The National Student Assessment (NSA) 2022: grades 3 and 5

NSA is a large-scale assessment that uses a nationally representative sample-based approach to obtain information about the learning levels of students in grades 3 and 5 in the schools of Bangladesh in two foundational subjects – literacy (Bangla) and numeracy (mathematics). NSA does not report learning achievement at the level of individual student, instead it reports learner performance at the national level. The assessment also tries to establish the association between learner performance and contextual variables in order to provide useful information to education planners, policy makers and researchers. The NSA 2022 assessment was found to be valid and reliable. In general, the performance of students was similar to or better than NSA 2017. The performance of girls was similar or slightly better than that of boys indicating the prevalence of gender parity. Mymensingh is the highest performing division and also showed substantial gains compared to 2017 while Sylhet continues with low performance. Students in different school types showed some differences in their achievements with GPS consistently doing well and Madrasahs requiring a lot of support. Schools in border areas and plain lands performed the best across subjects and grades with coastal area students doing well in grade 3 across subjects but falling behind at grade 5 level and students in riverside/erosion prone areas performed well in mathematics. Students who require maximum support live in remote areas, islands and wetland areas. Teacher classroom behaviour and feedback mattered to students. Students who made extra efforts showed better performance. During school closures, students who could access online classes performed better. Interactions between the head teacher and teachers on learning strategies and the intervention of the head teacher at classroom level have significant association with learning. On the other hand, the education of parents up to graduate and above, and the employment status also have a positive and large association with learning.