The Urgency of Contingency Pedagogy

The Atlanta public school cheating scandal, which erupted in 2011, serves as a cautionary tale about the misuse of assessment. Under a celebrated superintendent, dramatic test score improvements were later revealed to be the result of nearly 180 educators systematically altering students’ answers. The scandal was not a failure of testing itself, but of how high-stakes consequences were attached to results without adequate controls, leading to grade inflation and fraud.

A similar pattern of score inflation is evident in Indonesia. Analysis by the Ministry of Education’s Assessment Centre shows that school exam scores, which determine grade promotion or graduation, tend to cluster in the 80-90 range, obscuring an objective picture of student competence. This contrasts sharply with results from the more standardised Academic Competency Test (TKA), where average scores for primary school students were significantly lower, with only 23 per cent achieving good to excellent in Indonesian and just 19 per cent in mathematics.

Unfortunately, public debate often stops at whether scores are high or low, with schools and local governments fixated on rankings. The more critical task is using test results to improve learning. The government has now distributed TKA data more widely, allowing the public to see achievement down to specific competency subdomains in each region. Local governments and schools even receive data at the individual student level, creating a strategic diagnostic treasure trove.

Previously, macro-level learning data like PISA results offered little practical guidance for follow-up. Detailed information can now provide much clearer direction for policymakers at all levels. If the greatest weakness in mathematics lies in algebraic reasoning, the government can focus teacher training, teaching materials, and learning examples on that competency, while local authorities can target assistance to the schools most in need.

Parents and the public also gain a more complete picture of the learning challenges children face, elevating the conversation on education quality. The discourse can shift from generic policy proposals and score comparisons to discussions on which specific competencies need strengthening and how to achieve this collectively.

However, these benefits will only materialise if the information truly enters the classroom and influences teaching. Summative assessment results like the TKA must become the starting point for the formative assessments teachers conduct daily. Armed with knowledge of mastered and unmastered competencies, teachers can monitor understanding during lessons and adjust their approach based on classroom responses.

This is what education expert Dylan Wiliam calls ‘contingency pedagogy’. He likens a teacher to a pilot who, despite having a flight plan, constantly reads navigation instruments and adjusts to wind and weather. Similarly, a teacher’s decisions must be contingent on evidence of student understanding, keeping the destination fixed but the path open to correction.

Contingency pedagogy demands that teachers consistently make evidence-based decisions. Beyond providing comprehensive data dashboards, building the capacity of schools and teachers to read this data is crucial. Teachers need the ability to analyse emerging patterns, connect them to students’ learning experiences, formulate hypotheses, and design interventions that can be immediately tested in the classroom, thereby transforming data into professional knowledge. Research consistently shows that enhancing teachers’ ability to use assessment has a greater impact on learning outcomes than many more expensive policy initiatives.