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

ABSTRACT

Trust in centralised high-stakes exams in Georgia has grown since 2005, when the introduction of nationwide standardised tests for university entry successfully eradicated the deep-rooted corruption in the admissions system. In 2011, another set of high-stakes exams were introduced for school graduation, resulting in a minimum of 12 exams for secondary school graduation and university entry. The examination system reform in 2019 was limited to abolishing the school graduation exams and reducing the number of university admission exams. Fewer exams instigated the fear of decrease in student motivation and the deterioration of learning outcomes among some stakeholders. This article describes how centralised high-stakes assessments have become an integral part of the education system, cites available evidence on their impact, accounts for recent changes, and argues that overreliance on centralised high-stakes exams is due to complex educational, political and social processes that make it difficult to transform the system.

KEYWORDS:

• High stakes exams
• Georgia
• assessment
• centralisation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. There are other standardised assessments in Georgia not discussed in this article: In 2007, a student grant competition was introduced, for which students had to pass an external standardised exam. The purpose of this exam was to allow any Bachelor level student to improve the percentage of their funding or to get funding if they did not receive any while entering the university. From 2009, Master Program entry is possible through standardised assessment. While school graduation exams and university entrance exams are the sole determiners of school graduation or university admission respectively, in the case of MA exams, they are the prerequisite for enrolling in the MA program, not the exclusive guarantor for enrolment. Both exams are conducted by NAEC. Georgia also has special university entry conditions for ethnic minorities.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sophia Gorgodze

Sophia Gorgodze is an Associate Professor at Ilia University, where she has taught future teachers and school administrators for over 13 years. Currently she is also the Director of National Assessment and Examinations Center of Georgia. She holds PhD degree in Education from Ilia University and EdM in International Education Policy from Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her scientific interests include decision-making practices in education and decentralisation of education systems;

Lela Chakhaia

Lela Chakhaia is a Senior Specialist of Learning Research at Save the Children USA. Her current work is focused on measurement and assessment in early childhood and primary education, equity in access to quality education in lower and middle-income countries around the world. She holds PhD in Social Science from European University Institute in Florence and EdM from Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Her research interests include education policy, equal access to education, education funding systems. She has over 15 years of experience working for non-governmental and governmental organisations and universities.