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DISCOURSE AS A FORM OF MULTICULTURALISM IN LITERATURE AND COMMUNICATION
SECTION: PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION SCIENCES Arhipelag XXI Press, Tîrgu Mureș, 2015, ISBN: 978-606-8624-21-1
356
NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF COMPETENCIES IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
WITH SPECIAL REGARD TO THE ASSESSMENT OF MINORITY STUDENTS’
READING AND WRITING SKILLS IN THE ROMANIAN LANGUAGE
Szántó Bíborka
Assist. Prof., PhD, ”Babeș-Bolyai” University of Cluj-Napoca
Abstract: The Romanian Law of Education promulgated in 2011 prescribes the requirement of putting
into practice the assessment of competencies in every educational cycle. The assessments provide
feedback to students about the results of learning, and in the same time they serve as the basis of devising
individual developing programs. Starting from the school year 2013/2014, the basic competencies of 2nd
and 4th
grade elementary school students are assessed in the framework of the national assessment of
competencies. Annually, the Ministry of Education defines in a decree the tasks of the measurement and
evaluation, which cover the analyses of the development of basic competencies in reading and writing (in
the students‟ mother tongue) and mathematical literacy. In the case of students attending schools
teaching in a minority language, in addition to communication in the mother tongue and mathematical
competence, their reading and writing competency in Romanian language is also assessed.
The study describes and analyses the tests and results of the reading and writing competency assessment
in Romanian language of 4th grade elementary school students belonging to the most numerous national
minority in Romania. It states that the evaluation report of the national assessment of competencies does
not include the analyses of the results for minority students. By mapping the students‟ abilities, strong
and weak points for reading and writing competency in Romanian language, the study wants to give an
integral analysis of the achievement in communication in Romanian language of 4th grade students
studying in minority schools.
Keywords: evaluation, assessment of competencies, reading and writing, Romanian language, minority
education
DISCOURSE AS A FORM OF MULTICULTURALISM IN LITERATURE AND COMMUNICATION
SECTION: PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION SCIENCES Arhipelag XXI Press, Tîrgu Mureș, 2015, ISBN: 978-606-8624-21-1
357
1. Introduction
Starting from the school year 2013/2014 the National Evaluating and Assessing Centre
controlled by the Romanian Ministry of Education organizes competency assessments for 2nd
, 4th
and 6th
grade students measuring reading and writing skills in the mother tongue, mathematical
skills and – for minority students – reading and writing skills in the Romanian language. The
national assessment was introduced by applying the new Educational Law (2011/1) promulgated
in 2011.
According to the Educational Law the major goal of the national competency based
assessment is to provide information for the different participants of the educational system
(students, teachers, parents, headmasters etc.) which could help them optimizing the process of
teaching and learning. Besides this, the law formulates specific goals for the measurements
organized at the end of the certain teaching cycles. Regarding primary school, these are the
following (Educational Law 1/2011, article 74, section 2-3.):
(2) At the end of 2nd
grade, every school organizes and puts into practise based on the
methodology worked out by the Ministry of Education, the measurement of the basic
competencies (reading-writing, mathematics). The results of the measurements prepare ground
for devising individual developing programs. The parents are informed about the results of the
assessments and the individual developing programs, and the latter ones constitute part of the
students‘ portfolios.1
1 La finalul clasei a II-a, fiecare şcoală, în baza unei metodologii elaborate de Ministerul Educaţiei, Cercetării,
Tineretului şi Sportului, organizează şi realizează evaluarea competenţelor fundamentale: scris - citit şi matematică.
Rezultatele evaluărilor sunt folosite pentru elaborarea planurilor individualizate de învăţare ale elevilor. Rezultatele
evaluării şi planurile individualizate se comunică părinţilor elevilor şi constituie documente din portofoliul
educaţional al elevului.
