THE WORLD BANK

LebanonSTUDENT ASSESSMENT SABER Country Report

2013

Key Policy Areas for Student Assessment Status1. Classroom Assessment

In Lebanon, a formal, publicly available system-level document provides guidelines for classroom assessment. Some system-wide resources and materials (such as scoring criteria for evaluating students’ work) are also available to teachers for carrying out classroom assessment activities. In Lebanon, classroom assessment activities tend to be aligned with the pedagogical and curricular framework and are considered to be of moderate quality. While there are adequate required uses of classroom assessment information to support student learning, the information is not used as an input to external examination programs.

2. ExaminationsThe General Secondary Diploma examination has been administered to grade 12 students since 1925. The results are used to certify student completion of the school cycle and to determine selection to higher-education institutions. The results are officially recognized by certification and selection systems in Lebanon and abroad. Regular funding for the examination is provided by the government and covers all core examination activities. There are limited systematic mechanisms in place to ensure the quality of the examination. Additionally, there are no mechanisms, such as a permanent oversight committee, in place to monitor the consequences of the examination for students and other stakeholder groups.

3. National Large-Scale Assessment (NLSA)The Measuring Learning Achievement study was administered for the first time in 1994. Since then, it has been operating on an irregular basis, each time assessing a different grade and set of subjects. Lebanon does not have a policy document on the NLSA, or a plan for future NLSA activities. Funding for NLSA activities, provided by the Center for Educational Research and Development, covers core NLSA activities as well as research and development. While there are some mechanisms in place to ensure the quality of the NLSA, there is no publicly available technical report or similar document. There also are no mechanisms in place to monitor the consequences of the NLSA in terms of its impact on education quality or student learning.

4. International Large-Scale Assessment (ILSA)In the last 10 years, Lebanon has participated in TIMSS (2003, 2007, 2011) and PASEC (2009), and has taken concrete steps to participate in PISA 2015 and TIMSS 2015. Funding for ILSAs is provided by the Centre for Educational Research and Development and donors. The ILSA team typically attends international meetings on ILSAs; however, no opportunities to learn about ILSAs are offered in Lebanon. Lebanon-specific ILSA results have not been disseminated in the country, and it is not clear that decisions based on ILSA results have had a positive impact on achievement levels.

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SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 2

Introduction

Lebanon has focused on increasing student learningoutcomes by improving the quality of education in thecountry. An effective student assessment system is animportant component to improving education qualityand learning outcomes as it provides the necessaryinformation to meet stakeholders’ decision makingneeds. In order to gain a better understanding of thestrengths and weaknesses of its existing assessmentsystem, Lebanon decided to benchmark this systemusing standardized tools developed under The WorldBank’s Systems Approach for Better Education Results(SABER) program. SABER is an evidence based programto help countries systematically examine andstrengthen the performance of different aspects of theireducation systems.

What is SABER Student Assessment?

SABER Student Assessment is a component of theSABER program that focuses specifically onbenchmarking student assessment policies and systems.The goal of SABER Student Assessment is to promotestronger assessment systems that contribute toimproved education quality and learning for all.

National governments and international agencies areincreasingly recognizing the key role that assessment ofstudent learning plays in an effective education system.The importance of assessment is linked to its role in:(i) providing information on levels of student

learning and achievement in the system;(ii) monitoring trends in education quality over

time;(iii) supporting educators and students with real

time information to improve teaching andlearning; and

(iv) holding stakeholders accountable for results.

SABER Student Assessment methodology

The SABER Student Assessment framework is built onthe available evidence base for what an effectiveassessment system looks like. The framework providesguidance on how countries can build more effectivestudent assessment systems. The framework isstructured around two main dimensions of assessment

systems: the types/purposes of assessment activitiesand the quality of those activities.

Assessment types and purposes

Assessment systems tend to be comprised of threemain types of assessment activities, each of whichserves a different purpose and addresses differentinformation needs. These three main types are:classroom assessment, examinations, and large scale,system level assessments.

Classroom assessment provides real time informationto support ongoing teaching and learning in individualclassrooms. Classroom assessments use a variety offormats, including observation, questioning, and paperand pencil tests, to evaluate student learning, generallyon a daily basis.

Examinations provide a basis for selecting or certifyingstudents as they move from one level of the educationsystem to the next (or into the workforce). All eligiblestudents are tested on an annual basis (or more often ifthe system allows for repeat testing). Examinationscover the main subject areas in the curriculum andusually involve essays and multiple choice questions.

Large scale, system level assessments provide feedbackon the overall performance of the education system atparticular grades or age levels. These assessmentstypically cover a few subjects on a regular basis (such asevery 3 to 5 years), are often sample based, and usemultiple choice and short answer formats. They may benational or international in scope.

Appendix 1 summarizes the key features of these maintypes of assessment activities.

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Quality drivers of an assessment system

The key considerations when evaluating a studentassessment system are the individual and combinedquality of assessment activities in terms of theadequacy of the information generated to supportdecision making. There are three main drivers ofinformation quality in an assessment system: enablingcontext, system alignment, and assessment quality.

Enabling context refers to the broader context in whichthe assessment activity takes place and the extent towhich that context is conducive to, or supportive of, theassessment. It covers such issues as the legislative orpolicy framework for assessment activities; institutionaland organizational structures for designing, carryingout, or using results from the assessment; theavailability of sufficient and stable sources of funding;and the presence of trained assessment staff.

System alignment refers to the extent to which theassessment is aligned with the rest of the educationsystem. This includes the degree of congruencebetween assessment activities and system learninggoals, standards, curriculum, and pre and in serviceteacher training.

Assessment quality refers to the psychometric quality ofthe instruments, processes, and procedures for theassessment activity. It covers such issues as design andimplementation of assessment activities, analysis andinterpretation of student responses to those activities,and the appropriateness of how assessment results arereported and used.

Crossing the quality drivers with the differentassessment types/purposes provides the frameworkand broad indicator areas shown in Table 1. Thisframework is a starting point for identifying indicatorsthat can be used to review assessment systems andplan for their improvement.

Table 1: Framework for building an effectiveassessment system, with indicator areas

The indicators are identified based on a combination ofcriteria, including:

professional standards for assessment;empirical research on the characteristics of effectiveassessment systems, including analysis of thecharacteristics that differentiate between theassessment systems of low versus high performingnations; andtheory—that is, general consensus amongexperts that it contributes to effectiveassessment.

