The Application of informal assessment of core competencies within vocational high schools

Abstract

This study aims to determine the extent to which teachers in Indonesian vocational high schools apply informal assessments to evaluate learning outcomes. The problems in this study are the development of using informal assessment across four competencies in vocational high schools, the main reasons for conducting this evaluation, and the data collection techniques in assessing students’ skills informally. This study applies a survey method with a descriptive analysis to evaluate the application of informal assessment across the four keys: religious, social, knowledge, and skills competencies. The survey was conducted within 98 Schools, across 21 Indonesian Provinces, and included 183 teachers. The results show that, first, all the responding teachers apply informal assessment methods across all four competencies because of the school recommendations. Second, teachers used formal assessments to fulfill the data for students who are in trouble. The study also found that teachers have the highest tendency to apply informal assessment based on four competencies, which was religious for 76%. Finally, the study identifies that teachers favor observation checklists (80%) to gather informal assessment data. This study's contribution is to prove the implementation of informal assessment based on four competencies and the importance of this evaluation system towards vocational high school students’ outcomes.