DISCOURSE AS A FORM OF MULTICULTURALISM IN LITERATURE AND COMMUNICATION
SECTION: PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION SCIENCES Arhipelag XXI Press, Tîrgu Mureș, 2015, ISBN: 978-606-8624-21-1
358
(3) At the end of 4th
grade, the Ministry of Education assesses by sampling the basic
competencies acquired by the end of primary school, in order to diagnose the results of primary
education.2
The major goal of the competency assessment organized at the end of the primary cycle
is to evaluate primary school education (to compare students‘ results to the requirements of the
school curriculum, to compare students‘ individual results to the average national achievement,
to compare the results of national assessments to the results of international measurements etc.).
At the same time, the measurements have a forward-looking role: the results play an important
role in organizing the teaching-learning process in upper school education, and besides this they
can help in making education policy decisions and provide important data for curriculum- and
textbook-developers.
2. The structure of the reading comprehension tests for the Romanian language
The working groups of the National Evaluating and Assessing Centre worked out two test
versions for 4th
grade students, so students read different texts and solved different reading tasks.
According to the government decree No. 3334/24.04.2014 regarding the organization of the
assessments, the 4th
grade minority students‘ knowledge of the Romanian language was assessed
by text comprehension, and students had 60 minutes at their disposal to solve the tasks connected
with the unknown text. The students belonging to different minorities were given different texts
in Romanian.
The tasks applied in the evaluation did not measure the level of the acquirement of the
curriculum content, but they examined to what extent can students apply the acquired
knowledge, skills and competencies by the end of primary school education.
The two tests designed to measure reading skills in the Romanian language of students
belonging to the Hungarian minority contained narrative literary texts. The title of the text of the
1st test version was The tale of the rainbow (Povestea curcubeului), the text of the 2
nd test version
was an adaptation of a Petre Ispirescu tale, entitled The man, the snake and the fox (Omul,
2 La finalul clasei a IV-a, Ministerul Educaţiei, Cercetării, Tineretului şi Sportului realizează, prin eşantionare, o
evaluare la nivel naţional a competenţelor fundamentale dobândite în ciclul primar, după modelul testărilor
internaţionale, pentru diagnoza sistemului de învăţământ la nivel primar.
DISCOURSE AS A FORM OF MULTICULTURALISM IN LITERATURE AND COMMUNICATION
SECTION: PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION SCIENCES Arhipelag XXI Press, Tîrgu Mureș, 2015, ISBN: 978-606-8624-21-1
359
şarpele şi vulpea). The 1st text contained 268 words and the 2
nd one 304 words. The texts
designed to measure reading comprehension skills in the mother tongue (Hungarian language),
were longer: they contained 570 (1st test version) and 629 (2
nd test version) words.
There were two question-types present in the tests designed for the measurement of
Romanian language skills: open-ended an closed-ended questions. A closed-ended question is a
question format that limits students with a list of answer choices from which they must choose to
answer the question. In the tests, these types of questions were mostly in the form of multiple
choices in which students had to choose the correct answer out of four answer choices: only one
answer was correct, the other three were unequivocally wrong ( e.g. 1st version, 1
st task). Those
tasks are also closed-ended in which students had to decide – based on the text – if the
formulated statements were true or false ( e.g. 1st version 11
th task). Matching tasks (e.g. 1
st
version 12th
task) and those ones in which students had to put the events of the text into
chronological order (e.g. 1st version 10
th task) also belong to the type of closed-ended questions.
In the case of open-ended questions students had to give a shorter or longer written answer.
When solving the tasks which require a short answer, the student had to formulate his/her answer
by using a shorter element (e.g. 1st version 2
nd task), the tasks requiring longer written answer
expect an extended phrasing from the students (e.g. 1st version 14
th task). The question- and task-
types of the two tests measuring Romanian language skills are shown in Table 1.
Table 1. – Types of reading tasks
Item format Items of the 1st
version
Total Items of the 2nd
version
Total
Closed-
ended
1., 4., 5., 6., 7., 8., 10.,
11., 12., 13.
