1.

INTRODUCTION
School-based assessment is unlike traditional assessment. The differences
between the traditional assessment and the school-based assessment must be
addressed first of all while exploring the challenges teachers face in implementing
the SBA. According to Palomba and Banta (1999), assessment is the systematic
collection, review and use of information about educational programmes undertaken
for the purpose of improving learning and development. evaluate students
performance. The students performances are then typically reported as the
percentages of scores or letter grades (Brown, 2011). Malaysia was one of the
countries which followed this traditional assessment in evaluating students
performance at primary and secondary school level.
Meanwhile, the SBA is an assessment which is rooted in the teaching and
learning process. Itinvolves the teacher from the beginning to the end: from planning
the assessment programme,to identifying and/or developing appropriate assessment
tasks right through to making the assessment judgments. It is carried out in ordinary
classrooms and conducted by the students' own teacher. It also allows the teacher
to give immediate and constructive feedback to students. This assessment has been
practised in numerous educational systems internationally.
The positive significance of SBA in many countries has influenced Malaysia
too. Thus, the Malaysian Government introduced SBA or its Malay acronym PBS
(Pentaksiran Berasaskan Sekolah) as part of the National Transformation
Programme to produce world-class human capital. Through this more holistic,
integrated and balanced assessment, the ministry aims to achieve the aspiration of

the National Philosophy of Education towards developing learners physical,

emotional, spiritual and intellectual abilities. It also aims to reduce exam-oriented
learning among learners, evaluate learners learning progress and enhance
teachers integrity in assessing, recording and reporting of learners learning.
In an effort to produce excellent human capital of the country, the Ministry of
Education brought essential changes in the education system. The changes are to
be done by teachers who are the front-liners in the implementation of the SBA. Thus,
teachers positive attitudes and beliefs towards the implementation of the SBA are
indispensable inorder to sustain the changes. Meanwhile, teachers acceptance and
willingness to carry out the changes are vital too in achieving the aspirations of the
SBA (Jaba, 2013).
However, studies have shown that teachers are unhappy with the
implementation of the SBA. For instance, the study carried out by Fook and Sidhu
(2011) revealed that teachers worry about the validity and reliability of the
assessments constructed because of the cut and paste method.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW
School-based assessment is unlike traditional assessment. The differences
between the traditional assessment and the school-based assessment must be
addressed first of all while exploring the challenges teachers face in implementing
the SBA. According to Palomba and Banta (1999), assessment is the systematic
collection, review and use of information about educational programmes undertaken

for the purpose of improving learning and development. Hence, school examinations
and tests are the main assessment carried out traditionally to evaluate students
performance. The students performances are then typically reported as the
percentages of scores or letter grades.Malaysia was one of the countries which
followed this traditional assessment in evaluating students performance at primary
and secondary school level.
According to Chan Yuen Fook in his article, the SBA is an assessment which
is rooted in the teaching and learning process. It involves the teacher from the
beginning to the end: from planning the assessment programme, to identifying
and/or developing appropriate assessment tasks right through to making the
assessment judgments. It is carried out in ordinary classrooms and conducted by the
students' own teacher. It also allows the teacher to give immediate and constructive
feedback to students. This assessment has been practised in numerous educational
systems internationally. Developed countries such as United Kingdom, Finland, New
Zealand, Canada, England and many other countries have implemented the SBA
successfully for a long time. In the USA, the SBA has also been developed and
implemented although surpassed by national testing programs. Moreover, SBA has
been largely adopted as national educational policy in Asia and in some developing
countries like Ghana and Zambia (HKDSE, 2012).
The positive significance of SBA in many countries has influenced Malaysia
too. Thus, the Malaysian Government introduced SBA or its Malay acronym PBS
(Pentaksiran Berasaskan Sekolah) as part of the National Transformation
Programme to produce world-class human capital. Through this more holistic,

integrated and balanced assessment (Malaysian Education Ministry, 2012), the

ministry aims to achieve the aspiration of the National Philosophy of Education
towards developing learners physical, emotional, spiritual and intellectual abilities. It
also aims to reduce exam-oriented learning among learners, evaluate learners
learning progress and enhance teachers integrity in assessing, recording and
reporting of learners learning (KPM, 2012).
In the article by Chan Yuen Fook and Gurnam Kaur Sidhu, they mentioned
that in an effort to produce excellent human capital of the country, the Ministry of
Education brought essential changes in the education system. The changes are to
be done by teachers who are the front-liners in the implementation of the SBA. Thus,
teachers positive attitudes and beliefs towards the implementation of the SBA are
indispensable in order to sustain the changes. However, studies have shown that
teachers are unhappy with the implementation of the SBA. For instance, the study
carried out by Fook and Sidhu (2011) revealed that teachers worry about the validity
and reliability of the assessments constructed because of the cut and paste
method.

3. DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS

Throughout the years, it is universally acknowledged that assessment has
played an integral part in teaching and learning at any learning institution around the
world. The word assessment itself may have been interpreted distinctively by
concerned parties. For example, Gurnam, Chan, and Sarjit (2011) state that five
different parties which include policy maker, administrator, teacher, parent and

student may hold different perceptions and conceptions on assessment. According

to Gurnam et al., policy makers define assessment as standards to monitor the
quality of education. Administrators view assessment as a means to monitor the
strengths and weaknesses of a program whereas teachers use assessment as a
tool for monitoring student progress and performance. By contrast, students
perceive assessment as an indicator of their ongoing progress and performance.
Instead, parents regard assessment as a kind of feedback on their childs progress
as well as the gauge to indicate the schools accountability in offering effective
teaching and learning. In this sense, the assessment system not only affects
teaching and learning but it does affect the society at large. Hence, Mariam and
Sabrin (2008) concur that new approaches to assessment are certainly necessary
for educational reform.
Traditionally, assessment in Malaysian schools was centralised on national
examination. Students were required to sit for three main public examinations as a
prerequisite to the next level of education. In Hamzah and Paramasivan (2009),
these principal examinations have been generally known to Malaysians as the
Primary

School

Assessment

(UPSR),

the

Lower

Secondary

Assessment

Examination (PMR) and the Malaysian Certificate of Education (SPM). Nevertheless,

SchoolBased Assessment was introduced in 2002 as a move away from traditional
teaching to keep abreast with changing trends of assessment. In other words, this
initiative was also a directive from our Ministry of Education aimed to suit the global
trend of decentralisation of assessment. One of the reasons for this implementation
is to help improve students communicative competence which is parallel to the

learning outcomes outlined in the English Language Syllabus for Malaysian

Secondary Schools (Lembaga Peperiksaan Malaysia, 2002).
The bulk of the respondents cited time-consuming and extra workload as the
most common problems that make them feel unhappy with the implementation of the
SBA. Teachers workload is usually heavy but the interview findings revealed that
the implementation of the SBA is overburdening and causing too much pressure to
the teachers. They reported many teachers see the SBA as additional work imposed
on them by the authorities. They also claimed that the SBA is adding extra workload
and pressure to teachers routine of packed timetables. Generally, every day
teachers occupy their time in developing interesting lesson plans and planning
different teaching approaches in order to conduct a lively and enthusiastic class.
Besides focusing on their teaching preparation, they have to do various work too
such as keeping record book, marking, filing and participating in all school activities.
With the implementation of the SBA, teachers believe that their workload has
increased. The findings revealed that the SBA needs extra marking, filing,
documentation, paperwork and reassessment. Extensive record keeping and
monitoring of individual learners in the new assessment increases teachers
workload. All the additional workload needs additional time to accomplish them.
Teachers evaluation on each band requires ample time. Besides occupying their
working hours fully, teachers still have to work on their extra heavy workload after
school hours. Assessment on each student in each classroom needs additional time
than the usual lesson hour. Hence, the tasks do not always flow naturally from
teaching and learning. Another teething problem among teachers in the

implementation of the SBA is classroom management due to the large class size.
Generally, large class size causes many obstacles that hinder optimal teaching and
learning (Word, 1990). When a teacher has too many students in a class, it becomes
difficult for the teacher to get to know each students strengths and weaknesses.
Teachers may also have no time to dedicate adequate knowledge by noticing each
students learning disabilities and special needs in the large class. Similar worries
were shared by the respondents of this study. They claimed that assessing each
student in a large class size is really challenging. Moreover, they stressed that they
have to utilize a lot of time for the preparation and evaluation.
Moreover, the respondents in the current study also insisted that it is hard to
handle students in the large classes. It is common to find classes of forty and above
in the secondary schools in Malaysia. The situation of the classroom might be too
noisy and poses practical difficulties in handling all the students in the classroom.
Thus, the respondents found that noisy and inconvenient environment as a barrier
for them to implement the SBA successfully. Another frequent complaint of the
respondents is students lack of involvement in the SBA and studies. They indicated
that students involvement in studies is becoming poor after the implementation of
the SBA.
Previously, the students compete against one other and they performed well
in order to get many As in the examination. Now, there is no room for the
competition. According to a respondent, competition among students will result in
great achievements. A number of studies also show that competition in studies is
good for students. For instance, The respondents also claimed that students lack of