Levels of development

The World Bank has developed a set ofstandardized questionnaires and rubrics for collectingand evaluating data on the three assessment typesand related quality drivers.

The questionnaires are used to collect data on thecharacteristics of the assessment system in a particularcountry. The information from the questionnaires isthen applied to the rubrics in order to judge thedevelopment level of the country’s assessment systemin different areas.

The basic structure of the rubrics for evaluatingdata collected using the standardized questionnairesis summarized in Appendix 2. The goal of the rubrics isto provide a country with some sense of thedevelopment level of its assessment activities comparedto best or recommended practice in each area. Foreach indicator, the rubric displays four developmentlevels—Latent, Emerging, Established, and Advanced.

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SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS 4

These levels are artificially constructed categorieschosen to represent key stages on the underlyingcontinuum for each indicator. Each level isaccompanied by a description of what performance onthe indicator looks like at that level.

Latent is the lowest level of performance; itrepresents absence of, or deviation from, thedesired attribute.Emerging is the next level; it represents partialpresence of the attribute.Established represents the acceptable minimumstandard.Advanced represents the ideal or current bestpractice.

A summary of the development levels for eachassessment type is presented in Appendix 3.

In reality, assessment systems are likely to be atdifferent levels of development in different areas. Forexample, a system may be Established in the area ofexaminations, but Emerging in the area of largescale, system level assessment, and vice versa. Whileintuition suggests that it is probably better to befurther along in as many areas as possible, theevidence is unclear as to whether it is necessary tobe functioning at Advanced levels in all areas.Therefore, one might view the Established level as adesirable minimum outcome to achieve in all areas, butonly aspire beyond that in those areas that mostcontribute to the national vision or priorities foreducation. In line with these considerations, the ratingsgenerated by the rubrics are not meant to be additiveacross assessment types (that is, they are not meant tobe added to create an overall rating for an assessmentsystem; they are only meant to produce an overallrating for each assessment type). The methodology forassigning development levels is summarized inAppendix 4.

Education in LebanonLebanon is an upper middle income country in theMiddle East and North Africa region. GDP per capita

(current US$) is $9,705, with annual growth of 1.4percent in 2012.

The Lebanese education system is comprised ofkindergarten (3 to 6 year olds); elementary educationfrom grades 1 through 6; intermediate education forgrades 7 through 9; and secondary education for grades10 through 12. Lebanon invests heavily in education,committing 13 percent of its GDP for this purpose. Thisstrong commitment is reflected in Lebanon’s primarynet enrollment rate (95 percent), which is above theregional average. Although Lebanon has lowpupil/teacher ratios of 14:1 at the primary level and 8:1at the secondary level, there is a lack of qualifiedteachers (only 4 percent of public school teachers holda specialized degree), and little or no in service trainingis offered to new teachers.

The Ministry of Education has made important effortsto improve its education system. The government’spriorities for education include expanding access toearly childhood education; reducing dropout andrepetition rates; enhancing the qualifications andperformance of the teaching workforce; establishing aNational Qualifications Framework that will link thevarious education levels to the labor market; andintroducing quality assurance at the higher educationlevel.

Detailed information was collected on Lebanon’sstudent assessment system using the SABER StudentAssessment questionnaires and rubrics. It is importantto remember that these tools primarily focus onbenchmarking a country’s policies and arrangements forassessment activities at the system or macro level.Additional data would need to be collected todetermine actual, on the ground practices in Lebanon,particularly by teachers and students in schools. Thefollowing sections discuss the findings by eachassessment type, accompanied by suggested policyoptions. The suggested policy options were determinedin collaboration with key local stakeholders based onLebanon’s immediate interests and needs. Detailed,completed rubrics for each assessment type areprovided in Appendix 5.

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Classroom Assessment

Level of development: ESTABLISHED

In Lebanon, a formal system level document providesguidelines for classroom assessment for primary andsecondary education. The document is available to thepublic and during in service courses for teachers. Thedocument is also distributed to all school principals.

There are some system wide resources available toteachers for carrying out classroom assessmentactivities. These include an official curriculum/learningstandards document that outlines what students areexpected to learn and their expected levels ofperformance in different subject areas at differentgrade levels; textbooks or workbooks that providesupport for classroom assessment; scoring criteria orrubrics for students’ work; and explanations about theschool exams.

There are limited opportunities available to primary andsecondary school teachers for learning about ordeveloping more effective classroom assessmentpractices. The existing opportunities are providedduring pre service teacher training programs ininstitutes and universities, and during in service teachertraining programs offered by the Centre for EducationalResearch and Development (CERD). There are alsoopportunities for teachers to participate in conferencesand workshops, and school inspection or teachersupervision includes a component focused on classroomassessment. In addition, teachers have opportunities toparticipate in item development for, or scoring of, largescale assessments or exams.

Classroom assessment practices are perceived as beingof moderate quality. While these practices tend to bealigned with the pedagogical and curricular framework,it is also common for them to be focused primarily oninformation recall. Apart from classroom assessmentsbeing a component of school inspection or teachersupervision, there are ad hoc mechanisms in place tomonitor the quality of classroom related practices. Inaddition, government funding is available for researchon the quality of classroom assessment activities andhow to improve classroom assessment with the CERDand the Faculty of Education at the Lebanese University.

Information from classroom assessment is required tobe made available to students, parents, and schooldirectors. Teachers provide feedback in an assessmentgrid, which allows space for quantitative as well asqualitative input.

There is no requirement for classroom assessment datato be used for grading students or as an input to anexternal examination program (e.g., school basedassessment with moderation and quality audit).

Suggested policy options:

1. The Program “Assessment of Student Achievementand Curriculum Development,” which is part of theEducation Sector Development Plan (2010 2015), is tobe implemented with the cooperation of CERD and theFaculty of Education of the Lebanese University. Thisprogram aims to develop the curriculum in a mannerconsistent with national needs and global trends,through setting clear foundations for the reform of thecurriculum and the identification of learning outcomes,developing a Question Bank System (QBS) to be usedfor examinations conducted at the school level, anddeveloping standards for the production of textbooksand teacher guides. In implementing this program,ensure participation and full involvement of the staff ofthe regional resource centers for teacher professionaldevelopment with the selected school principals, as wellas teacher trainers from universities outside of theLebanese University. In addition, ensure that resourcesdeveloped in this program to support teachers inclassroom assessment practices are widelydisseminated.