10 1., 4., 5., 6., 7., 8., 10.,
11., 12., 13.
10
Open-ended 2., 3., 9., 14., 15. 5 2., 3., 9., 14., 15. 5
Total 15 15
The report exhibiting the results of the national assessments (CNEE, 2014) states that the
tests were developed based on models used in international assessments. The report formulates
that the tests measuring reading literacy (both in the mother tongue and in the Romanian
DISCOURSE AS A FORM OF MULTICULTURALISM IN LITERATURE AND COMMUNICATION
SECTION: PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION SCIENCES Arhipelag XXI Press, Tîrgu Mureș, 2015, ISBN: 978-606-8624-21-1
360
language) were structured similarly, i.e. the same types of comprehension processes are used in
the assessment in developing the comprehension questions. These, and their proportion in the
test are shown in Table 2.
Table 2. – The prescribed structure of the reading comprehension test according to
comprehension processes (CNEE, 2014, 21)
Cognitive area Proportion in the
test
Number of
items
Making operations:
-with the major ideas of the text (in the case of
literary texts) -with explicitedly stated information
in the text (informational texts)
40% 5-6
Making operations with inferences:
-based on literary text
-based on informational text
-based on questions relevant to the text
40% 5-6
Interpreting ideas/data of the text and applying
them creatively in a new context
20% 2-3
In the tests measuring reading comprehension skills in the Romanian language there were
tasks that assessed each process, but each comprehension question dealt with one of the
processes (see Table 3.). In focusing on and retrieving explicitly stated information, readers use
various ways to locate and understand content that is relevant to the question posed. Retrieving
appropriate text information requires that the reader not only understand what is stated explicitly
in the text, but also how that information is related to the information sought. Successful retrieval
DISCOURSE AS A FORM OF MULTICULTURALISM IN LITERATURE AND COMMUNICATION
SECTION: PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION SCIENCES Arhipelag XXI Press, Tîrgu Mureș, 2015, ISBN: 978-606-8624-21-1
361
requires a fairly immediate or automatic understanding of the text. This process needs little or no
inferring or interpreting. There are no ―gaps‖ in meaning to be filled – the meaning is evident
and stated in the text. Focus on the text typically remains at the sentence or phrase level in this
type of text processing (Mullis et al., 2009, 24–25). Making inferences allows the reader to move
beyond the surface of texts and to fill in the ―gaps‖ in meaning that often occur in texts. Some of
these inferences are straightforward in that they are based mostly on information that is
contained in the text: the reader may merely need to connect two or more ideas or pieces of
information. Although the ideas may be explicitly stated, the connection between them is not,
and thus must be inferred (Mullis et al., 2009, 25–26.). As readers interpret and integrate ideas
and information in the text, they often need to draw on their understanding of the world. They
are making connections that are not only implicit, but that may be open to some interpretation
based on their own perspective. When they interpret and integrate text information and ideas,
readers may need to draw on their background knowledge and experiences more than they do for
straightforward inferences (Mullis et al., 2009, 27).
Among the comprehension questions dealing with the process of retrieving explicitedly
stated information (see Table 3.), there were very uncomplicated ones, mostly multiple choice
questions, in which students had to focus on and retrieve one element at the sentence or phrase
level (1st version 1., 4., 5., 6., 2
nd version 1., 4., 5.,).
3 The open-ended questions related to
retrieving explicitedly stated information in the text were more complicated ones than the
multiple choice questions, because students had to formulate the answers with their one words in
a language that is not their mother tongue (1st version 9.).
