Value-added indicators for a fairer Chilean school accountability system:A pending subject

Although schools’ relative contribution to pupils’ progress is increasingly used in accountability systems around the world, momentum for value-added models (VAM) has not been reached in Chile. This small-scale study explores qualitatively the policy context in which this omission takes place, by analyzing policy documents and interviewing local policymakers and researchers about their views on VAM. These agents and official documents not only point to political, methodological and pragmatic reasons for and against value-added indicators, but also highlighted ethical and legal reasons pro (but not against) VAM. Overall, the most prominent reason for including VAM into the new accountability system was the ethical consideration. The notion that a fairer indicator could make justice, especially for those schools working in disadvantaged contexts, was a recurrent idea. In contrast, the most recurrent reasons against VAM were methodological. Whilst research on VAM for the Chilean school system has been conducted over the last decade, it has impacted very little the policy arena. Given that the creation of frameworks for assessing value-added indicators takes time, needs policy and research support and needs to consider potential unintended consequences, the road towards including them into the Chilean school accountability system is just starting

Assessment in higher education and quality of learning: perceptions, practices and implications

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências de Educação - Especialidade em Desenvolvimento CurricularA avaliação desempenha um papel fundamental no processo de ensino e aprendizagem. A implementação do Processo de Bolonha no Ensino Superior despoletou mudanças nas universidades Europeias no que diz respeito ao currículo e à reorganização de programas com implicações para os processos de ensino, aprendizagem e avaliação. O objetivo principal deste trabalho de investigação é compreender o modo como os professores e os alunos universitários percecionam o processo de avaliação no ensino superior. O estudo foi realizado em cinco universidades públicas Portuguesas e uma universidade Sueca, em diferentes áreas do conhecimento. O objetivo principal do estudo é contribuir para a melhoria da qualidade dos processos de ensino, aprendizagem e avaliação no ensino superior. O design de investigação baseou-se numa abordagem mista, incluindo métodos qualitativos e quantitativos, com diferentes técnicas e procedimentos de recolha de dados. Foram utilizadas entrevistas presenciais e questionários abertos online com o objetivo de aprofundar as percepções dos professores universitários acerca da avaliação. O inquérito por questionário foi selecionado com o objetivo de conhecer as percepções de avaliação dos alunos universitários. Os resultados sugerem que uma mudança de paradigma de uma abordagem centrada no professor para uma abordagem centrada no aluno é valorizada pelos professores universitários. Particularmente, uma avaliação centrada no aluno é entendida como positiva, uma vez que traz benefícios para o processo de aprendizagem. Para além disso, fomenta a avaliação formativa e o feedback sendo considerada como um processo de avaliação mais justo. A avaliação dita mais tradicional é entendida pelos professores universitários como tendo efeitos negativos, levando à memorização e representando poucos benefícios em relação à aprendizagem dos alunos. Alguns professores universitários afirmam que mudaram as suas práticas de avaliação após a implementação do Processo de Bolonha. No entanto, os resultados revelam que o teste escrito continua a ser o método mais utilizado para avaliar os alunos. Esta tensão e contradição entre conceções e práticas de avaliação é explicada pela falta de recursos materiais e humanos, pela relação professor/aluno, pela sobrecarga de trabalho, pela falta de disponibilidade para o processo de avaliação, pelo tempo despendido para fazer investigação e pelos constrangimentos institucionais. Os resultados deste estudo também sugerem que a avaliação influencia o processo de ensino e de aprendizagem na perspetiva dos professores universitários. Os alunos universitários, tal como os professores universitários, percecionam a avaliação centrada no aluno mais positiva do que a avaliação tradicional, uma vez que é mais justa, mais eficaz e mais positiva para a regulação do processo de aprendizagem. Pelo contrário, a avaliação tradicional é concebida pelos alunos universitários como menos eficaz, menos justa, promovendo uma abordagem superficial à aprendizagem e tendo um impacto negativo na qualidade da aprendizagem. No entanto, os alunos universitários também afirmam que o teste escrito é o método mais usado. Esta investigação constatou que as ideias que os alunos associam à avaliação estão relacionadas com os métodos de avaliação utilizados e as diferentes áreas de conhecimento. Em geral, a maioria dos alunos associa o teste/exame e as notas com a avaliação. Os resultados também sugerem que o feedback é entendido como mais relevante, eficaz e de uma forma mais positiva pelos alunos avaliados através de uma avaliação realizada através de métodos alternativos do que pelos alunos que são avaliados através de uma avaliação mais tradicional. No que diz respeito a área de conhecimento, as Ciências Sociais e Humanas destacam-se das demais, uma vez que os professores que lecionam nesta área utilizam métodos mais centrados no aluno para avaliar e os alunos desta área associam ideias mais positiva à avaliação. Além disso, os professores que lecionam na área das Ciências Sociais e Humanas afirmam que já utilizavam métodos de avaliação centrados no aluno antes do Processo de Bolonha. A investigação realizada no contexto sueco permitiu encontrar pequenas diferenças entre os dois sistemas de ensino superior. Particularmente, as perceções dos alunos universitários revelam diferenças no que diz respeito aos métodos e modos de avaliação mais utilizados e aos momentos em que ocorre a avaliação. As implicações que emergiram dos resultados sugerem linhas de investigação para futuros estudos.Assessment plays a key role in the teaching and learning process. It has gone through changes over time, due to different factors and influences. The implementation of the Bologna Process in Higher Education has brought about changes in European Universities in regard to curricula and programme restructuring with implications for teaching and learning processes as well as for assessment. Existing literature in this field suggests that a paradigm shift occurred changing the assessment practices leading to the emergence of new methods and strategies to assess students’ learning. The main purpose of this piece of research is to understand how university teachers and undergraduate students perceive the assessment process in higher education. Five Portuguese public universities and a Swedish university, in different fields of knowledge were included. The main purpose of the study is to contribute to improving the quality of teaching, learning and assessment processes in higher education. The research design was based on a mixed method approach, including both qualitative and quantitative methods, focusing on different techniques and data collection procedures. Face to face interviews and online open-ended questionnaires were used in order to deepen the university teachers’ perceptions of assessment. The questionnaire was selected in order to obtain a broad view of undergraduate students’ perceptions of assessment. Findings suggest that a paradigm shift from a teacher-centred approach towards a learnercentred approach promoted by the Bologna Process is appreciated by university teachers. Particularly, a learner-centred assessment is perceived as positive as it brings benefits to the learning process. It also enhances a formative assessment and feedback being considered as a fairer assessment process. On the contrary, the traditional assessment is perceived by university teachers has having negative effects, leading to memorisation and representing few gains in regard to students’ learning. University teachers claim they have changed their assessment practices after the implementation of the Bologna Process. However, this study found that the written test based on a summative assessment is the most used method to assess students. This contradiction between conceptions and practices of assessment is explained by the lack of material and human resources, the teacher/student ratio, heavy workload, lack of availability to the assessment process, time spent for doing research and institutional constraints. Findings from this study also suggest that university teachers perceive assessment as influencing the teaching and learning process. The undergraduate students, as well as university teachers, perceived the learner-centred assessment more positive than the traditional assessment, one as it is fairer, more effective and more positive for the regulation of the learning process. In contrast, the traditional assessment is perceived by undergraduate students as less effective, less fair, promoting surface approaches to learning and having a negative impact on the quality of learning. Nevertheless, the undergraduate students also claim that the written test is the method most used. This research found that the ideas that students associate with assessment are related to assessment methods used and different areas of knowledge. In general, most of the students associated test/exam and grades with assessment. Findings also suggest that feedback is perceived as more relevant, effective and in a more positive way by students assessed through learner-centred assessment than students who are assessed through traditional assessment. As far as the knowledge area is concerned, Social Sciences and Humanities stands out from the other areas as teachers claim that they use most learner-centred methods to assess and students associate more positive idea with assessment. Also, teachers who teach in Social Sciences and Humanities programmes claim that they used methods of assessment centred on the learner before the Bologna Process. The research carried out in the Swedish context enabled to find minor changes between the two systems of higher education regarding students’ perceptions about methods, modes and times of assessment. The implications emerged from the findings suggest avenues for future research.A presente Tese de Doutoramento teve o apoio da Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, através da Bolsa Individual de Doutoramento com a referência SFRH/BD/76175/2011, co-financiada pelo Programa POPH/FSE