2. Introduce a variety of mechanisms to systematicallymonitor the quality of classroom assessment practices.For example, include classroom assessment as acomponent of a teacher’s performance evaluation.

3. Ensure that classroom assessment information iseffectively used to inform policymaking by requiringthat it be disseminated to all key stakeholders, includingdistrict or Ministry of Education officials.

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Examinations

Level of development: ESTABLISHED

The General Secondary Diploma (Baccalaureate)examination has been administered to grade 12students since 1925. The results are used for certifyingstudent completion of grade 12 and for determiningselection to university or other higher educationinstitutions.

There is a policy document authorizing and addressingsome key aspects of the Baccalaureate. However, thedocument does not describe authorized uses of theexamination results.

While policymakers and educators support theexamination, it is unclear to what extent otherstakeholder groups (teacher unions, students, parents,media, think tanks and NGOs, employers, anduniversities) support it. The Ministry of Education'sDirectorate General has coordinated efforts witheducators from all sectors to improve theBaccalaureate. These efforts are generally welcomed bythe leadership in charge of the examination.

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education'sDepartment of Examinations has been running theBaccalaureate since 1949. Funding for the examinationis allocated by the government and covers all coreexamination activities (design, administration, dataprocessing, and reporting), but does not cover researchand development. The Baccalaureate office has some ofthe required facilities to carry out the examination andis adequately staffed in terms of the quality(qualifications and knowledge) of those working on theexamination, but not necessarily in terms of theirquantity (number of staff).

The Central Inspectorate and the General Directorate ofGeneral Education is the external body to which theExamination Department is accountable. Theexamination results are officially recognized bycertification and selection systems in Lebanon andabroad.

Lebanon offers some opportunities that prepareindividuals for work on the Baccalaureate. These

opportunities include university graduate programs(masters or doctoral level) and non university trainingcourses or workshops focused on educationalmeasurement and evaluation.

There is a clear understanding and acceptance that theBaccalaureate measures national curricula guidelines.Teachers have the opportunity to learn about theBaccalaureate through regularly updated, voluntarycourses or workshops that are offered as part of the inservice training provided by the Center for EducationalResearch and Development. Teachers are involved inmost examination related tasks, including selecting orcreating examination questions and scoring guides.They also administer, supervise, and score theexamination.

Baccalaureate results are credible for all stakeholdergroups, and there is no systematic evidence of theirimproper use. However, students’ names and resultsare not confidential and are made public on the websiteof the Ministry of Education.

Suggested policy options:

1. In order to create linkages between curriculumreform led by the CERD and the formal examinationsystem, introduce mechanisms, such as expert reviewgroups, which monitor the consequences of theexamination and inform curriculum reform activities.Ensure that the administrative procedures within theDepartment of Examinations at the Ministry ofEducation and Higher Education are streamlined toallow for effective implementation of such linkages.

2. Ensure that the Department of Examinations has allof the required facilities to carry out the examinationeffectively. For example, ensure that all technical staffhave access to computers.

3. Support system level mechanisms to ensure thequality of the examination by, for example, conductinga pilot as well as by continuing the ongoing work toensure expansion and improvement of the QuestionBank System (QBS).

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National Large Scale Assessment (NLSA)

Level of development: EMERGING

TheMeasuring Learning Achievement study is a nationallarge scale assessment that was administered for thefirst time in 1994. Since then, it has been implementedon an irregular basis (1995, 1997, 2003, and 2012), eachtime targeting a different grade level and different setof subjects.

There is no policy document, technical report, or otheravailable documentation on the Measuring LearningAchievement study. In order to conduct a round of theassessment, the Centre for Educational Research andDevelopment (CERD) must submit a proposal to, andreceive approval from, the Minister of Education.

The office responsible for the Measuring LearningAchievement study is adequately staffed with mostlypart time and temporary staff. Funding for theassessment is irregular and allocated through thebudget of the Center for Educational Research andDevelopment. Funding covers all core assessmentactivities (design, administration, analysis, andreporting), as well as staff training and research anddevelopment activities. The Measuring LearningAchievement office is accountable to the CentralInspectorate, which is a monitoring body, and to aspecial studies committee mandated by the Center forEducational Research and Development.

As a way to prepare individuals for work on theMeasuring Learning Achievement study, Lebanon offersfunding opportunities for attending internationalprograms, courses, or workshops on educationalmeasurement and evaluation.

There are some mechanisms in place to ensure thequality of the Measuring Learning Achievement study.However, discrepancies are not recorded on a standardsheet, and there is no double data scoring, no externalreviewers or observers, and no external certification oraudit. There are options to include all student groups inthe study, such as plans to ensure that the assessmentis administered to students in hard to reach areas andin the language of instruction for almost all studentgroups.

Reports on the Measuring Learning Achievementresults, which contain information on overallachievement levels and subgroups, are available for allstakeholder groups. There also are workshops orpresentations for key stakeholders on the results.However, the reports do not contain information ontrends over time, nor do they provide information onstandard errors. Additionally, there is no media briefingor coverage of the Measuring Learning Achievementresults.

Measuring Learning Achievement data tend not to beused or else are used in ways inconsistent with thetechnical characteristics of the assessment.

Suggested policy options:

1. In order to institutionalize the Measuring LearningAchievement assessment, introduce a policy documentpertaining to key aspects of the NLSA (sources offunding, uses of results); ensure that the policydocument is approved by the relevant authorizing bodyand is publicly available.

2. Develop a written plan for future NLSA activities,which includes a strategy for collaboration among theDNE (Dispositif National d’Evaluation NationalEvaluation Body), the CERD Evaluation and AssessmentUnit, and the Faculty of Education at the LebaneseUniversity.

3. Ensure that NLSA results are effectively disseminatedin Lebanon. For example, ensure that reports withresults include information on trends over time overalland for subgroups, and that the media providescoverage of NLSA results.

