In accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated January 16, 2013 No. 804 "On Making Amendment to the Statute of the State Students Admission Commission" in order to organize final assessment (attestation) of the V-XI Grade pupils in general schools, the State Students Admission Commission (SSAC) has been tasked with conducting monitoring examinations.
In order to ensure the implementation of the decree, the SSAC has conducted monitoring examinations in 2013 among V Grade pupils and in 2014 among V and VI Grade pupils on Math and Native language (Azerbaijani language for the pupils of Azerbaijani section, Russian language for the pupils of Russian section).The pupils were presented open-ended questions and were asked to provide written answers.
In accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated January 16, 2013 No. 804 "On Making Amendment to the Statute of the State Students Admission Commission" in order to organize final assessment (attestation) of the V-XI Grade pupils in general schools, the State Students Admission Commission (SSAC) has been tasked with conducting monitoring examinations. In order to ensure the implementation of the decree, the SSAC has conducted monitoring examinations in 2013 among V Grade pupils and in 2014 among V and VI Grade pupils on Math and Native language (Azerbaijani language for the pupils of Azerbaijani section, Russian language for the pupils of Russian section).The pupils were presented open-ended questions and were asked to provide written answers.
In the modern international education system of many countries (Great Britain, USA, Russia, Georgia), the assessment of student achievements through writing is widely used. On the one hand, it is important to gain reliable information about pupils’ knowledge and skills, as well as about the learning outcomes, while on the other hand, it’s important to achieve positive changes in the various fields of education based on the information provided by the pupils. These changes include the changes in subject curriculum and textbooks, development of pupils’ logical thinking, etc. The main difficulty in evaluating pupils’ achievements through writing is the impact of subjective factors on the assessment process and its outcome. Up to now, the criteria used to evaluate paper works (writings including essays) in secondary schools are the individual approach of the teacher who conducts the assessment and this can’t be considered acceptable for mass assessment of pupils’ achievement. This case stands against the objectivity criteria in assessment process. Taking this into consideration, the SSAC has developed a new assessment mechanism for evaluating paper works in monitoring exams and for implementing new assessment criteria and a whole assessment process.
Thus, the development of new assessment mechanisms covering all levels of education has begun and it is one of the major strategic targets set out in the State Strategy for Education Development in the Republic of Azerbaijan - approved at the Presidential Decree dated October 24, 2013. The strategy aims to achieve the following targets:
- identifying the impacts of the reforms aimed to ensure state standards in the field of education, including the impact of new curriculum models on teaching process;
- acquisition of program materials by pupils and measuring development level of pupils’ appropriate skills and habits;
- identifying the challenges teachers are facing in teaching process;
- formation of assessment mechanism on new assignment models.
The new assessment system is based on the following requirements:
- the role of an important tool for positive changes in education;
- obtaining reliable information about "pupil’s learning outcomes", which is the key indicator for the quality of education;
- making appropriate changes in subject-centred curriculum and textbooks after obtaining sufficient information about pupils’ knowledge and skills through assessment;
- fulfillment of the function of fighting against some negative situations in education;
- testing logical thinking habits, which is a new approach in the assessment, and stimulating the development of this process.