The
Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is planning to initiate a 'Problem
Solving Assessment' (CBSEPSA ) for students of classes IX and XI from the
second term of the 2012-13 session.
the Board is planning to initiate a `Problem Solving Assessment’
(CBSE-PSA)
for students of Classes IX from the second term of this session 2012-13.
The features
of the `Problem Solving Assessment’ (CBSE-PSA) will be as follows: -
1. It will
be compulsory for all students of Classes IX and carry 90 marks. There will be
60 items of MCQ type.
2. There is
no specific syllabus for `Problem Solving Assessment’ (CBSE-PSA). Itwill assess
the
Following
areas:-
Quantitative
Reasoning
Qualitative
Reasoning
Language
Conventions
3. The items
will incorporate aspects of 21st
Century
Skills (Creative Thinking, Decision Making, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving,
and Communication) that lead to success at Secondary stage. They wouldbe
assessing student’s ability to process, interpret and use information rather than
assessing student’s prior subject matter knowledge.
4. The
Assessmentin language will contain items that will assess grammar, usage,
vocabulary in
context and
passage-completion.
5. The items
inProblem Solving Assessment’ (CBSE-PSA)will be designed in such a way so as to
improve the generic and higher order thinking skills. This will also result in
improving scores within the core school subjects.
6. All items
will be prepared in Hindi and English.Central Board of Secondary Education, PA
to DIR(Trg)/Circulars/2012 July 31, 2012
7. The
`Problem Solving Assessment’ (CBSE-PSA) willbe done during the month of January–February 2013 for students of Class
IX.
8. The
`Problem Solving Assessment’ (CBSE-PSA) will be counted towards FA-4 which is
10% of total assessments of Class IX.
This assessment will also be carried forward towards the FA-4 in Class
X.This score will be reflected in one Language (English or Hindi), Mathematics,
Science and Social Science w.e.f the session 2012-2013 for Class IX and
2013 – 14 for Class X. The same score
will be reflected in FA-4 for class IX and Class X.
9. The
students will have the option to improve their PSA Score in Class X, as they
can sit for the test with Class IX students of the Session 2013-2014 in
January – February 2014. The best scores will be reflected in the
final certificatein case of those applying for improvement.
10. The
schools which have already planned their time table and other details regarding
FA-4 will take the best scores ofFA-3 and FA-4 to count towards the total 10%,
now available for FA-3
and FA-4
taken together.
11. There
will be no separate time tables or periods for teaching or practice of PSA in
schools.
Examples of
test items and the Format of the
Assessment that might be used in the Problem Solving
Assessment
(CBSE-PSA) are attached in the Annexure `A’ & ‘B’ respectively to this
Circular. Download