4 Those tasks which asked students to
retrieve explicitedly stated information at the level of the text were also at a higher level of
3 1st version. 1. Care cuvânt continuă propoziţia? Încercuieşte varianta corectă. În text este vorba despre povestea A.
ploii.B. primăverii.C. curcubeului. D. cerului. 4. Încercuieşte varianta corectă. Fiecare culoare a vrut să fie A. cea
mai bună, cea mai deşteaptă, cea mai importantă, cea mai folositoare, cea mai colorată.B. cea mai înaltă, cea mai
frumoasă, cea mai harnică, cea mai folositoare, cea mai iubită.C. cea mai bună, cea mai frumoasă, cea mai
importantă, cea mai cuminte, cea mai atentă.D. cea mai bună, cea mai frumoasă, cea mai importantă, cea mai
folositoare, cea mai iubită. 5. Încercuieşte varianta corectă. Ce s-a întâmplat în timp ce culorile se certau? A.
Soarele strălucea pe cer.B. Un fulger a luminat cerul.C. A început să bată vântul.D. A început să ningă. 6.
Încercuieşte varianta care continuă propoziţia. Curcubeul îi învaţă pe copii A. să fie atenţi.B. să coloreze frumos.C.
să se certe.D. să fie prietenoşi. 2nd version. 1. Încercuieşte varianta corectă. Cine mergea prin pădure? A. un lupB. o
femeieC. un omD. un urs. 5. Încercuieşte varianta corectă. Cine a spus în poveste: ,,Asta este răsplata?” A.
vulpeaB. omul C. ursul D. şarpele 49. Răspunde la întrebare. Când apare curcubeul pe cer?
DISCOURSE AS A FORM OF MULTICULTURALISM IN LITERATURE AND COMMUNICATION
SECTION: PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION SCIENCES Arhipelag XXI Press, Tîrgu Mureș, 2015, ISBN: 978-606-8624-21-1
362
difficulty (1st version 3.).
5 Question number 2 in the 2
nd test version was a simple one regarding
the process of comprehension that it deals with, but in order to answer correctly the question,
students must have been aware that the word gaură appearing in the question is a synonym of the
word culcuş present in the text (meaning ‗burrow‘).6 Question number 3 in the 2
nd test version
was also a very complex one, because students had to answer four open-ended questions. In
answering the second subquestion students had to focus on and retrieve information from a
whole paragraph.7
There are 7-7 comprehension tasks that dealt with the comprehension process of making
straightforward inferences (see Table 3.). In the 9th
question of the 2nd
test version students had
to make inferences regarding certain acts: in order to discover why the fox thought that the man
was right, students had to refer to a piece of information present earlier in the text (i.e. The man
did the snake a good by saving it from its burrow.).8 Tasks that asked students to make
connection between the person‘s facts and attributes, or to recognize the personage based on its
facts, were also meant to activate the more complex process of making inferences (1st version 8.,
12., 15., 2nd
version 6., 8., 12.).9 We have to highlight the 12
th task of the 1
st test version, in
which students had to match the words describing characteristics with the facts. This task can
also be solved without reading the text, if the students are aware of the meaning of the words, but
if they are not, they cannot solve the task. In the 10th task of the reading comprehension tests,
53. Scrie, lângă fiecare propoziţie, numele personajului potrivit. „Uitaţi-vă în jur şi o să vedeţi că sunt peste tot!‖-
Verdele
„Eu sunt culoarea vieţii şi a iubirii!‖
„Fără mine nu există nici apa, nici cerul!‖
„Oricine vede strălucirea mea!‖
„Pe mine mă iubesc oamenii puternici!‖ 62. Răspunde la întrebare. Ce a căzut peste gaura şarpelui?
73. Răspunde la întrebări. Ce a auzit omul? Unde era şarpele? Când a căzut piatra peste gaura şarpelui? Ce a făcut
omul? 89. Răspunde la întrebare. De ce i-a dat dreptate vulpea omului?
