The author of the CSEC Mathematics text Raphael Johnson popularly known by his sobriquet “Croqueta,” facilitated a Math School Based Assessment (SBA) Workshop at the J W Fletcher Catholic Secondary School on 11 July.
Twelve math department heads from different schools participated. Teachers who attended the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Math School Based Assessment, or SBA Workshop, are expected to demonstrate improved skills in guiding and supporting students, resulting in higher completion rates for mathematics SBAs.
Keith Blackman, math and science teacher at Wesley College, said, “Over the years, when CXC (Caribbean Examinations Council) introduced the mathematics SBA, a lot of the teachers were unsure as to what exactly they wanted of us, and we’ve been doing it according to the guidelines that the CXC website provided, but it’s limited in a lot of regards. So, this session today puts a lot of things into perspective. It’s good to interface with other math teachers and hear what they are thinking so that we can really synchronise what’s going on with math in Grenada.”
Blackman said Johnson’s text and guidelines have equipped him and his colleagues to effectively administer math SBAs in the future. School-based assessments account for 20% of the grading scheme for CSEC Additional Mathematics.
Curriculum officer Lydon Richardson believes this training will pay off in the classroom. He said, “The teachers who are here are quite engaged, and we are quite happy to see the kind of information and the communication — the discussion — that is taking place in the groups.”
Head of the math and science department and Form 5 teacher at the Grenada Christian Academy Roxanne Lessey said the training provided much-needed clarification on SBA preparation. She said, “We’re better able to get an insight as to the exact direction that we should take — how to understand the marking scheme — so that we can take it back to our students to help perfect their SBAs.”
Johnson, a T A Marryshow Community College (TAMCC) Math and Physics lecturer, said his text “CSEC Mathematics” is unique because there is an in-depth chapter on SBA preparation. This text is also being used as the main math text in Jamaica and Antigua and is expected to be adopted by other islands. The math and science teacher at Wesley College, Keith Blackman, praised the relevance of the text. He said, “This text is one of the most user-friendly that I’ve ever seen. It relates things in a practical sense. It uses a Caribbean context with examples that we, as Caribbean people, can relate to, and it really simplifies the content in a way that students and teachers are able to understand quite easily.”
During the Math SBA Workshop, the CSEC Mathematics author assisted teachers in understanding how to use the SBA chapter effectively. “First of all, they should be able to know what an SBA is and explain that to the students, because the SBA was introduced so that students would have knowledge of the real-life application of math,” Johnson said.
Other topics discussed with teachers included how to create an effective SBA topic, learning how to grade SBAs using the CSEC rubrics or grading scheme, and writing model SBAs.
