received written input and comment from respondents who were mostly not in favour of the proposed initiative for the fol-lowing reasons:

a. Integrity and impartiality of the examinations might be compromised;b. Invigilators could be emotionally attached to their students because they teach and help them prepare for national exami- nations. Hence, invigilators would be put in a vulnerable position if they were made to invigilate their students;c. Students are too familiar with their school teachers, thus the sense of importance and seriousness of national examinations vis-à-vis internal examinations could be diluted if they were invigilated by teachers of their own school. Moreover, students usually treat external invigilators with more respect and are more compliant of examination rules; d. Many schools would face manpower constraints in appointing EPEs;e. CPEs would be very stressed if this initiative was extended to the year-end GCE Examinations.

However, some respondents did appreciate the convenience and the flexibility that schools and invigilators would enjoy if the pro-posed initiative were implemented.

Since the survey revealed that the opinions on this initiative are mixed and many teachers are still concerned about the integrity of national examinations being compromised, in addition to some general anxiety over implementation, SEAB will not be implement-ing this initiative and will continue with the existing approach of posting invigilators to other schools. Nevertheless, we will keep seeking other improvements to make the conduct of national examinations easier for teachers and schools where possible.

Given that most of us sat our national examinations in our own schools, have you ever wondered who looks after the needs of students who cannot take their national examinations in school, perhaps because they are in hospital? Let us introduce to you SEAB’s HQ Chief Presiding Examiners (HQ CPEs). They work behind the scenes to deliver professional and comprehensive examination support to students with special needs. Most of them are retired teachers and principals. We would like to take this opportunity to thank these little-known purveyors of examination services and acknowledge the credit long overdue to them.

Many HQ CPEs choose to do what they do because they are driven by a lifelong passion for helping students. HQ CPEs form the backbone of examination operations when it comes to conducting national examinations for students requiring special attention, for example, convalescent students in hospital. Besides administering examinations to hospital candidates, HQ CPEs are sometimes called upon to ensure that the smooth conduct of examinations is not compromised. For instance, they may personally deliver examination stationery to an examination centre that urgently needs it for an examination on the same day. Some of the more experienced HQ CPEs may be required to do the deployment of other

examination personnel during national examinations.

We spoke to our HQ CPEs and were happy to know that they found their work allows them to maintain their mental alertness and physical robustness. In addition to helping students, HQ CPEs appreciate being able to keep in touch with the ever-changing education landscape. On a lighter note, many HQ CPEs enjoy catching up with colleagues whenever they see them during the examination season.

If you are a retired or soon to be retired Education Officer, SEAB would like to invite you to be an HQ Chief Presiding Examiner (CPE).

Besides the fulfilment of conducting national examinations in Singapore, an HQ CPE may sometimes travel overseas to supervise the conduct of examinations under the authority of SEAB.

If you are interested to join us as an HQ CPE or keen to find out more about the job, we welcome you to email us atSEAB_Contac t -Us_Operat ions@seab.gov.sg .

The People Developer Standard is a national standard that recognises organisations which invest in people. People Developer Organisations have a systematic process for reviewing their human resource practices, developing staff and improving effectiveness of training to achieve better business results. Thus, we embarked on the People Developer journey to ensure that we are providing a good learning and development framework for SEABlings. We are happy to report that we achieved the People Developer Standard in May 2006!

Our 2006 SEAB Seminar, with the theme “Striving for Excellence Across Boundaries”, was held at SAFRA Mount Faber on 21 June 2006. The aim of the seminar was to contextualise organisational excellence in relation to SEAB, in order to explore how SEAB can re-energise its culture and bring it in line with relevant models of excellence and the best practices of cutting-edge organisations.

SEABlings working together to keep up the momentum of organisational excellence

SEAB’s National cum Active Day celebrations started with the usual Observance Ceremony. Thereafter, SEABlings proceeded to the Asian Civilizations Museum (ACM) where we were taken on a journey through Asia’s diverse culture and heritage. Returning from a fulfilling trip, we sat back and relaxed while we watched a video-clip entitled ‘The Soul of the Nation’. After a short break, we were all up and running around to complete our jigsaw puzzles. In high spirits, we sang National Day songs. Later in the afternoon, we took part in an activity organised by SEAB’s Innovation Committee. The aim of the activity was to create airplanes from the limited materials provided and to make them fly as far as possible. This helped us to discover the most innovative techniques for launching our own versions of airplanes.

SEAB’s National Day Celebrations

Strategising the approach to solve the ACM quiz

We wish to congratulate Miss Karen Chong on being awarded the Commendation Medal, Mr Wong Tien Han on being presented with the Efficiency Medal, and Mr Keith John Lenden-Hitchcock, Mr Lee Kiah Wah and Mr Rajenthiran Sellan on being recognised for their commitment to the education service by the award of Long Service Medals.

National Day Award Recipients

by Joyce Lim

by Khoo Cheak Ping

2006 SEAB Seminar