9 1st version. 8. Încercuieşte varianta corectă. Cum era ploaia? A. bucuroasăB. neliniştităC. înţeleaptă D. mândră,
12. Scrie în tabelul de mai jos cuvintele: gălăgios, speriate, strălucitor, lăudăros, care arată însuşirile personajelor,
pe baza faptelor lor. Faptele personajelor: s-a lăudat, a strigat, s-au ţinut de mână, a luminat. Însuşiri. 2nd version. 6. Încercuieşte varianta corectă. Cum era vulpea? A. şireată şi mincinoasăB. şireată şi înţelegătoareC. prietenoasă şi
harnicăD. deşteaptă şi înaltă. Nu se completează de către elev. 8. Încercuieşte varianta corectă. Cum era şarpele? A.
recunoscătorB. nerecunoscătorC. mincinosD. prietenos 12. Scrie, în tabelul de mai jos, cuvintele: înţelegător,
nerecunoscător, deşteaptă, care arată însuşirile personajelor, pe baza faptelor lor. Faptele personajelor Vulpea a
reuşit să pedepsească şarpele. Omul a ascultat rugămintea şarpelui. Şarpele a vrut să-l mănânce pe om. Însuşiri
DISCOURSE AS A FORM OF MULTICULTURALISM IN LITERATURE AND COMMUNICATION
SECTION: PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION SCIENCES Arhipelag XXI Press, Tîrgu Mureș, 2015, ISBN: 978-606-8624-21-1
363
students had to make connections within the text by putting into cronological order the events of
the texts.10
Tabel 3. – Reading tasks according to the comprehension processes
Comprehension processes 1st
version 2nd
version
Retreive explicitely stated information 7 (1., 2., 4., 5., 6., 9.) 5 (1., 2., 3., 4., 5.)
Make straightforward inferences 7 (3., 7., 8, 10., 11., 12.,
15.)
7 (6., 7., 8., 9., 10., 11.,
12.)
Interpret and apply creatively in a new
context ideas/data of the text
2 (13., 14.) 3 (13., 14., 15.)
Total 15 15
The last group of the reading comprehension tasks present in the tests belonged to the
comprehension process of interpretating ideas of the text and applying them in a new context.
The interpretation of the text leans on understanding, but at the same time it is a creative process,
so it assumes a reflective relation with the read and understood text. The 13th
task of the 1st test
version, and the 15th
task of the 2nd
test belonged to this group of questions: the students had to
state the overall message of the texts.11
Task number 14 of the 1st and 2
nd versions asked students
to apply the ideas present in the texts in a new context.12
These tasks actuated students‘ writing
skills also.
3. Achievements in Comprehension Processes
The report on the results of the national assessment does not refer to the results of the
minority students achieved in reading comprehension in the Romanian language. Only the tables
10
1st version. 10. Numerotează propoziţiile în ordinea întâmplărilor din text. Violetul a vorbit cu mândrie. Verdele a
spus că este peste tot. A început o ploaie puternică. Galbenul a râs. Portocaliul s-a lăudat că este folositor. 2nd
version. 10. Numerotează propoziţiile în ordinea întâmplărilor din text. Cu ajutorul omului şarpele a ieşit din gaură.
Vulpea a judecat corect. Un şarpe a rămas închis într-o gaură. Şarpele a vrut să-l mănânce pe om. 11 1st version. 13. Încercuieşte varianta corectă! Care este înţelesul propoziţiei ,,Acesta va fi semnul prieteniei dintre
voi.”? A. Prietenilor le place curcubeul.B. Prietenii trebuie să fie alături aşa cum sunt culorile curcubeului.C.
Curcubeul ne arată cine ne este prieten. D. Suntem prietenoşi când vedem curcubeul. 2nd version. 15. Marchează cu
X propoziţia care se potriveşte cel mai bine poveştii. Întotdeauna câştigă cel puternic. Bunătatea trebuie răsplătită.
Nu lăsa pe mâine ce poţi face azi.
12 1st version. 14. Scrie un alt final al poveştii! 2nd version. 14. Scrie câte o propoziţie despre comportamentul
fiecărui personaj din poveste.