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International Large Scale Assessment(ILSA)

Level of development:

In the last 10 years, Lebanon has participated in anumber of ILSA exercises, including PASEC (2009) andTIMSS (2003, 2007, and 2011). The formal policydocument that addresses participation in ILSAs is theLetter from the Head of the Center for EducationalResearch and Development, authorized by the Ministryof Education and Higher Education on February 2, 2011.Lebanon has taken concrete steps to participate in PISA2015 and TIMSS 2015.

There is funding for participation in ILSAs allocated atdiscretion by the Centre for Educational Research andDevelopment (CERD) in Lebanon and from loans orexternal donors. Funding covers internationalparticipation fees, in country implementation of theassessment exercise (e.g., printing booklets, travel toschools), data processing and analysis, and attendanceat international meetings for the assessment exercise.Funding does not cover reporting and dissemination ofthe assessment results in Lebanon or research anddevelopment activities.

The national coordinator oversees a sufficiently staffedteam that has previous experience working oninternational assessments as well as the necessarytraining to carry out the required ILSA activitieseffectively. The national coordinator is fluent in thelanguage (English, in the case of TIMSS) in which theinternational level meetings are conducted and relateddocumentation is available.

No issues were identified with the carrying out of themost recent ILSA activities in Lebanon. In addition, theILSA team was able to attend all internationalworkshops and meetings related to the exercise.However, Lebanon only met the standards necessary tohave its data presented beneath the main display of theinternational report or in an annex.

Country specific results and information from ILSAshave not been disseminated in Lebanon and have onlybeen published in the international report. Products toprovide feedback to schools and educators about theILSA results are not made available. While it is plannedfor ILSA results to be used to inform curriculumimprovement, teacher training programs, and otherassessment activities in the system, at the present time,results from ILSAs have not been used to informdecision making at the national level.

It is not clear that decisions based on ILSA results havehad a positive impact on student achievement levels.

Suggested policy options:

1. Continue efforts to strengthen capacity within theCERD, which include Lebanon’s involvement in theRegional Program on Student Assessment and Qualityof Education, part of the Arab Regional Agenda forImproving Education Quality (ARAIEQ). In addition,introduce opportunities to learn about ILSA to relevantstakeholders. For example, host workshops on usinginternational assessment databases that are available tostaff working on ILSA and other individuals interested inassessment.

2. Ensure that Lebanon specific ILSA results are widelydisseminated in the country. For example, develop anational report and make it available to all keystakeholders, including school principals, teachers(through teacher training programs), and the media.

3. Organize regular conferences and workshopsinvolving a variety of key stakeholder groups—includingacademia, practitioners, media, and civil societyorganizations—to discuss how ILSA results can be usedto improve learning in Lebanon.

4. Continue ongoing analytical work on TIMSS data andensure that it is used for informing policymaking, suchas curriculum improvement and teacher trainingprograms.

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Appendix 1: Assessment Types and Their Key Differences

Classroom Large-scale assessment Surveys

Examinations

National International Exit Entrance

Purpose To provide immediatefeedback to inform classroom instruction

To provide feedback on overall health of the system at particular grade/age level(s), and to monitor trends in learning

To provide feedback on the comparative performance of the education system at particular grade/age level(s)

To certify students as they move from one level of the education system to the next (or into the workforce)

To select students for further educational opportunities

Frequency Daily For individual subjects offered on a regular basis (such as every 3-5 years)

For individual subjects offered on a regular basis (such as every 3-5 years)

Annually and more often where the system allows for repeats

Annually and more often where the system allows for repeats

Who is tested?

All students Sample or census of students at a particular grade or age level(s)

A sample of students at a particular grade or age level(s)

All eligible students

All eligible students

Format Varies from observation to questioning to paper-and-pencil tests to student performances

Usually multiple choice and short answer

Usually multiple choice and short answer

Usually essay and multiple choice

Usually essay and multiple choice

Coverage of curriculum

All subject areas Generally confined to a few subjects

Generally confined to one or two subjects

Covers main subject areas

Covers main subject areas

Additional informationcollected from students?

Yes, as part of the teaching process

Frequently Yes Seldom Seldom

Scoring Usually informal and simple

Varies from simple to more statistically sophisticatedtechniques

Usually involves statistically sophisticatedtechniques

Varies from simple to more statistically sophisticatedtechniques

Varies from simple to more statistically sophisticatedtechniques

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Appendix 2: Basic Structure of Rubrics for Evaluating Data Collected on a Student Assessment System

Dimension

Development Level

LATENT (Absence of, or deviation from,

attribute)

EMERGING (On way to meeting minimum standard)

ESTABLISHED (Acceptable

minimum standard)

ADVANCED (Best practice) Justification

EC—ENABLING CONTEXT EC1—Policies EC2—Leadership, public engagement

EC3—Funding EC4—Institutional arrangements EC5—Human resources

SA—SYSTEM ALIGNMENT SA1—Learning/quality goals SA2—Curriculum SA3—Pre-, in-service teacher training

AQ—ASSESSMENT QUALITY AQ1—Ensuring quality (design, administration, analysis)

AQ2—Ensuring effective uses

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Appendix 3: Summary of the Development Levels for Each Assessment Type

Assessment Type LATENT EMERGING ESTABLISHED ADVANCED

Absence of, or deviation from, the attribute

On way to meeting minimum standard

Acceptable minimum standard

Best practice

CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT

There is no system-wide institutional capacity to support and ensure the quality of classroom assessment practices.

There is weak system-wide institutional capacity to support and ensure the quality of classroom assessment practices.

There is sufficient system-wide institutional capacity to support and ensure the quality of classroom assessment practices.

There is strong system-wide institutional capacity to support and ensure the quality of classroom assessment practices.

EXAMINATIONS

There is no standardized examination in place for key decisions.

There is a partially stable standardized examination in place, and a need to develop institutional capacity to run the examination. The examination typically is of poor quality and is perceived as unfair or corrupt.

There is a stable standardized examination in place. There is institutional capacity and some limited mechanisms to monitor it. The examination is of acceptable quality and is perceived as fair for most students and free from corruption.

There is a stable standardized examination in place and institutional capacity and strong mechanisms to monitor it. The examination is of high quality and is perceived as fair and free from corruption.

NATIONAL (OR SYSTEMLEVEL) LARGE SCALEASSESSMENT

There is no NLSA in place.

There is an unstable NLSA in place and a need to develop institutional capacity to run the NLSA. Assessment quality and impact are weak.

