Diagnostic Assessment in Numeracy at Grade 3: An Appraisal

Abstract

The Diagnostic Assessment (DA), which is administered to Grade 3 pupils in Mauritius at the start of the school year, is a classic example of using assessment to support learning. Pupils are assessed on key aspects of numeracy, enabling the early identification of learning difficulties. In this note, we briefly report on the philosophy and background of the DA project, the thinking behind the design of the assessment instrument, and present some findings from the 2018 assessment, all with the idea of demonstrating the potential of the DA in identifying learning difficulties. Such rich information can be very useful to the teacher to design tailor-made instructional interventions.