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THE EU, EDUCATION & ASSESSEMENT

NPLI 2014 – New York”Challenging the way we measure success”NPLI goes global, July 14, 2014Kari Kivinen PhD

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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.

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EU EDUCATION ACTIONSThe EU encourages cooperation between Member States and supplements their action:

1. 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;

2. 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;

3. facilitates adaptation to changes and integration into the labor market, in particular through vocational education and training;

4. promotes cooperation between governments, universities, colleges and schools, training establishments and enterprises.

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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 should be 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.

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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.

 

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Educational diversityThere 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.)

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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.

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PISA 2012 - MathematicsEU-27 & US

Rank - PISA 2012 Country Maths1 Netherlands 5232 Estonia 5213 Finland 5194 Poland 5185 Belgium 5156 Germany 5147 Austria 5068 Ireland 5019 Slovenia 501

10 Denmark 50011 Czech Rep. 49912 France 49513 UK 49414 Latvia 49115 Luxembourg 49016 Portugal 48717 italy 48518 Spain 48419 Slovakia 48220 US 48121 Lithuania 47922 Sweden 47823 Hungary 47724 Croatia 47125 Greece 25326 Romania 44527 Cyprus 44028 Bulgaria 439

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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!

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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

Rank / PISA 2012 Country Reading

Primary Masters

Lower secondary

Masters1 Finland 524 2 Ireland 523 3 Poland 518 4 Estonia 516

5Netherlands 511

6 Belgium 509 7 Germany 508 8 France 505 9 UK 499

10 US 498 11 Denmark 496 12 Czech Rep. 493 13 Austria 490 14 italy 490 15 Latvia 489

16Luxembourg 488

17 Portugal 488 18 Spain 488 19 Hungary 488 20 Croatia 485 21 Sweden 483 22 Slovenia 481 23 Lithuania 477 24 Greece 477 25 Slovakia 463 26 Cyprus 449 27 Romania 438 28 Bulgaria 436

Master’s degree Bachelor’s degree

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!

Country

Average teacher salary

EU 27 + US Rank in Science

Luxembourg €91 629 20Germany €53 860 4Denmark €53 730 14Belgium €51 683 11Ireland €48 489 6Netherlands €46 774 5Sweden €42 804 23Cyprus €42 323 28Austria €40 284 10Finland €37 702 1UK €33 846 8France €31 085 13US €30 807 15Spain €28 334 16italy €28 215 18Portugal €24 606 22Slovenia €21 661 7Greece €19 713 25Czech Rep. €13 135 9Croatia €11 400 21Poland €9 300 3Estonia €9 293 2Slovakia €7 912 24Hungary €6 638 19Romania €5 750 27Lithuania €5 223 17Bulgaria €4 436 26Latvia €3 893 12

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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

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THE EU & ASSESSMENT

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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.

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Evaluation elementsThe 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

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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

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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

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SCHOOL HEADS & ASSESSMENT

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`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!

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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?

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Assessment is an essential part of the quality assurance cycle

IMPLEMENT

EVALUATE/ASSESSREVIEW

PLAN

CONTINUOUS IMPROVMENT

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IMPLEMENT ENCOURAGE

SUPPORT

SELF-EVALUATE,

GET EVERYBODY INVOLVED IN

ASSESSMENT

SHARE RESULTS,

REFLECTION AND

YOUR VISION

PLAN TOGETHER

ENGAGE EVERYBODY

SHARED VISIONSHARED GOALSSMALL STEPS

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SummaryEducational systems should be encouraged to promote school self-evaluation and self-regulation through internal quality assurance processes using assessment results as basis.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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

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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

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EU education resources in USEU 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/