There is a stable NLSA in place. There is institutional capacity and some limited mechanisms to monitor it. The NLSA is of moderate quality and its information is disseminated, but not always used in effective ways.

There is a stable NLSA in place and institutional capacity and strong mechanisms to monitor it. The NLSA is of high quality and its information is effectively used to improve education.

INTERNATIONAL LARGESCALE ASSESSMENT

There is no history of participation in an ILSA nor plans to participate in one.

Participation in an ILSA has been initiated, but there still is need to develop institutional capacity to carry out the ILSA.

There is more or less stable participation in an ILSA. There is institutional capacity to carry out the ILSA. The information from the ILSA is disseminated, but not always used in effective ways.

There is stable participation in an ILSA and institutional capacity to run the ILSA. The information from the ILSA is effectively used to improve education.

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Appendix 4: Methodology for AssigningDevelopment Levels

1. The country team or consultant collects informationabout the assessment system in the country.

2. Based on the collected information, a level ofdevelopment and score is assigned to each dimension inthe rubrics:

Latent = 1 score pointEmerging = 2 score pointsEstablished = 3 score pointsAdvanced = 4 score points

3. The score for each quality driver is computed byaggregating the scores for each of its constituentdimensions. For example:

The quality driver, ‘Enabling Context,’ in the case ofILSA, has 3 dimensions on which a hypothetical countryreceives the following scores: Dimension A = 2 points;Dimension B = 2 points; Dimension C = 3 points. Thehypothetical country’s overall score for this qualitydriver would be: (2+2+3)/3 = 2.33

4. A preliminary level of development is assigned toeach quality driver.

5. The preliminary development level is validated usingexpert judgment in cooperation with the country teamand The World Bank Task Team Leader.

For scores that allow a margin of discretion (i.e., tochoose between two levels of development), a finaldecision has to be made based on expert judgment. Forexample, the aforementioned hypothetical country hasan ‘Enabling Context’ score of 2.33, corresponding to apreliminary level of development of ‘Emerging orEstablished.’ Based on qualitative information notcaptured in the rubric, along with expert judgment, thecountry team chooses ‘Emerging’ as the mostappropriate level.

6. Scores for certain key dimensions under ‘EnablingContext’ (in the case of EXAM, NLSA, and ILSA) andunder ‘System Alignment’ (in the case of CLASS) wereset as ceiling scores, i.e., the overall mean score for the

particular assessment type cannot be greater than thescore for these key dimensions. These key variablesinclude formal policy, regular funding, having apermanent assessment unit, and the quality ofassessment practices.

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tthat

provides

guidelines

for

classroo

massessmen

t.

Thereisaform

alsystem

leveld

ocum

ent

that

provides

guidelines

forclassroo

massessmen

t.1

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

The

availability

ofthe

documen

tis

restricted.

Thedo

cumen

tisw

idelyavailable.

2

ENABLINGCONTEXT

ANDSYSTEM

ALIGNMENT2:

Aligning

classroomassessmentw

ithsystem

learning

goals

Thereareno

system

wideresourcesfor

teache

rsforclassroom

assessmen

t.Therearescarce

system

wideresources

forteachersfor

classroo

massessmen

t.Therearesomesystem

wideresources

forteachersfor

classroo

massessmen

t.3There

are

avarie

tyof

system

wide

resources

available

for

teache

rsfor

classroo

massessmen

t.

There

isno

official

curriculum

orstandardsd

ocum

ent.

There

isan

official

curriculum

orstandardsdo

cumen

t,bu

titis

notclear

whatstud

ents

areexpe

cted

tolearnor

towhatlevelof

performance.

There

isan

official

curriculum

orstandardsdo

cumen

tthat

specifies

what

stud

ents

areexpe

cted

tolearn,

butthe

levelof

performance

requ

ired

isno

tclear.

There

isan

official

curriculum

orstandardsdo

cumen

tthat

specifies

what

stud

ents

areexpe

cted

tolearn

and

towhatlevelof

performance.4

ENABLINGCONTEXT

ANDSYSTEM

ALIGNMENT3:

Havingeffectivehuman

resourcestocarryoutclassroom

assessmentactivities

Thereareno

system

levelmechanism

sto

ensure

that

teache

rsde

velop

skills

andexpe

rtise

inclassroo

massessmen

t.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

There

are

some

system

level

mechanism

sto

ensure

that

teache

rsde

velopskillsandexpe

rtise

inclassroo

massessmen

t.

There

are

avarie

tyof

system

level

mechanism

sto

ensure

that

teache

rsde

velopskillsandexpe

rtise

inclassroo

massessmen

t.5

* *

* **

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

15

ASSESSMENTQUALITY

Qua

lityof

classroo

massessmentd

esign,ad

ministratio

n,an

alysis,

anduse.

LATENT

EMERGING

ESTABLISHED

ADVANCED

ASSESSMENTQUALITY1:

Ensuring

thequality

ofclassroomassessment

Classroo

massessmen

tpractices

suffe

rfrom

widespreadweaknessesor

thereis

noinform

ation

available

onclassroo

massessmen

tpractices.

Classroo

massessmen

tpractices

are

know

nto

beweak.

Classroo

massessmen

tpractices

are

know

nto

beof

mod

eratequ

ality

.6Classroo

massessmen

tpractices

are

know

nto

begene

rally

ofhigh

quality

.

Thereareno

mechanism

sto

mon

itorthe

quality

ofclassroo

massessmen

tpractices.

Therearead

hocmechanism

sto

mon

itor

the

quality

ofclassroo

massessmen

tpractices.7

Therearelim

itedsystem

aticmechanism

sto

mon

itor

the

quality

ofclassroo

massessmen

tpractices.

There

are

varie

dand

system

atic

mechanism

sin

place

tomon

itor

the

quality

ofclassroo

massessmen

tpractices.

ASSESSMENTQUALITY2:

Ensuring

effectiveusesofclassroomassessment

Classroo

massessmen

tinformationisno

trequ

ired

tobe

dissem

inated

tokey

stakeh

olde

rs.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Classroo

massessmen

tinform

ation

isrequ

iredto

bedissem

inated

tosomekey

stakeh

olde

rs.8

Classroo

massessmen

tinform

ation

isrequ

iredto

bedissem

inated

toallkey

stakeh

olde

rs.

