The uses and misuses of centralised high stakes examinations-Assessment Policy and Practice in Georgia

• In Event: Inequality, Assessment and Critical Approaches to Learning

Proposal

Background
The education system in Georgia has been through a series of sweeping changes during the last three decades. The break-up of the Soviet Union, and the subsequent socioeconomic, political and cultural transformation, has been a major driving force for these changes. Even though reforms were initiated in late 1990s and donor support through the International Development Association was available from 2001 (World Bank, 2001), the wide-ranging changes have largely taken place after the Rose Revolution in 2003.

The Rose Revolution was followed by fast and far-reaching reforms in all directions. For education, these included the introduction of a new outcome-based curriculum, the launching of per-capita funding mechanisms, improving teacher’s salaries (World Bank, 2006), the reduction of higher education institutions of questionable quality through new authorisation procedures (National Education Accreditation Centre, 2007), the opening up the market for new textbook development and approval (National Curriculum and Assessment Center, 2007), the introduction of school boards and efforts to decentralise the general education sector (Bernbaum, 2011).

Examination system in Georgia
Global trends in education policy have had a profound impact on shaping both these reforms and the national discourse on education. The National Goals of General Education, established in 2004, focused, among other things, on the development of a free individual with a civic awareness based on liberal-democratic values (Government of Georgia, 2004). One global trend shaping the Georgian educational system has been the push towards external standardised evaluation. Like other former Soviet countries, Georgia has seen the evolution of high-stakes testing (Bethell & Zabulionis, 2012). At a time when public discontent with the rampant corruption in the university admission process was rising (Rostiashvili, 2004), the reform of the examination system and the ensuing success of university admissions through standardised exams (Berglund & Engvall, 2015; Gabedava, 2013) helped to foster strong public support for standardised high-stakes examinations (World Bank, 2012). Standardised examinations have become synonymous with transparency and objectivity.

About the study
Using the secondary data on university admissions and school examinations, as well as review of existing studies, including those by the authors, this paper explores the assessment and evaluation system in the country, focusing on centralised high-stakes examinations, which have had the biggest influence on education policy and practice. Following the description of the education system in Georgia, with the focus on general education, this article will examine two external standardised exams administered centrally in the last 15 years – the Unified National Examinations (UNE) for university admission and the School Graduation Exams (SGE).

This paper will discuss the process of assessment centralisation in Georgia, particularly the objectives for introducing centralised assessments, implementation processes, effectiveness in achieving the desired outcomes, and the perspectives of stakeholders. In the last part, recent policy decisions with regard to the assessment and examination system will be discussed. Finally, the authors argue that, despite recent changes, overreliance on standardised assessments may continue in the future, as a combination of factors prevents policymakers from radically transforming the system. These factors include the low quality of general education, the existing university funding system, the high approval rates of the UNE, and the fear of reverting back to a corrupt admission process. Moreover, addressing these factors will require long-term planning which is rarely possible because of regular changes to the senior management of the education system.

This paper is the most comprehensive attempt to examine the origin, consequences, current state and prospects of Georgian centralized examination system. Considering the breadth and length of experience of the system in the country, as well as its political, economic and sociological implications, the conclusions and implications of the study are important for the countries and education systems beyond Georgia and the region.

Authors

• Lela Chakhaia

• Sophia Gorgodze, National Assessment and Examinations Center