ZamSkools › Guides › Growth Profile

Reading growth the competency way

ZamSkools shows every learner's direction, not just their marks. This short guide explains what the growth screens mean and what to do with them — written for teachers moving from the 2013 knowledge-based curriculum to the 2023 competency-based one, and for parents seeing a growth summary for the first time.

Marks ask "what do you know?" — growth asks "where are you going?"

The old curriculum measured what learners could remember on the day of the exam. The 2023 competency-based curriculum asks what learners can do with what they know — and doing develops over time. A pupil on 52% who was on 38% two terms ago is a success story in motion; a pupil on 78% who was on 89% needs attention now, while the marks still look good. A single mark cannot tell those two stories apart. The growth profile can.

What the badges mean

▲ Improving ▼ Slipping Steady Not enough terms

Improving / Slipping — the subject moved by at least 3 percentage points since the previous term. The number next to the badge (like +12) is the size of the move.
Steady — any movement was smaller than 3 points; treat it as no change, not as good or bad news by itself.
Not enough terms — a trend needs at least two terms of results. A term with no marks is shown as a gap, never counted as a zero.

Every screen uses the same numbers as the report card — the percentage is computed once, the same way, everywhere.

For teachers: three habits that make growth useful

When you see…	Try next
A subject flat below 50%	More of the same teaching holds the same line. Change the approach — group work, a practical task, learners explaining to each other — and observe what they can do, not only what they recall.
Strong marks starting to slide	High attainment can hide a slide. Check whether the newest topics demand application rather than recall, before it shows in the grade.
One subject far above a learner's own average	That is a capability signal the old system ignored. Offer stretch work, and note it for pathway guidance at the transition grades.

Sort by improvement, not average. The class growth page lists the biggest movers first on purpose. Praising the most-improved learner — publicly, by name — teaches the whole class that growth counts, not only top marks. It costs nothing and it is the fastest culture change a teacher can make.

For parents: how to use the summary

Your child's growth page (on the web, in the app, or summarised by SMS) tells you the direction of each subject. Two suggestions:

Ask about the direction before the mark: "Maths is improving — what changed?" starts a better conversation than "why only 61%?".
A slipping subject is a reason to talk to the teacher early — the profile shows the slide one term before a bad report card would.

Where to find it

Teachers — open a class, then Growth (next to Class Analysis).
School office — Reports & Analytics → Student or Class report → View Growth.
Parents — your child's page → Growth (web) or the Progress tab (Android app).
Pupils — My Growth in the student portal.