Abstract Summary
With recent interest in forms of assessment that support learning and should empower teachers to adapt their teaching practice, the Slovenian National Examinations Centre has developed a software program called OrKa that provides reliable data to Slovenian primary schools about their students’ achievements on the National Assessment in Primary Education. It offers basic statistics, item analysis, added value analysis and custom-made analysis, providing an opportunity for diagnostic feedback. Teachers can create groups (e.g. study groups) and study the students’ answers for an in-depth analysis. On the basis of quantitative and qualitative data, the teachers can make inferences about their students’ strengths and weaknesses and thus identify key areas of focus for future improvement in their teaching practice. With OrKa the National Examinations Centre and the examination boards aim to support teachers’ self-evaluation processes at schools by encouraging evidence-based decision making by teachers and other stakeholders.
Abstract :
Large-scale national foreign language assessments are typically centralized, standardized and based on a national curriculum. The main objectives of such assessments are monitoring and evaluating educational systems and examining whether the objectives set by the national curricula have been achieved. As national tests are commonly designed outside schools by an assessment organization, they tend to be perceived as top-down measurement instruments of language proficiency by many classroom teachers. The research shows that a number of teachers do not find such tests useful or beneficial to their teaching practice. What is more, teachers rarely do any post-test in-depth analysis of the students’ scores which could help them to improve their teaching practice.
In Slovenia, a large-scale EFL assessment for Year 6 students (age 11) has been administered for more than a decade. It assesses listening and reading comprehension skills, the use of language and the writing skill.
With recent interest in forms of assessment that support learning and should empower teachers to adapt their teaching practice, the Slovenian National Examinations Centre has developed a software program called OrKa that provides reliable data to Slovenian primary schools about their students’ achievements on the National Assessment in Primary Education. It offers basic statistics, item analysis, added value analysis and custom-made analysis, providing an opportunity for diagnostic feedback. Teachers can create groups (e.g. study groups) and study the students’ answers for an in-depth analysis. On the basis of quantitative and qualitative data, the teachers can make inferences about their students’ strengths and weaknesses and thus identify key areas of focus for future improvement in their teaching practice. With OrKa the National Examinations Centre and the examination boards aim to support teachers’ self-evaluation processes at schools by encouraging evidence-based decision making by teachers and other stakeholders.
