The Education and Assessment System in Lithuania

ABSTRACT

This article presents a historical and contemporary account of Lithuania’s national public education assessment system and its transformation since the country’s declaration of independence from the Soviet Union in 1990. We explore how the external examination system has developed in relation to ongoing curriculum reforms over the last 30 years, and how external examinations and standardised testing have taken priority over classroom assessment throughout this period. What becomes clear is that certain political decisions, guided by increased accountability demands, have significantly impacted classroom assessment practices, school cultures, and the mindsets of stakeholders about the role and function of assessment in Lithuania. Finally, we deploy our national and international expertise to recommend some changes to the current education system to make assessment an effective tool to improve student learning.

KEYWORDS:

• External examinations
• classroom assessment
• curriculum reform
• Lithuania

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Irena Raudienė

Prof. dr. Lina Kaminskienė’s research and teaching topics are related to the development and implementation of educational innovations, self-regulated, personalized learning, teacher education and their professional development.

Lina Kaminskienė

Irena Raudienė, PhD candidate, has been involved into Curriculum reform from the very beginning as a member of the team that was commissioned to develop The Guidelines for the Renewal of the National Curriculum. Currently Irena continues working on the issues related to the development and implementation of the Renewed Curriculum, as well as a new assessment framework for schools.

Liying Cheng

Dr. Liying Cheng is Professor and Director of the Assessment and Evaluation Group, Faculty of Education, Queen’s University. Her seminal research on washback illustrates the global impact of large-scale testing on instruction, the relationships between assessment and instruction, and the academic and professional acculturation of international and new immigrant students, workers, and professionals in Canada – an underrepresented population in the research, but one whose lives are greatly impacted by testing and assessment.