Big data for monitoring educational systems

This report considers “how advances in big data are likely to transform the context and methodology of monitoring educational systems within a long-term perspective (10-30 years) and impact the evidence based policy development in the sector”, big data are “large amounts of different types of data produced with high velocity from a high number of various types of sources.” Five independent experts were commissioned by Ecorys, responding to themes of: students' privacy, educational equity and efficiency, student tracking, assessment and skills. The experts were asked to consider the “macro perspective on governance on educational systems at all levels from primary, secondary education and tertiary – the latter covering all aspects of tertiary from further, to higher, and to VET”, prioritising primary and secondary levels of education

Higher education: students at the heart of the system

White Paper Introduction This White Paper sets out our proposals for a higher education sector which is sustainably funded; delivers a better student experience; and contributes fully to the efforts to increase social mobility. The purpose of this consultation is to receive feedback on this overall package of proposals for reforming higher education in England. These proposals represent a radical reform of the higher education syste

Moving English forward : action to raise standards in English

"This report sets out to answer the question: how can attainment in English be raised in order to move English forward in schools? It is recommended to all who teach the subject, those who lead the subject, and headteachers of primary and secondary schools. The findings are based principally on evidence from inspections of English between April 2008 and March 2011 in 268 maintained schools in England. Part A highlights the main strengths and weaknesses in English and presents the evidence from the survey inspection visits. Part B draws on this inspection evidence to analyse 10 areas of weakness and recommend appropriate action to improve practice in each area" - front cover

Using principles of authentic assessment to redesign written examinations and tests

Tests and examinations are widely used internationally. Despite their pervasiveness, they tend to measure lower order thinking skills in a decontextualized manner at a time when the literature frequently argues for the benefits of a richer, authentic approach to assessment. The focus of this paper is to improve authenticity in test assessment methods through promoting realism, cognitive challenge and evaluative judgement during the planning, administering and following up of assessment tasks. The article builds on a systematic literature review, in which the main principles of authentic assessment were outlined. In this paper, we posit how these principles can be implemented through the three chronological phases of the assessment process: before, during and after the act of assessment

Training on Evidence-Informed Practice for School Inclusion

Altres ajuts: This document was written under the framework of the Project 'Evidence-Informed Practice for School Inclusion [EIPSI] (2020-1-ES01-KA201-082328)'. Project funded under the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership ProgramThe purpose of the Training on Evidence-Informed Practice for School Inclusion is to familiarize teachers and other educational stakeholders with the evidence-informed practice approach and to support them to develop the necessary skills and knowledge to facilitate them work in diverse schools' settings