THE IMPLEMENTATION GAP IN CONTINUOUS AND COMPREHENSIVE EVALUATION: POLICY EXPECTATIONS VERSUS CLASSROOM PRACTICES IN ODISHA

Abstract

Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) was introduced in Indian school education with the objective of moving assessment beyond periodic examinations towards a continuous, comprehensive and learner-centred process. Its underlying philosophy emphasised regular assessment, identification of learning difficulties, timely feedback, remediation and attention to students' cognitive, affective and co-curricular development. In Odisha, CCE was implemented for Classes I to VIII in accordance with the provisions of the Right to Education framework. However, the implementation of continuous evaluation has not always been synonymous with meaningful formative assessment. The emergence of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023 has further shifted the assessment discourse towards competency-based, holistic and formative assessment. Odisha's State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) continues to develop and revise assessment frameworks and Holistic Progress Cards, demonstrating an ongoing transition in the state's assessment system. This paper examines the implementation gap between policy expectations and classroom practices relating to continuous and comprehensive evaluation in Odisha. It proposes a mixed-method empirical framework involving teachers, students and school administrators across rural, urban and tribal contexts. The study focuses on teacher assessment literacy, workload, classroom practices, feedback, record maintenance, learner participation, formative assessment and institutional support. The paper argues that the principal challenge is not the absence of assessment policy but the gap between the philosophy of continuous assessment and its operationalisation at classroom level. Effective implementation requires teacher capacity building, simplified documentation, contextualised assessment tools, adequate institutional support, meaningful feedback mechanisms and stronger academic monitoring. The paper proposes an Odisha-specific framework for transforming CCE from a compliance-oriented exercise into an authentic assessment-for-learning system.