Culture & Education | Sunday 8 March, 2015 6:31 am |

The Public Education Evaluation Commission (PEEC) has begun its practical application phase of the professional development program for its evaluators, starting with field training conducted through school visitations across Riyadh and Jeddah.

Announcing this, Najlah Al-Driehim, director of the professional development project, said the field training phase will last 10 days. The trainees will undertake the evaluation process in a number of schools within field teams, under the direct supervision of coaches who will evaluate the trainees.
Meanwhile, the PEEC also begins a national testing project this week, which is a pilot project for the application of innovative science and mathematics courses for more than 4,000 students in all the regions of the Kingdom.

“The pilot test is a key stage in the development of national tests and the processing of key tests that will be held in the next few months on a sample of more than 26,000 students” said Saja Jamjoom, project manager of the National Tests Project under PEEC. Regarding the professional development project, Al-Driehim said the practical application stage represents the fifth stage of the evaluator project which includes visit to elementary, secondary and high schools both in Riyadh and Jeddah.
She said that there are more than 100 trainees participating at this stage scattered in groups ranging between 8 trainees to 16 trainees per each group, with each being accompanied by a team of trainers and a translator, as well as a project coordinator.

According to Al-Driehim, “The project aims to qualify specialists in the field of school performance evaluation in accordance with the approved body of scientific standards.” It seeks to develop their abilities, skills, knowledge and attitudes related to the philosophy of PEEC and school accreditation, he said.