Thereareno

requ

ireduses

ofclassroo

massessmen

ttosupp

ortstude

ntlearning.

There

are

limite

drequ

ired

uses

ofclassroo

massessmen

tto

supp

ort

stud

entlearning.

There

are

adeq

uate

requ

ired

uses

ofclassroo

massessmen

tto

supp

ort

stud

entlearning,e

xcluding

itsuseas

aninpu

tfor

externalexam

inationresults.9

There

are

adeq

uate

requ

ired

uses

ofclassroo

massessmen

tto

supp

ort

stud

entlearning,including

itsuseas

aninpu

tfor

externalexam

inationresults.

* *

*

*

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

16

ClassroomAssessment

1.Theform

alsystem

leveld

ocum

entp

roviding

guidelines

forc

lassroom

assessmen

tistheMinister

decisio

nNo.

666/m/200

0,datedNovem

ber1

4,20

00,and

itsam

endm

entby

decisio

nNo.

940/m/200

1,datedJune

27,20

01,authorize

dby

theMinistry

ofEducation.

Thedo

cumen

tappliesforprim

aryand

second

aryed

ucation.

2.Thedo

cumen

tisa

vailableto

thepu

blicandhasb

eendistrib

uted

toallschoo

lprin

cipalsinthepu

blicsector.The

documen

tisa

lsoavailabledu

ringin

service

coursesforteachers.Ad

ditio

nally,teachershave

hadtheop

portun

ityto

review

thedo

cumen

tintheearly

phaseof

implem

entatio

nof

thene

wcurriculain

2000

and20

01.

3.Re

sourcesteachersfor

classroo

massessmen

tinclude

:

a.A

documen

tthat

outline

swhatstud

ents

areexpe

cted

tolearnin

diffe

rent

subjectareasat

diffe

rent

grade/agelevels

andthelevel(s)of

performance

that

stud

entsareexpe

cted

toreachindiffe

rent

subjecta

reas

atdiffe

rent

grade/agelevels(the

documen

tcan

belocatedintheCe

ntre

forE

ducatio

nalResearchandDe

velopm

ent's

web

siteat

www.crdp.org);

b.Textbo

okso

rworkboo

ksthat

providesupp

ortfor

classroo

massessmen

t;c.

Scoringcrite

riaor

rubricsfor

stud

ents’w

ork;and

d.Explanations

abou

tthe

scho

olexam

s.

4.Thereisan

officialcurriculum

orstandardsd

ocum

entthat spe

cifie

swhatstude

ntsa

reexpe

cted

tolearnandto

whatlevelof

performance.

5.Thesystem

levelmechanism

sthat

ensure

that

teache

rsde

velop

skillsand

expe

rtise

inclassroo

massessmen

tinclud

epreserviceteache

rtraining

oppo

rtun

ities

availableintheinstitu

tesandintheun

iversities,in

serviceteache

rtrainingprovided

continuo

uslyby

theCe

ntre

forE

ducatio

nalR

esearchand

Developm

entforallprim

aryand

second

aryscho

olteache

rs,op

portun

ities

forteache

rsto

participatein

conferen

cesand

worksho

psand

inite

mde

velopm

entfor,o

rscorin

gof,large

scaleassessmen

tsor

exam

s,andscho

olinspectio

nor

teache

rsup

ervisio

ninclud

esacompo

nent

focusedon

classroo

massessmen

t.Preserviceteache

r trainingprogramsinclude

courseso

nclassroo

massessmen

t.

6.Classroo

massessmen

tpractices

areknow

nto

beof

mod

eratequ

ality

.Spe

cifically,itisno

tcom

mon

forclassroo

massessmen

tactivities

torelymainlyon

multip

lechoice,selectio

ntype

questio

ns,toob

serveerrors

inthescoringor

gradingof

stud

ents'w

ork,or

forc

lassroom

assessmen

tsto

bemainlyused

asadministrativ

eor

controltoo

lrathe

rthanas

pedagogicalresou

rce.

Itiscommon

forc

lassroom

assessmen

tpractices

tobe

aligne

dwith

thepe

dagogicaland

curricular

fram

ework.

Une

venapplicationof

standardsforgradingstud

ents’w

orkandgradeinfla

tiontend

tono

tbe

aserio

usprob

lem.Even

thou

ghparentstend

tobe

wellinformed

ofstud

ents'grade

s,classroo

massessmen

tinformationprovides

little

feed

back

tostud

ents.A

ddition

ally,itiscommon

for

classroo

massessmen

tactiv

ities

tobe

mainlyabou

trecalling

inform

ation,

andteache

rstend

tono

tuseexplicitor

aprioricrite

riaforscoringor

grading

stud

ents'w

ork.

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

17

7.Althou

ghclassroo

massessmen

tisarequ

iredcompo

nent

ofscho

olinspectio

nor

teache

rsup

ervisio

n,classroo

massessmen

tisno

tarequ

iredcompo

nent

ofateache

r’spe

rformance

evaluatio

n;thereisno

external

mod

erationsystem

inplacethat

review

sthedifficulty

ofclassroo

massessmen

tactiv

ities

orthe

approp

riatene

ssof

scoringcrite

riain

gradingstud

ents’work;andnatio

nalo

rother

system

widereview

sof

thequ

ality

ofed

ucationthat

includ

eafocuson

classroo

massessmen

tdono

ttakeplace.Ho

wever,governm

entfun

ding

isavailableforresearchon

thequ

ality

ofclassroo

massessmen

tactivities

andho

wto

improveclassroo

massessmen

t with

theCE

RDandthroughtheFaculty

ofEd

ucationat

theLebane

seUniversity

.

8.Teache

rsarerequ

iredto

repo

rton

individu

alstud

ent's

performance

tostud

ents,paren

ts,and

scho

oldirectors.Teache

rsprovidefeed

back

inan

assessmen

tgrid,w

hich

allowsspace

forq

uantita

tiveas

wellasq

ualitativeinpu

t.

9.Therequ

ireduses

includ

ediagno

singstud

entlearning

issue

s,providingfeed

back

tostud

ents

ontheirlearning,inform

ingparentsabou

ttheirchild’s

learning,and

planning

next

step

sininstruction.