DISCOURSE AS A FORM OF MULTICULTURALISM IN LITERATURE AND COMMUNICATION
SECTION: PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION SCIENCES Arhipelag XXI Press, Tîrgu Mureș, 2015, ISBN: 978-606-8624-21-1
364
of the Appendix containing data inform us about the Hungarian students‘ reading achievement in
Romanian. Data were collected in seven counties:13
Bihor, Cluj, Covasna, Harghita, Mures, Salaj
and Satu-Mare. The results are presented according to the processes of comprehension activated
by the questions of the reading tests (Tables 4., 5. and 6.). . The data presented in the tables show
the proportion of the correct answers.
Table 4. shows students‘ achievement in the comprehension process of retrieving
explicitedly stated information in the text. It can be seen that the students solved questions/tasks
activating the most simple comprehension process in 69,45% (1st test version), respectively
64,39% (2nd
test version). In the case of the 1st test version they had difficulties in answering
correctly question number 9 (the proportion of the correct answers is only 50,08%). This
question was an open-ended question which had to be answered by using the students‘ own
words. In the case of the 2nd
test version students achievement is the lowest (29,69%) for the 3rd
question. The Appendix does not show the results achieved separately in each subquestion: it is
likely, that the low achievement is justified by the fact that the second subquestion of the 2nd
task
was at a higher level of difficulty than the other three subquestions. Analysing the results achived
by counties it can be seen that Cluj county preformed the highest and Harghita county the lowest
in both test versions.
Table 4. – Results achieved in the comprehension process of retrieving explicitedly stated
information (based on Anexa 2, 2014, 392–398.)
County
1st
version 2nd
version
Retrieve explicitedly stated information Retrieve explicitedly stated
information
1. 2. 4. 5. 6. 9. AVG 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. AVG
Bihor
87,5
4
66,8
4
68,0
3
63,2
5
71,1
1
52,4
1
68,1
9
88,8
7
59,1
8
34,6
9
80,3
3
69,3
9
66,4
9
Cluj
92,5
4
80,7
0
84,0
7
79,6
5
87,1
7
60,1
8
80,7
1
97,9
3
76,0
9
46,9
6
94,7
8
74,7
8
78,1
0
13 The Appendix of the report shows the results of those counties in which at least 100 students sat the tests
(Appendix 2, 2014, 392–398.).
DISCOURSE AS A FORM OF MULTICULTURALISM IN LITERATURE AND COMMUNICATION
SECTION: PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION SCIENCES Arhipelag XXI Press, Tîrgu Mureș, 2015, ISBN: 978-606-8624-21-1
365
Covasna
86,2
8
59,7
8
65,7
7
55,9
9
63,5
6
39,9
1
61,8
8
87,5
6
38,2
5
14,5
9
77,7
3
52,6
9
54,1
6
Harghita
83,4
3
60,7
6
71,2
4
49,3
9
63,6
8
39,1
8
61,2
8
88,4
1
35,2
3
13,8
0
75,5
3
46,7
3
51,9
4
Mures
88,9
0
66,8
4
74,6
4
63,6
7
73,1
8
50,7
3
69,6
6
91,3
3
61,5
7
33,0
6
84,5
7
64,3
3
66,9
7
Salaj
92,0
5
74,0
6
81,5
9
66,1
1
79,5
0
56,3
6
74,9
4
94,8
8
58,6
0
36,2
8
87,9
1
63,7
2
68,2
7
Satu-
Mare 89,5
1
64,2
9
69,4
2
67,4
1
74,7
8
51,7
9
69,5
3
91,6
5
57,9
9
28,7
5
81,3
3
64,6
2
64,8
6
AVG
88,6
0
67,6
1
73,5
3
63,6
3
73,2
8
50,0
8
69,4
5
91,5
1
55,2
7
29,6
9
83,1
6
62,3
4
64,3
9
Table 5. shows the achievement in reading for the inferencing comprehension process for 4th
grade students. Students performed relatively low in both test versions when solving the tasks
and questions dealing with this complex comprehension process. In the case of the 2nd
test
version the average achievement (47,91%) is even lower than the achievement for the 1st test
version (53,37%). In the case of the 1st version students had difficulties in solving the 15
th task
(27,37%), where they had to recognize the personages of the story by their facts. Students
performed low in solving the 9th
task of the 2nd
version, where they had to make reference to a
piece of information present earlier in the text, and had to attribute thoughts to a personage in
order to answer correctly the question: Why did the fox think that the man is right? (Because the
man did a good for the snake by saving it.). Looking across the results there can be seen that
Harghita county performed the lowest, and Cluj county performed the highest in reading for the
inferencing comprehension process.
