Petrina Francis, Education Reporter
SOME 50,000 students across the island will sit the Grade Four Literacy Test today.
The test is administered by the National Assessment Programme to grade four students in primary and all-age schools.
According to the Ministry of Education, the test "checks students' ability to recognise words; read and understand simple stories, factual texts, directions, lists and tables. It also checks their ability to write simple stories, reports and letters".
THREE CATEGORIES
Performance in the test is divided into three categories: mastery, near-mastery and non-mastery.
Everton Jones, principal of Denham Town Primary, told The Gleaner yesterday that his students were generally prepared for the test. Almost half of the number of students who sat the Grade Four Literacy Test last year achieved less than the mastery level.
According to a report from the Ministry of Education, of the 52,910 students who sat the test, 29 per cent scored passing grades on one or two of the three-section test, attaining near-mastery level. Fifty-seven per cent mastered all three sections and just over 13 per cent performed at the non-mastery level, which meant they scored poorly on all three sections of the test.
In her opening contribution to the Sectoral Debate last week, Education Minister, Maxine Henry-Wilson said the ministry would be going all out to focus on the improvement of teaching techniques and capabilities in the effort to improve the test.
She said a summer camp would be held in July for students at the non-mastery level.