However,classroom

assessmen

tisno

treq

uiredto

beused

forg

rading

stud

entsforinternalclassroom

uses

orforp

roviding

inpu

ttoan

externalexam

inationprogram

(e.g.,scho

olbasedassessmen

twith

mod

erationandqu

ality

audit).

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

18

LEBANON

Exam

inations

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

19

ENABLINGCONTEXT

Overallfram

eworkof

policies,lead

ership,organ

izatio

nalstructures,fiscaland

human

resourcesinwhich

assessmenta

ctivity

takesp

lace

inacoun

tryor

system

andtheextent

towhich

that

fram

eworkiscond

uciveto,orsup

portiveof,the

assessmenta

ctivity.

LATENT

EMERGING

ESTABLISHED

ADVANCED

ENABLINGCONTEXT

1:Settingclearpolicies

Nostandardize

dexam

inationhastaken

place.

Thestandardize

dexam

inationhasbe

enop

eratingon

anirregular

basis.

Theexam

inationisastableprogram

that

hasb

eenop

eratingregularly

.1This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion

There

isno

policy

documen

tthat

authorize

sthe

exam

ination.

There

isan

inform

alor

draft

policy

documen

tthat

authorize

sthe

exam

ination.

Thereis

aform

alpo

licydo

cumen

tthat

authorize

sthe

exam

ination.

2This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Thepo

licydo

cumen

tisno

tavailableto

thepu

blic

Thepo

licydo

cumen

tisavailableto

the

public.3

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

The

policy

documen

taddresses

some

keyaspe

ctso

fthe

exam

ination.

4Thepo

licydo

cumen

taddressesallkey

aspe

ctso

fthe

exam

ination.

ENABLINGCONTEXT

2:Havingstrong

leadership

Allstakeh

olde

rgrou

psstrongly

oppo

setheexam

inationor

areindiffe

rent

toit.

5Most

stakeh

olde

rgrou

psop

pose

the

exam

ination.

5Moststakeh

olde

rsgrou

pssupp

ortthe

exam

ination.

5All

stakeh

olde

rgrou

pssupp

ort

the

exam

ination.

5

Thereareno

attemptsto

improvethe

exam

inationby

stakeh

olde

rgroup

s.This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

There

are

inde

pend

ent

attempts

toim

provetheexam

inationby

stakeh

olde

rgrou

ps.

There

are

coordinated

attempts

toim

provetheexam

inationby

stakeh

olde

rgrou

ps.6

Effortsto

improvetheexam

inationare

not

welcomed

bythe

leadership

incharge

oftheexam

ination

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Effortsto

improvetheexam

inationare

gene

rally

welcomed

bytheleadership

incharge

oftheexam

ination.

7

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

(CONTINUE

D)

* * * *

*

*

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

20

LATENT

EMERGING

ESTABLISHED

ADVANCED

ENABLINGCONTEXT

3:Havingregularfunding

There

isno

fund

ing

allocated

forthe

exam

ination.

Thereis

irregular

fund

ingallocatedfor

theexam

ination.

Thereisregularfun

ding

allocatedforthe

exam

ination.

8This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Fund

ingcovers

somecore

exam

ination

activities:de

sign,

administratio

n,data

processin

gor

repo

rting.

Fund

ing

covers

allcore

exam

ination

activities:de

sign,

administratio

n,data

processin

gandrepo

rting.

9

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Fund

ing

does

notcoverresearch

and

developm

ent.1

0This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Fund

ing

covers

research

and

developm

ent.

ENABLINGCONTEXT

4:Havingstrong

organizationalstructures

Theexam

inationofficedo

esno

texist

orisne

wlyestablish

ed.

The

exam

ination

office

isne

wly

establish

ed.

The

exam

ination

office

isa

stable

organizatio

n.11

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

The

exam

ination

office

isno

taccoun

table

toan

external

board

oragen

cy.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Theexam

inationofficeisaccoun

tableto

anexternalbo

ardor

agen

cy.12

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Exam

inationresults

areno

trecognize

dby

anycertificatio

nor

selectionsystem

.Exam

ination

results

are

recognize

dby

certificatio

nor

selectionsystem

inthe

coun

try.

Exam

ination

results

are

recognize

dby

onecertificatio

nor

selectionsystem

inanothe

rcou

ntry.

Exam

ination

results

are

recognize

dby

two

ormore

certificatio

nor

selection

system

inanothe

rcou

ntry.13

The

exam

ination

office

does

nothave

therequ

ired

facilitiesto

carryou

tthe

exam

ination.

Theexam

inationofficehassomeof

the

requ

ired

facilities

tocarry

out

the

exam

ination.

14

The

exam

ination

office

hasallof

the

requ

ired

facilities

tocarry

out

the

exam

ination.

Theexam

inationofficehasstateof

the

artfacilitie

stocarryou

tthe

exam

ination.

(CONTINUE

D)

* * *

*

*

*

*

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

21

LATENT

EMERGING

ESTABLISHED

ADVANCED

ENABLINGCONTEXT

5:Havingeffectivehuman

resources

There

isno

staff

tocarry

out

the

exam

ination.

Theexam

ination

officeis

inadeq

uately

staffed

toeffectively

carry

out

the

exam

ination,issue

sare

pervasive.

The

exam

ination

office

isadeq

uately

staffed

tocarry

outthe

exam

ination

effectively,with

minim

alissue

s.15

The

exam

ination

office

isadeq

uately

staffed

tocarry

out

the

assessmen

teffectively,with

noissue

s.

Thecoun

trydo

esno

toffe

ropp

ortunitie

sthat

prep

are

for

work

onthe

exam

ination.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

The

coun

tryoffers

someop

portun

ities

that

prep

are

for

work

onthe

exam

ination.

16

The

coun

try

offers

awide

range

ofop

portun

ities

that

prep

areforworkon

theexam

ination.

* *

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

22

SYSTEM

ALIGNMENT

Degree

towhich

theassessmentisc

oherentw

ithothercom

ponentso

fthe

educationsystem

.LATENT

EMERGING

ESTABLISHED

ADVANCED

SYSTEM

ALIGNMENT1:

Aligning

exam

inationswith

learning

goalsand

opportunitiestolearn

Itis

notclearwhatthe

exam

ination

measures.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Thereis

aclearun

derstand

ingof

what

theexam

inationmeasures.17

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

What

the

exam

ination

measures

isqu

estio

nedby

somestakeh

olde

rgroup

s.This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Whatismeasuredby

theexam

inationis

largelyaccepted

bystakeh

olde

rgroup

s.18

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Materialtoprep

arefortheexam

ination

isminim

aland

itis

only

accessible

tovery

fewstud

ents.

