Principals of Colleges of Education Attend Workshop

The Institute of Education (IOE) has organised a workshop for Principals, Vice-Principals and Assessment Officers of the Colleges of Education.

The two-day workshop, dubbed “Training of Trainers (ToT)”, was on the theme “Role of Principals, Vice- Principals and Assessment Officers in the assessment of students in the Colleges of Education”.

Addressing the participants, the Director of the Institute of Education, Prof. Frederick Ocansey, said the workshop was planned to focus on two important aspects of the student assessment, namely, how to conduct credible assessment in the colleges of education and how to apply best practices in generating test items for student assessment.

Prof. Ocansey said plans were far advanced to roll out workshops for tutors in the various subjects areas, mentioning English, Mathematics, Social studies, amongst others.

According to Prof. Ocansey, the Research and Publications Unit of the Institute was preparing to roll out series of workshops on the training of the academic staff of the colleges of education in writing research proposals, conducting credible research and publishing of research findings.

The Director said the Institute intended to modify the procedure used in generating test items for its question or item bank.

Explaining further, Prof. Ocansey said the current practice whereby the Institute invites item writers – mainly tutors from the colleges of education – and keep them at one center on residential arrangement for two weeks for them to write test items under the supervision and leadership of the Chief Examiners of the Institute of Education has faced some problems.

“This practice has faced some challenges including the disquiet expressed by principals on taking away and keeping tutors out of the classroom for two weeks.

“The practice also puts too much pressure on the item writers who are required to do so much within a short period of time,” he said.

He noted that the workshop would help Officers who were deeply involved in assessment in the colleges of education to use assessment effectively, which would in turn enhance both the academic standards and the quality of students learning experience.

The Provost of the College of Education Studies, Prof. Eric Magnus Wilmot, who opened the workshop, said the workshop would equip the participants with requisite knowledge and capacity on how to effectively manage assessment processes in their colleges.

Prof. Wilmot appealed to the participants to share information and knowledge gained in the workshop with their colleagues in their respective colleges.