Educational Assessment in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa PakistanΓÇÖs North-West Frontier Province: Practices, Issues, and Challenges for Educating Culturally Linguistically Diverse and Exceptional Children

This article presents the case of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), PakistanΓÇÖs former North-West Frontier Province, and its provincial educational assessment policies and practices.┬á These policies and practices affect millions of Culturally Linguistically Diverse and Exceptional (CLDE) children who live in rural and remote areas, and areas afflicted by conflict and insurgency. The article raises questions about political interference, ethical conduct, and fairness in the administration and marking of the assessments. It discusses efforts for systematic administration and collection of learning assessment data, teacher professional development programs to improve assessment practices, policies which address the educational needs of the diverse students in the province, and challenges and barriers to province-wide sustainable education development. In conclusion, the author offers suggestions and recommendations for policy makers and education stakeholders towards capacity building and improvement of assessment practices for all learners while it attempts to shed light and dispel misconceptions about KP and its people.┬