Assessment in EVS (CCE, Indicators, Portfolios) and Common Problems in Teaching EVS

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CCE in EVS

The RTE Act 2009, Section 29(2)(h), requires comprehensive and continuous evaluation of the child's understanding of knowledge and her ability to apply it. Continuous means assessment is part of everyday teaching, not only at the end of a term; comprehensive means it covers all aspects of learning, including skills, attitudes and values, not only the recall of facts. Formative assessment (assessment for learning) takes place during teaching to find out how children are learning and to adjust the teaching; summative assessment (assessment of learning) sums up what has been learnt at the end of a unit or term; assessment as learning means children reflect on their own learning through self and peer assessment. In EVS the purpose of assessment is to improve learning, not to label, rank or fail children.

Indicators of learning in EVS

NCERT's Source Book on Assessment for Classes I-V in Environmental Studies (2008) lists indicators that teachers can watch for. Observation and reporting: noticing details, reading pictures, narrating and recording what was seen. Discussion: listening, talking, giving opinions and finding out from others. Expression: drawing, body movement, creative writing, modelling and other forms. Explanation: giving reasons and making logical connections. Classification: grouping, comparing and contrasting by features. Questioning: showing curiosity and framing questions. Analysis: predicting, guessing and inferring from evidence. Experimentation: trying things out, improvising and making things. Concern for justice and equality: sensitivity towards the disadvantaged and people with disabilities. Cooperation: sharing, taking responsibility and initiative, and working together. The note for teachers in the class V Looking Around lists the same ten indicators (its English edition calls the first Observation and Recording) and suggests observing 3 to 5 children every day and noting comments.

Reading an indicator question

A child who sorts leaves into smooth-edged and toothed ones is showing classification; one who asks why the pond dries up in summer, questioning; one who guesses that a seed kept without water will not sprout, analysis (prediction); one who draws and describes what she saw at the post office, observation and reporting or expression; one who builds a model of a stilt house from sticks, experimentation; one who says a classmate in a wheelchair should also be able to reach the playground, concern for justice and equality; and one who shares materials and divides work in a group, cooperation.

Tools of assessment

EVS uses observation of children at work, oral questions and conversation, drawings, worksheets, projects, survey and field-trip reports, models, role plays, checklists (yes or no for listed behaviours), rating scales (degrees such as always, sometimes, rarely), rubrics (criteria with a description of each level), anecdotal records (short dated notes on one significant incident) and portfolios. A written test is only one tool and, for young children, often the least informative. Questions should be open-ended and built on a situation or picture (Why are houses in Assam built on stilts?), not 'define' or 'name' questions. Progress is recorded as descriptive remarks that tell the child and the parents what she can do and what to work on next, with specific and encouraging feedback, and children are not compared with one another.

Portfolios

A portfolio is a purposeful collection of a child's work over time, such as drawings, worksheets, survey sheets, pressed leaves, field-trip notes and self-assessment sheets, chosen by the child with the teacher. Because each piece is dated, it shows growth rather than a single performance; it supports parent-teacher meetings and helps the child reflect on her own progress. It is a tool of continuous and formative assessment, not a file of only the neatest finished work.

Common problems in EVS teaching

Several problems recur, each with a remedy. EVS is often taught as facts to be memorised and tested; the remedy is activity, discussion and the assessment of skills. It is often split into separate science and social studies periods, which breaks the integrated approach; teaching through themes restores it. Teachers rely only on the textbook and read it aloud instead of using the surroundings. Large classes and a lack of material make activities seem impossible, but group work, peer learning and low-cost local material solve much of this. Pressure to finish the syllabus leaves no time for field trips, yet a short walk around the school or one theme-based project can replace many lectures. Children's home language may differ from the school language, so they should be allowed to speak in it and local names should be used. Some teachers avoid sensitive topics such as caste, gender, disability or poverty, or unknowingly reinforce stereotypes; EVS requires these to be discussed with care. Lack of training in the integrated approach is addressed through in-service training and teacher handbooks.

What the right option looks like

When a CTET option says the teacher should give a written test, award marks for neat copying, compare children or punish a wrong answer, it goes against CCE and against the RTE Act 2009, whose Section 17 forbids physical punishment and mental harassment. The better option assesses through observation during activities, accepts children's own words, records progress over time and uses the findings to change the teaching.

Key facts

RTE Act 2009, Section 29(2)(h): comprehensive and continuous evaluation of the child's understanding of knowledge and ability to apply it.
Assessment for learning = formative; assessment of learning = summative; assessment as learning = self and peer reflection.
NCERT Source Book on Assessment (Classes I-V, EVS, 2008) indicators: observation and reporting, discussion, expression, explanation, classification, questioning, analysis, experimentation, concern for justice and equality, cooperation.
Sorting leaves by their edges = classification; guessing what will happen to a seed without water = analysis (prediction); asking why a pond dries up = questioning.
Helping a classmate in a wheelchair reach the playground = concern for justice and equality; sharing work in a group = cooperation.
Checklist = yes or no for listed behaviours; rating scale = degree; rubric = criteria with level descriptions; anecdotal record = dated note on one significant incident.
Portfolio = dated collection of a child's work over time that shows progress, chosen with the child; used in parent-teacher meetings.
Good EVS assessment items are open-ended and picture- or situation-based; progress is recorded as descriptive remarks, not only marks.
Problems and remedies: rote facts - activities; split into science and social studies - themes; textbook only - surroundings; large classes - group work; no material - low-cost local aids; language gap - home language.
RTE Act 2009, Section 17: no physical punishment or mental harassment of children.

Quick revision

CCE (RTE Section 29(2)(h)): continuous during teaching, comprehensive across skills and values; formative = for learning, summative = of learning, self and peer = as learning; NCERT 2008 indicators: observation and reporting, discussion, expression, explanation, classification, questioning, analysis, experimentation, concern for justice and equality, cooperation; tools: observation, checklist, rating scale, rubric, anecdotal record, portfolio; descriptive feedback, no labelling; problems: rote, splitting, textbook only, large classes, language.

Practise this topic

All 8 lessons on Environmental Studies (EVS) and its Pedagogy (Paper I)