Inclusion and education

FLEXIBLE APPROACHES TO ASSESSMENT 
TRY TO TAKE STUDENT NEEDS INTO 
ACCOUNT
Most countries have not followed regular assessment and 
evaluation processes during the remote learning period. 
They leaned towards flexible, alternative approaches, 
trying to adapt methods appropriately. They mostly 
A study of about 1,000 primary school 
teachers in Poland found that 52% reported 
some difficulty using digital tools
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GLOBAL EDUCATION MONITORING REPORT 2020

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focused on assessment based on learning achieved before 
remote learning kicked in, with guidelines encouraging 
the use of formative assessment so as not to let remote 
learning achievement play a major role in evaluation. 
At the same time, assessment and evaluation are 
traditionally focused predominantly on academic learning 
rather than socio-emotional development. As schools in 
most countries have autonomy, in principle, to decide 
how they organize studies and evaluation, the need to 
redefine how learning is organized and assessed has 
become starkly apparent.
In Belarus, the Ministry of Education introduced additional 
learning days on Saturdays in April and May to catch 
up on lost school time. The Czech Republic, Estonia and 
Latvia encouraged teachers to use formative assessment 
instead of numerical grading and concentrate on 
providing feedback and psychological support, even if 
that compromised academic knowledge and curriculum 
content coverage. End-of-year evaluations were to be 
based mostly on student performance before remote 
learning began. In Armenia, grades from the contact 
learning period were the basis for final grades, even 
though this approach caused dissatisfaction among 
teachers and parents. In Kazakhstan, assignments and 
tasks for assessment were simplified and the number of 
tasks used for assessment reduced.
In Montenegro, the state guidance on assessment 
urged reliance on student creativity, active participation, 
engagement and timeliness. Teachers were expected 
to grade in students’ favour, with the final grade being 
at least as high as grades from the previous period. In 
Romania, central guidelines stated that the part of the 
curriculum not completed after school closed in March 
would be addressed during the following academic year. 
In the Russian Federation, national testing was carried out 
at the beginning of the new academic year to assess the 
degree of learning loss.
Countries chose different approaches to examinations. 
They were cancelled in some cases and delayed in 
others, while in some the choice was left to students. 
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the secondary school exit 
examination (matura) was cancelled. In Mongolia, all 
national examinations except the general university 
entrance examination at the end of grade 12 were 
cancelled. In Slovenia, national examinations for grades 
6 and 9 were cancelled. Examinations were also cancelled 
in the Russian Federation.
Examinations took place in the Czech Republic once 
the COVID-19 measures were partially lifted. In Estonia, 
the examination at the end of grade 12 was voluntary 
rather than compulsory, giving students an opportunity 
to graduate without it. Students could also take state 
examinations in May and June or later. Examinations 
up to grade 9 did not take place, so completion was 
certified on the basis of annual grades. In Montenegro, 
the exam period was delayed to late May, and content 
from the remote learning period was not used, a choice 
also made in Turkey. In Serbia, paper-and-pen graduation 
examinations took place in June in school, even though an 
online approach had been piloted.
In Kyrgyzstan, transfer examinations between grades 
were cancelled. A special committee was formed in each 
school to determine the final score for every subject, 
taking into account previous exams, practical and 
laboratory work, quarterly and semi-annual grades and 
final semester achievements. In Slovakia, administrative 
decisions replaced secondary school entrance 
examinations, and a formula was used to calculate each 
learner’s total score from marks in obligatory, specific 
and supplementary subjects, along with additional 
criteria set by schools. Schools were allowed to slightly 
exceed region-prescribed admission ceilings, and 
regional authorities decided if learners not admitted 
because of their score would be transferred to a school 
(CEDEFOP, 2020).