Table 5. – Results achieved in the comprehension process of making straightforward inferences
(based on Anexa 2, 2014, 392–398.)
County 1
st version 2
nd version
Make straightforward inferences Make straightforward inferences
DISCOURSE AS A FORM OF MULTICULTURALISM IN LITERATURE AND COMMUNICATION
SECTION: PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION SCIENCES Arhipelag XXI Press, Tîrgu Mureș, 2015, ISBN: 978-606-8624-21-1
366
3.
7.
8.
10
.
11
.
12
.
15
.
AV
G
6.
7.
8.
9.
10
.
11
.
12
.
AV
G
Bihor
56
,92
75
,00
50
,86
56
,90
55
,34
46
,38
31
,55
53
,27
44
,16
68
,65
47
,87
21
,71
51
,95
57
,14
52
,69
49
,16
Cluj
82
,02
88
,50
61
,06
77
,43
72
,12
69
,64
45
,29
70
,86
55
,22
81
,74
58
,26
28
,26
69
,13
71
,30
64
,35
61
,18
Covasna
51
,26
67
,19
39
,43
50
,79
42
,65
31
,06
13
,95
42
,33
38
,40
57
,60
40
,09
11
,21
31
,34
34
,72
32
,77
35
,16
Harghita
51,0
4
65,6
3
38,8
0
52,6
1
42,0
1
26,7
2
12,2
2
41,2
9
37,2
6
52,1
6
34,5
0
7,6
4
25,3
0
30,4
5
36,1
9
31,9
2
Mures
59,6
6
77,0
1
53,7
0
58,2
8
57,4
1
47,0
9
28,7
3
54,5
5
45,0
4
69,8
3
49,3
8
19,3
1
47,8
0
55,6
5
49,1
0
48,0
1
Salaj
65,2
7
77,8
2
54,8
1
62,7
1
56,3
6
51,2
8
33,7
6
57,4
3
41,8
6
69,7
7
46,9
8
25,1
2
52,0
9
50,2
3
53,4
9
48,5
0
Satu-
Mare
56,7
0
76,5
6
54,1
4
53,3
8
57,8
8
46.1
5
26,1
4
52,9
9
49,0
1
70,6
2
50,6
2
17,2
8
47,5
2
53,8
5
44,8
0
47,6
7
AVG
60,4
1
75,3
8
50,0
4
60,1
5
54,8
2
45.4
7
27,3
7
53,3
7
44,4
2
67,1
9
46,8
1
18,6
4
60,2
2
50,4
7
47,6
2
47,9
1
Table 6. shows students‘ perfomance in reading for the comprehension process of
interpreting and applying creatively in a new context ideas of the text. The results reveal that
students‘ achievement was the lowest regarding the most complex comprehension process.
Students performed very poorly in the tasks where they had to use writing skills in order to solve
the task: to give a different ending to the story (1st version, 14) or to write sentences about the
behaviour of each personage (2nd
version, 14.)..
Table 6. – Results achieved in the comprehension process ofinterpreting and applying creatively
in a new context ideas/data of the text (based on Anexa 2, 2014, 392–398.)
