Summary Results Of The 2021 Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment (CPEA) And Transfer Procedures

The Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment (CPEA) was introduced in place of the National Common  Entrance Examination (CEE) for the first time in 2012. The CPEA is a measure of the key skills  required by students exiting the primary school system. It involves continuous assessment of  students’ performance throughout Grades 5 and 6. Students are therefore assessed for formative,  summative and diagnostic purposes. The CPEA has been developed by the Caribbean  Examinations’ Council (CXC) in collaboration with the Ministries of Education throughout the region.

Due to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, in early 2020, Grenada was unable to  accommodate students for the sitting of the external component of the Caribbean Primary Exit  Assessment (CPEA) in May of that year. However, the Ministry of Education, Human Resource  Development, Religious Affairs, and Information utilized the CPEA internal assessment scores  and the Minimum Competency Test (MCT) Grade 5 scores to assist in the assignment of students  to a secondary school, in a ratio of 2:1, respectively.

In 2021, however, Grenada administered both components of the examination. The 2021 Caribbean  Primary Exit Assessment (CPEA) officially commenced with the internal component in September  2020 and culminated on Thursday, May 27 and Friday, May 28, 2021, with the external  component. The assessment was opened to all students who were eleven (11) on or will be before  Sept. 1, 2021.

THE CPEA COMPRISES TWO (2) COMPONENTS:  

• Internal Assessment (40% of total score)  
• External Assessment (60% of total score) 

Features of the internal assessment include: 

• Project
• Book Report
• Writing Portfolio
• Self-assessment
• Practice in “Can-Do” Skills: English, Mathematics, Science and Civics • Teacher-made-Test in English, Mathematics, Science and Civic

Features of the external assessment include fifty (50) multiple choice questions in:  

(A) Language Arts (B) Mathematics (C) Science (D) Social Studies

Students were given seventy-five minutes to complete each paper.

REGISTRATION AND SECONDARY SCHOOL ASSIGNMENT 

One thousand, nine hundred and six (1,906) students were registered for the Assessment in 2021.  This figure included one thousand and twenty-six (1026) males and eight hundred and eight (880)  females. However, one thousand eight hundred and ninety (1890) students wrote the external  component, while one thousand, nine hundred and one (1901) wrote the internal aspect.

One thousand seven hundred and twenty (1720) students were assigned to a secondary school  throughout Grenada, Carriacou, and Petite Martinique. This number includes eight hundred  and ninety-two (892) males and eight hundred and twenty-eight (828) females. Therefore, the  Ministry of Education retained one hundred and eighty-one (181) students at the primary school  level; one hundred and thirty-four (134) males and forty-seven (47) females. These students will  have another opportunity to write the Assessment in the academic year 2021-2022.

In 2020, one thousand eight hundred and seven-two (1872) students were registered to write CPEA,  but only one thousand, seven hundred and forty-three (1743) students were assigned to secondary  school. One thousand nine hundred and forty-nine (1, 949) students were registered for the CPEA in 2019; one thousand and eleven (1,011) were males, and nine hundred and thirty-eight (938)  were females. However, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-nine (1,799) students were assigned  to secondary schools.

Table 1: The number of students assigned to each secondary school 2021

GENERAL RESULTS 

The highest score attained in the assessment was 488 out of a maximum possible score of 500. In  2018 and 2019, the highest score was 481 and 490, respectively. The lowest score obtained in the  examination was 117, compared to 7 in 2019 and 91 in 2018. The national mean was 69.69 and  the standard deviation was 14.81. The mean of 69.69 in 2021 reflects a marginal decline of  1.99%, against 2019’s 71.68. In 2017 and 2018 the national mean was 69.46 and 68.8,  respectively. Ninety-point four eight percent (90.48%) of the CPEA candidates writing the  assessment obtained fifty percent (50%) or more in the assessment. This reflects a decline 1.92%  when compared to the 92.4% achieving the same mark in 2019. In 2020, although there was no  external component of the CPEA, 93.1% of the Grade 6 students were assigned to secondary  schools.

Each primary school will receive its specific copy of the Grade 6 students’ assignments to a secondary school with particulars for their students only. Therefore, the Ministry will not publish  the comprehensive listing in 2021.

EXTERNAL COMPONENT 

In the external component, students performed the best in Language Arts. Out of a total possible  score of 100, the national mean in Language Arts was 65.39, a decline of 0.44. In Science, the top  performing area over the years, the mean was 64.97, recording a drop of 2.67. The subject  Mathematics documented the most significant decrease, moving from a mean score of 55.56 in  2019 to a below average score of 49.06 in 2021. Social Studies was the only area where  improvements were noted. The mean for the Social Studies external component in 2021 was 64.51  compared to 64.20 in 2019.

Table 2: The national mean in each subject area in the external component  

Two students (1 male and 1 female) attained a perfect score of 100% in the Social Studies, external  component in 2021. One student obtained the same mark for Language Arts. No student in neither  Mathematics nor Science achieved the maximum mark of 100% in 2021.

INTERNAL COMPONENT 

In the internal assessment, the best performance was recorded in Social Studies, followed by  Science, Language Arts and Mathematics consecutively. Table 3 below demonstrates the national  mean in all of the areas. The mean score in the Social Studies, internal component was 83.07 and  the Mathematics mean score was 81.16.

Table 3: The national mean in each subject area in the internal component of the assessment  

Table 4: Number of students obtaining 50% or above in the external assessment 

Table 4 shows that 1376 students attained 50% or above in the external component of the examination.  This figure represents 72.80% of the students writing this component.

Table 5: Number of students obtaining 50% or above in the internal assessment 

There were 1854 students achieving the 50% or above mark in the internal component of the  examination, representing 97.52% of the cohort participating in the internal aspect of the examination.

TRANSFER PROCEDURES 

1. All applications for transfers will be submitted ONLINE to the Principal of the Secondary School to  which the transfer is being requested. This application must be submitted within FIVE DAYS of the  results being published and will be reviewed by a Transfer Committee chaired by the Principal.
2. The Transfer Committee will comprise the Manager, the Principal and Vice principal of the school.
3. The transfer committees must meet and submit their recommendation to the Ministry of Education  NO MORE THAN TWO WEEKS after the results are published. Recommendations received after  the deadline will not be considered.
4. If a school meets the student teacher ratio 1:35 after placement, NO transfers will be allowed  except where a student is unable to take up a space assigned, and a recommendation is made to replace  that student.
5. Principals will send all recommendations for transfers to the Ministry of Education for approval.  Transfers must only be granted after the Ministry of Education reviews and documents the same in  writing.

Kindly remember to make your transfer request ELECTRONICALLY to the principals of the  secondary schools.