involvement in the studies causes negative attitudes towards studies such as

students becoming lazier, dependent, inattentive and not serious during the lessons
in the classroom. Therefore, the SBA needs active learners to make it successful.
The successful implementation of an outcome-based approach to teaching, learning
and assessment involves active participation of learners. The findings also revealed
that students different background is one of the barriers hindering the teachers to
implement SBA successfully. This is because a classroom consists of students who
come from different educational and language proficiency background. The author
mentioned that teachers must consider the varied proficiency levels of students in
planning instruction and assessment. Generally, many students perform at the
similar level; however, there are always students who perform below average level
and others who perform above average level. Students levels of proficiency cannot
be completed without first addressing their abilities in each of the four language skills
- reading, writing, speaking, and listening. A teacher must be cognizant of each
students strengths and weaknesses during instruction and when assigning tasks.
Lack of training for teachers is also another challenge in implementing the
SBA successfully. It is impossible to implement change in an education system
effectively if serious investments are not made in the professional development of
teachers. The author of this article also pointed out that lack of training is one of the
major issues in the implementation of the SBA. She supported that teachers skills
have been found to be inadequate especially in the aspect of developing various
assessment instruments other than written tests which they are used to.

Another problem was concerning the lack of resources and supporting

materials. Lack of maintenance of SBA website is also one of the challenges
encountered by the teachers in the current study. Some teachers commented that
the online system has become troublesome for teachers, forcing them to occupy
more time on paperwork, while reducing the time spent on class preparation and
teaching directly. Thus, it has affected the effectiveness of teaching.
Teachers favour some students over others at school and especially in their
classes. In brief, the respondents reported facing many challenges in implementing
the SBA such as time-constraint, increased workload, large class size, students lack
of involvement, lack of training, different levels of students, insufficient materials,
problematic SBA management system and favouritism.

4. LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH

Taking all the results from journals, we have now gained a better insight into
the research and trends in the studies of SchoolBased Oral English Assessment.
Nevertheless, it is worth addressing a few limitations of the studies in order to
ensure precise interpretation of the findings. First, it is not too much to postulate that
a limitation of this content analysis lies in the generalisation of the findings. Although
almost half of the articles centred on the Malaysian context (7 articles), it is still hard
to determine that most studies on SchoolBased Oral English Assessment have
been conducted in Malaysia. Under such circumstances, the results only offer us a
snapshot of the studies in a particular context. As well, the findings offered by each
study could not simply be generalised to other countries in the world.

The purpose of conducting studies on SchoolBased Oral English

Assessment may vary from one place to another even in the same country,
considering many other external factors. Second, it is obvious that the use of mixed
method and questionnaire is the most prevalent among recent studies throughout
this review. Nevertheless, it is also worth noting that the small number of selected
articles (15 articles) can hardly represent the research trend around the globe. As
well, it is also recommended that the studies be repeated in the next few years in
other different contexts in order to get a precise picture of pattern and trend in the
studies of the subject matter.
Overall, the findings found out that although the motives of SBA are positively
perceived by the teachers, the implementation of the SBA in schools is still
unfavourable because of the numerous challenges in implementing the SBA. First of
all, teachers should possess ample knowledge on the SBA. They must receive
sufficient training and courses to run the assessment successfully. The education
ministry and schools must ensure that all teachers obtain adequate knowledge to
carry out SBA. Teachers must exhibit high level of professionalism in accomplishing
their duties. Besides that, teachers negative perceptions towards the SBA
implementation should be diminished. Moreover, teachers should get sufficient and
suitable materials to carry out the SBA smoothly. The education ministry should
create a greater awareness among teachers about the positive impacts of the SBA.
Thus, the students motivation towards studies will not be lowered.
Furthermore, there is a need for standardization of assessment among
teachers and schools. Teacher must have uniformity in terms of methods and

10

materials in order to produce standard achievement among students. In addition,

favouritism

and

victimization

of

pupils

during

instructional

measurement,

assessments and evaluations must be avoided. Finally, there is a need for reliability
at all times.