County 1st
version 2nd
version
DISCOURSE AS A FORM OF MULTICULTURALISM IN LITERATURE AND COMMUNICATION
SECTION: PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION SCIENCES Arhipelag XXI Press, Tîrgu Mureș, 2015, ISBN: 978-606-8624-21-1
367
Interpret and apply creatively in a new
context ideas/data of the text
Interpret and apply creatively in a new context
ideas/data of the text
13. 14. AVG 13. 14. 15. AVG
Bihor 54,83 19,17 37,00 41,19 30,24 65,47 45,63
Cluj 64,16 19,91 42,03 48,70 41,30 75,88 35,29
Covasna 36,32 11,09 23,70 31,11 17,16 50,35 32,87
Harghita 37,74 8,34 23,04 23,66 14,18 51,58 29,80
Mures 49,87 16,93 33,40 40,44 28,41 60,03 42,96
Salaj 53,39 15,68 34,53 38,60 30,23 61,50 43,44
Satu-
Mare
51,92 11,94 31,93 41,09 25,99 64,25 43,77
Áverage 49,74 14,72 32,23 37,82 26,78 61,29 41,96
4. Conclusion
The aim of the study was to present the structure of the tests of the national competency
based assessment, designed to measure minority students‘ reading skills in the Romanian
language. The study also presents the 4th grade students achievement in reading for different
comprehension processes (retrieving information, making inferences and interprating and
creatively using in a new context ideas of the text).
Looking across the results it can be stated that students‘ average achievement is around
57% (1st version), respectively 57% (2
nd version) (see Table 7.). The relatively big difference
between the results achieved in the two test versions can be explained by the fact that the tests
were not totally equivalent regarding the complexity of the texts or of the comprehension
questions.
Table 7. – Results achieved by counties
DISCOURSE AS A FORM OF MULTICULTURALISM IN LITERATURE AND COMMUNICATION
SECTION: PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION SCIENCES Arhipelag XXI Press, Tîrgu Mureș, 2015, ISBN: 978-606-8624-21-1
368
County 1st version 2
nd version
Bihor 57,04 54,23
Cluj 70,96 65,64
Covasna 47,66 41,03
Harghita 48,38 38,17
Mureş 57,77 53,32
Sălaj 61,38 54,08
Satu-
Mare
56,80 56,9
AVG 57,14 51,91
The results also confirm that the counties that show relatively low performance are Harghita and
Covasna counties, where students learn the Romaniain language mainly in school, because they
have less opportunities to acquire it form the language environment.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
1. Ina V.S. Mullis, Michael O. Martin, Ann M. Kennedy, Kathleen L. Trong, and Marian
Sainsbury (2009): PIRLS 2011 Assessment Framework. International Study Center,
Lynch School of Education, Boston College
2. National Evaluating and Assessing Centre (CNEE) (2014): Evaluările Naţionale la
finalul claselor a II-a, a IV-a şi a VI-a. Raportul administrării. Ministry of Education,
Bucharest
3. Pletl Rita. (2012): Helyzetjelentés az erdélyi magyar diákok olvasási és szövegértési
képességének színvonaláról. Ábel Kiadó, Kolozsvár
DISCOURSE AS A FORM OF MULTICULTURALISM IN LITERATURE AND COMMUNICATION
SECTION: PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION SCIENCES Arhipelag XXI Press, Tîrgu Mureș, 2015, ISBN: 978-606-8624-21-1
369
4. ***Metodologia de organizare şi desfăşurarea Evaluărilor Naţionale la finalul claselor
a II-a, a IV-a şi a VI-a în anul şcolar 2013-2014. Anexă la Ordinul ministrului
educaţieinaţionale No. 3334 from 24.04.2014.
5. ***Legea educației naționale 1/2011. In: Monitorul Oficial al României anul 179
(XXIII), nr. 18., luni 10 ianuarie 2011. Romanian Law of Education. In: Official Journal
of Romania, 179. /(XXIII.), No. 18., Monday, 10th
January 2011.
(http://www.edu.ro/index.php/legaldocs/14847) (2015.09.28)