THE EU, EDUCATION & ASSESSEMENT

1. THE EU, EDUCATION & ASSESSEMENT NPLI 2014 – New York ”Challenging the way we measure success” NPLI goes global, July 14, 2014 Kari Kivinen PhD

3. 28 EU Member States & Education • Each EU Member State is responsible for the content and organization of its education and vocational training systems. • The EU respects the diversity of national rules and priorities and is not entitled to harmonize the laws and regulations of the EU countries in that area. • The EU plays a role in the European learning process as a coordinator, facilitator and advisor.

4. EU EDUCATION ACTIONS The EU encourages cooperation between Member States and supplements their action: • supports students, doctoral candidates, trainees, teachers, trainers, and lecturers to study, teach, or gain work experience abroad and young people to participate in youth exchanges or volunteering abroad; • encourages Member States to reform and modernize education and training systems so that they are better equipped to tackle today’s and tomorrow’s challenges; • facilitates adaptation to changes and integration into the labor market, in particular through vocational education and training; • promotes cooperation between governments, universities, colleges and schools, training establishments and enterprises.

5. The EU pursues ambitious goals The EU and its Member States agreed to set the following benchmarks for 2020: • The share of 15-year-olds with inadequate abilities in reading, math and science should be less than 15%. • School dropout rates shouldbe reduced to less than 10%. • At least 40% of young adults should complete higher education. • At least 20%of higher education graduates should have had a period of study or training abroad.

6. Where does EU education stand today? • Each Member State has created its own education system! • Each Member State has its own evaluation, assessment and quality assurance practices! • There is a great deal of interesting school development in progress in Member States! • According to the PISA 2012 survey, learning outcomes are very mixed.

7. Educational diversity There is, for example, a wide range of rather different lower secondary education models (ISCED 2) • Differentiated branches (Germany & Austria) • Single structure (Nordic countries) • Common Core Curriculum (UK, France, Spain, etc.)

9. Some countries stand out - others are way behind! • Four EU Member States (Estonia, Finland, Poland and the Netherlands) are among the top performing countries with a rate of low achievers in math better than the EU benchmark of 15%. • Estonia is ‘top of the class’ in terms of the proportion of low achievers in Math: only 10.5% (compared with 22.1% in the EU as a whole). • There are some EU Member States where between one half and one third of 15-year-olds score at the lowest PISA level.

10. PISA 2012 - MathematicsEU-27 & US

11. Teachers in the EU have different requirements, qualifications and salaries • There is quite wide diversity in terms of teachers’ qualifications at the various teaching levels! • Teachers are paid very differently in different Member States!

12. Teacher training in Europe • For primary, most teachers have bachelor level qualifications • In 15 countries, lower secondary teachers have master’s level (5 years) qualifications

13. Annual salary scales v PISA results • It is quite interesting to compare, for example, the PISA 2012 Science outcomes and teachers’ salary levels in the different Member States – money does not always matter!

14. What about school heads? The basic condition for a teacher to reach the position of school head is generally 5 years of teaching experience. Most countries apply additional conditions • Administrative experience • Special training for headship

15. THE EU & ASSESSMENT

16. National tests & External evaluation • Most of the EU 28 Member States use the data from national tests to monitor their schools • Many EU 28 Member States use the data from external evaluation to monitor their schools.

18. Evaluation elements The scope of evaluation in different Member States is not the same. • Elements of the education system subject to evaluation: • School system evaluation • School evaluation • Individual teacher evaluation • Evaluation of the learning outcomes of individual students

20. How is external evaluation data used? It is also important to know how evaluation data is used: • There is no external evaluation • Student evaluation data is not used for external evaluation of the school • Student evaluation data is used to evaluate the school

22. What is done with evaluation data? Schools nowadays are inundated with different kind of statistics and assessment data. There is great variation as regards what is done with the data: • If there is no evaluation – there is no data • The data is routinely published • The data is not published • There is autonomy for use of the data

24. SCHOOL HEADS & ASSESSMENT

25. `Acknowledging the truth is the beginning of wisdom’ Juho-Kusti Paasikivi Even the most depressing assessment result can be seen as a starting point for a school improvement process!

26. Let’s use assessment to do something positive! Assessment can be a useful and powerful tool for an educator, if it is used for the right purpose: • How can learning in my school be improved? • How can teaching be improved? • How can the well-being of students and staff members in school society be improved? • How can teachers be supported in their work?

27. Assessment is an essential part of the quality assurance cycle CONTINUOUS IMPROVMENT

28. SHARED VISION SHARED GOALS SMALL STEPS

29. Summary Educational systems should be encouraged to promoteschool self-evaluation and self-regulation through internal quality assurance processes using assessment results as basis. • Growing the capacity • School Heads are inundated with assessment data. Training is needed to develop their ability to use and understand evaluation processes and the range of data available. • Effective use of the results: • The evaluation information should be organized and shared in ways that facilitate effective use of the outcomes by schools and avoid misuse of assessment results. • Better tools are needed: • There seems to be a need for School Heads to have specific (self-)evaluation tools and instruments to ensure that evaluation contributes to the improvement of teaching and learning

30. Sources • EURYDYCE facts and figures - http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/ • Key data on teachers and school leaders in Europe, Eurydice, 2013 edition: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/key_data_en.php/151EN.pdf • The structure of the European education systems 2013/14:http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/documents/facts_and_figures/education_structures_EN.pdf • OECD PISA 2012 results: http://www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/pisa-2012-results.htm • The European Union explained: education, training, youth and sport: http://europa.eu/pol/index_en.htm • European Commission: Supporting education and training: http://ec.europa.eu/education/index_en.htm • SiCI workshop report “School Evaluation for Improvement and Accountability: striking the right balance”, March 2014, Malta. http://www.sici-inspectorates.eu/getattachment/b1b7db63-5c19-4e1a-97c4-bda3aacec5a1 • More information: kari.kivinen@eursc.org

31. EU education resources in US EU LESSON PLANS: • The EU delegation to the US has prepared a  modular series of EU lesson plans for students. The lessons are designed to support History and Social Sciences curricula in the US for grades 9-12 and can be adapted for middle school students. The lesson plans and accompanying PowerPoiint presentations are on our website at: http://www.euintheus.org/resources-learning/eu-guide-for-americans/ EURO CHALLENGE: • The Euro Challenge is an educational opportunity for high school students to learn about the European Union (EU) and the euro. Student teams of three to five students are asked to make presentations answering specific questions about the European economy and the single currency, the euro. http://www.euro-challenge.org/wordpress/ . EUROPEAN DIPLOMATS IN YOUR CLASSROOMS • The European Union Educational Outreach Program provides for classroom visits by senior European diplomats and experts to American high schools to deepen student and teacher understanding of the European Union. More information on inviting diplomats to schools is on our website at: http://www.euintheus.org/resources-learning/academic-resources/eu-educational-outreach/