5. IMPLICATIONS
Overall, the findings found out that although the motives of SBA are positively
perceived by the teachers, the implementation of the SBA in schools is still
unfavourable because of the numerous challenges in implementing the SBA. First of
all, teachers should possess ample knowledge on the SBA. They must receive
sufficient training and courses to run the assessment successfully. The education
ministry and schools must ensure that all teachers obtain adequate knowledge to
carry out SBA. Teachers must exhibit high level of professionalism in accomplishing
their duties.
Besides that, teachers negative perceptions towards the SBA implementation
should be diminished. Moreover, teachers should get sufficient and suitable
materials to carry out the SBA smoothly. The education ministry should create a
greater awareness among teachers about the positive impacts of the SBA.
Teachers, students, parents and public should know the current updates such as the
SBA for Lower Secondary (PBSMR) replacing the Lower Secondary Assessment
(PMR). Thus, the students motivation towards studies will not be lowered.
Furthermore, there is a need for standardization of assessment among
teachers and schools. Teacher must have uniformity in terms of methods and

11

materials in order to produce standard achievement among students. In addition,

favouritism

and

victimization

of

pupils

during

instructional

measurement,

assessments and evaluations must be avoided. Finally, there is a need for reliability
at all times.
Eventually, in order to perform the SBA successfully, on-going trainings for
teachers, standardization of the SBA materials and methods of assessment,
distribution of workload, adequate maintenance of the SBA management system,
awareness of currents updates and modification of the SBA implementation,
students active involvement and teachers positive attitudes towards the SBA are
essential. Although, examination plays a role in determining students future, the
School-Based Assessment is implemented to prevent students from becoming
examination machines. As each implementation receives positive and negative
feedbacks, the SBA has also been receiving numerous applauses and criticisms.
The Governments aim is to produce human capitals who acquire holistic
knowledge. The writers mentioned in their article that the education system is
transformed in order to achieve this aim. Teachers play a vital role in ensuring the
success of implementing this new assessment. With adequate knowledge, and
positive perceptions and attitudes they will be able to face the challenges to carry
out SBA successfully.

12

6. CONCLUSION
This study explored the voices of teachers towards the implementation of the
SBA. This study is obviously a small scale study carried out in Negeri Sembilan and
Melaka. This study also is limited in its scope as it to only have respondents from
secondary schools. There is indeed room for further research by including a larger
participant size from schools in various states in the country.
Although, examination plays a role in determining students future, the
School-Based Assessment is implemented to prevent students from becoming
examination machines. As each implementation receives positive and negative
feedbacks, the SBA has also been receiving numerous applauses and criticisms.
The Governments aim is to produce human capitals who acquire holistic knowledge.
Therefore, the education system is transformed in order to achieve this aim.
Teachers play a vital role in ensuring the success of implementing this new
assessment. With adequate knowledge, and positive perceptions and attitudes they
will be able to face the challenges to carry out SBA successfully.

13

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senior high school entrance examinations. JALT Testing and Evaluation, 7(2), 2-11.
Chan, Y. F., Gurnam Kaur Sidhu, Norhamimah Rani, & Norazah Abdul Aziz. (2011).
Analysing factors associated with students oral test performance. The International
Journal of Educational and Psychological Assessment, 9(11), 27-47.
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2011). Research methods in Education (7th ed.).
New York, NY: Routledge.
Faizah A Majid. (2011). School-Based Assessment in Malaysian schools: The concerns
of the English teachers. Journal of US-China Education Review, 8(10), 1-15.
Gurnam Kaur Sidhu, Chan, Y. F., & Azleena Mohamad. (2011). Teachers knowledge
and understanding of the Malaysian School-Based Oral English Assessment. Malaysian
Journal of Learning and Instruction, 8, 93-115.
Gurnam Kaur Sidhu, Chan, Y. F., & Sarjit Kaur Sidhu. (2011). Students reactions to
School- Based Oral Assessment: Bridging the gap in Malaysia. Asian EFL Journal,
13(4), 300-327.
Hamzah Md. Omar, & Paramasivan Sinnasamy. (2009). Between the ideal and reality:
Teachers perception of the implementation of School-Based Oral English Assessment.
A Journal of the Malaysian English Language Teaching Association, 38(2), 13-29.

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