Summary Results Of The 2022 Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment And Transfer Procedures

OVERALL REPORT 

BACKGROUND 

PR – 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’ performances 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.  

Despite the presence of the world-wide COVID-19 pandemic, Grenada was able to administer both the internal and the external components of the CPEA during the 2021-2022 academic  year. The Ministry of Education encouraged the wearing of masks and hand sanitizing in all  examination centers.  

The 2022 Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment (CPEA) officially commenced with the internal  component in September 2021 and culminated with the external components on Thursday  May 12th and Friday May 13th, 2022. The assessment was opened to all students who were  eleven (11) on or before September 1st, 2022. Due to challenges posed by the COVID-19  pandemic in May 2022, a few students were unable to write the external component of the  assessment. In this instance 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 affected  students to a secondary school, in a ratio of 2:1, respectively. 

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, eight hundred and three (1,803) students were registered for the  Assessment in 2022. This figure included nine hundred and fifty-five (955) males and eight  hundred and fifty (848) females. However, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-four (1794) students wrote the internal component whereas one thousand seven hundred and  eighty-three (1783) students wrote the external component of the examination.  

Of the one thousand, seven hundred and ninety- four (1794) students, nine hundred and  fifty (950) males and eight hundred and forty-four (844) females, who completed at least one  component of the CPEA assessment during the specific period, one thousand six hundred  and forty-five (1645) have been assigned to a secondary school. This number includes  eight hundred and thirty-three (833) males and eight hundred and twelve (812) females. The  remaining one hundred and forty-nine (149) students, one hundred and sixteen (116)  males and thirty-three (33) females, who are unassigned, would be supported to sit the  assessment in 2023. 

In 2021, one thousand nine hundred and six (1906) students were registered to write the  CPEA, but only one thousand, seven hundred and twenty (1720) students were assigned to  secondary schools. One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two (1, 872) students were  registered for the CPEA in 2020; but only one thousand, seven hundred and forty- three (1743) students were assigned to secondary schools. Since no external assessment was possible in 2020, the  CPEA Internal scores and the Minimum Competency Test (M.C.T.) Grade Five scores were utilized to place the students.  

Table 1: The number of students assigned to each secondary school (2022)

GENERAL RESULTS 

The highest score attained in the assessment was 483 out of a maximum possible score of  500. In 2019 and 2021, the highest score was 490 and 488, respectively. The lowest score  obtained in the examination was 108, compared to 7 in 2019 and 117 in 2021. The national  mean of 68.59 in 2022, reflects a marginal decline of 1.1%, against 2021’s 69.69. In  2019 the national mean was 71.68. Ninety-one-point seven percent (91.7%) of the CPEA  candidates writing the assessment obtained fifty percent (50%) or more in the assessment.  This reflects an improvement of 1.22% when compared to the 90.48% achieving the same  mark in 2021. 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 2022. 

External Component 

In the external component, students performed the best in Science. Out of a total possible score of  100, the national mean in Science was 59.88, a decline of 5.09 from 2021’s 64.97. The most notable  drop was in Language Arts with a shift from 65.39 in 2021 to 46.92 in 2022. The subject  Mathematics documented the most significant increase, moving from a mean score of 49.06 in  2021 to 53.88. The mean for Social Studies external component in 2021 was 64.51 compared to  59.87 in 2022.  

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

Internal Component 

In the internal assessment, the best performance was recorded in Language Arts, followed by  Science, Social Studies and Mathematics at the rear. Table 3 below demonstrates the national mean  in all of the areas. The mean score in Language Arts, internal component was 83.56 and  Mathematics mean score was 81.70. 

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 1242 students attained 50% or above in the external component of the examination.  This figure represents 69.66% of the students writing this component. 

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

There were 1749 students achieving the 50% or above mark in the internal component of the  examination, representing 97.5% of the cohort participating in the internal aspect of the examination.

TRANSFER PROCEDURES 

GROUNDS FOR TRANSEFR REQUEST 

Transfers will only be allowed under the following strictly adhered to grounds: 

For a student to be transferred (from the first school assigned to another), at least one of the following criteria  must be met:  

AVAILABILITY of Space: in accordance with the 1:35 teacher to pupil ratio.  

VACATED Space: where a student has vacated an assigned placement at the school for which a transfer is  requested.  

OTHER Special Conditions: Hinged on a) and b), but not limited where the following conditions apply:  -Medical and/or Psychological Conditions: underlying conditions with proven history and records.  -Change in Residence: Where the student now resides closer to the preferred school (proof required). 

TRANSFERS: The following procedures will apply when requesting transfers for students:   

1. Parents or Guardian shall apply for transfer electronically via the online WEB OFFICE Portal of the  Government of Grenada website, after which it will be received by the principal of the secondary  school where the transfer is being requested. The applications should be submitted within five (5)  business days of the results being published and is valid for five (5) business days thereafter.  
2. The application will be reviewed by a CPEA Transfer Committee (comprised of the manager, the  principal and vice principal of the school), chaired by the principal.  
3. The school’s CPEA Transfer Committee will meet and submit their recommendations to the Ministry  of Education, through the Office of the Chief Education Officer, no later than two (2) weeks after the  results are published. Recommendations received after the deadline will not be considered.  
4. a) Principals will send all recommendations for transfers to the Ministry of Education through the Office  of the Chief Education Officer, for final approval.  
5. b) All recommendations for transfers shall be forwarded to the Planning, Research & Development Unit  through the Office of the Chief Education Officer, for documentation and collating, which must be  done within two (2) business days following receipt.  
6. c) All recommendations shall then be forwarded to the Ministry’s CPEA Oversight Committee  (comprised of Chief Education Officer, DCEO-Testing & Measurement; DCEO-School  Administration; Senior Planning Officer), for transfer review and decisions. Page 7 of 11  
7. Transfers will only be granted after the Ministry of Education has reviewed and officially documented  the transfer decision.  
8. Immediately following the review and decisions the following steps shall be taken a) For all approved  transfers, the parent or guardian shall be notified in writing by the Office of the Chief Education 

Officer, so that all requisite steps are followed. b) For all denied transfers, the parent or guardian shall  be notified in writing by the Office of the Chief Education Officer, so that all requisite steps are  followed.  

NOTE 

∙ The Ministry of Education will NOT ACCEPT any hard copies of completed transfer forms from parents, and accordingly, parents MUST refrain from making their request physically at the Examination’s Unit. 

∙ Parents who DO NOT have access to electronic means of submission can contact the Educational Testing and Measurement Unit via telephone: 440-2791 or 440-2737  Ext:27004 to assist with the same. 

∙ Late submission of transfer forms and incomplete forms WILL NOT be considered. 

∙ Based on students’ performance and the number of students placed in the school of their first  choice, some schools have already met their CAPACITY. Therefore, the Ministry of  Education WILL NOT allow transfer to schools where the class size is already at its maximum.