Thereissomematerialtoprep

areforthe

exam

inationthat

isaccessible

tosome

stud

ents.

There

iscompreh

ensiv

ematerial

toprep

are

for

the

exam

ination

that

isaccessibleto

moststude

nts.

19

There

iscompreh

ensiv

ematerial

toprep

are

for

the

exam

ination

that

isaccessibleto

allstude

nts.

SYSTEM

ALIGNMENT2:

Providingteacherswith

opportunitiestolearnabouttheexam

ination

Thereareno

coursesor

worksho

pson

exam

inations

availableto

teache

rs.

There

are

noup

todate

courses

orworksho

pson

exam

inations

availableto

teache

rs.

Thereareup

todate

voluntarycourses

orworksho

pson

exam

inations

available

toteache

rs.2

0

Thereareup

todate

compu

lsory

courses

orworksho

pson

exam

inations

for

teache

rs.

Teache

rsare

exclud

edfrom

all

exam

inationrelatedtasks.

Teache

rsare

involved

invery

few

exam

inationrelatedtasks.

Teache

rsare

involved

insome

exam

inationrelatedtasks.

Teache

rsare

involved

inmost

exam

inationrelatedtasks.

21

* * * *

*

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

23

ASSESSMENTQUALITY

Degree

towhich

theassessmentm

eetsqu

ality

stan

dards,isfair,

andisused

inan

effectiveway.

LATENT

EMERGING

ESTABLISHED

ADVANCED

ASSESSMENTQUALITY1:

Ensuring

quality

There

isno

technicalrepo

rtor

othe

rdo

cumen

tatio

n.There

issome

documen

tatio

non

the

exam

ination,

butit

isno

tin

aform

alrepo

rtform

at.22

There

isa

compreh

ensiv

etechnical

repo

rtbu

twith

restrictedcirculation.

Thereis

acompreh

ensiv

e,high

quality

technicalrep

ortavailableto

thegene

ral

public.

There

are

nomechanism

sin

place

toen

sure

thequ

ality

oftheexam

ination.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Therearelim

itedsystem

aticmechanism

sin

place

toen

sure

the

quality

ofthe

exam

ination.

23

There

are

varie

dand

system

atic

mechanism

sin

place

toen

sure

the

quality

oftheexam

ination.

ASSESSMENTQUALITY2:

Ensuring

fairness

Inapprop

riate

behavior

surrou

ndingthe

exam

inationprocessish

igh.

Inapprop

riate

behavior

surrou

ndingthe

exam

inationprocessism

oderate.

Inapprop

riate

behavior

surrou

ndingthe

exam

inationprocessislow

.24Inapprop

riate

behavior

surrou

ndingthe

exam

inationprocessism

arginal.

Theexam

ination

results

lack

cred

ibility

fora

llstakeh

olde

rgroup

s.Theexam

inationresults

arecred

ible

for

somestakeh

olde

rgroup

s.Theexam

inationresults

arecred

ible

for

allstakeho

lder

grou

ps.25

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Themajority

ofthestud

ents

(over50%)

may

nottaketheexam

inationbe

causeof

language,gend

er,or

othe

req

uivalent

barriers.

Asig

nificant

prop

ortio

nof

stud

ents

(10%

50%)m

ayno

ttaketheexam

ination

becauseof

language,gend

er,or

othe

req

uivalent

barriers.

Asm

allp

ropo

rtionof

stud

ents(le

ssthan

10%)may

not

take

the

exam

ination

becauseof

language,gend

er,or

othe

req

uivalent

barriers.

Allstud

ents

cantake

theexam

ination;

thereareno

language,gend

eror

othe

req

uivalent

barriers.26

(CONTINUE

D)

*

* * *

*

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

24

LATENT

EMERGING

ESTABLISHED

ADVANCED

ASSESSMENTQUALITY3:

Usingexam

inationinform

ationinafairway

Exam

ination

results

are

notused

ina

prop

erway

byallstakeho

lder

grou

ps.

Exam

ination

results

are

used

bysome

stakeh

olde

rgroup

sinaprop

erway.

Exam

ination

results

are

used

bymost

stakeh

olde

rgroup

sinaprop

erway.

Exam

ination

results

are

used

byall

stakeh

olde

rgroup

sinaprop

erway.27

Stud

entn

ames

andresults

arepu

blic.28

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Stud

ents’resultsareconfidentia

l.This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

ASSESSMENTQUALITY4:

Ensuring

positiveconsequencesoftheexam

ination

Thereareno

optio

nsforstud

ents

who

dono

tperform

wello

ntheexam

ination,

orstud

ents

mustleave

the

education

system

.

There

are

very

limite

dop

tions

for

stud

entswho

dono

tperform

wellonthe

exam

ination.

29

Therearesomeop

tions

forstude

ntsw

hodo

notp

erform

wellontheexam

ination.

Thereisavarie

tyof

optio

nsforstud

ents

who

dono

tpe

rform

well

onthe

exam

ination.

There

are

nomechanism

sin

place

tomon

itor

the

conseq

uences

ofthe

exam

ination.

30

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Therearesomemechanism

sin

placeto

mon

itor

the

conseq

uences

ofthe

exam

ination.

Thereisavarie

tyof

mechanism

sin

place

tomon

itor

the

conseq

uences

ofthe

exam

ination.

*

*

*

*

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

25

Exam

inations

1.Theexam

ination,

GeneralSecon

dary

Diplom

a(Baccalaureate),hasbe

enadministered

since

1925

atgrade12

forstude

ntcertificatio

nforg

rade

completion

andforselectio

nto

universityor

othe

rhighe

red

ucationinstitu

tions.

2.Theform

alpo

licydo

cumen

tthata

utho

rizes

theexam

inationisDe

cree

No.56

97of

June

15,200

1,authorize

dby

thePresiden

cyof

theRe

publicin20

11.

3.Thepo

licydo

cumen

tisa

vailableto

thepu

blic.

4.Thepo

licydo

cumen

tautho

rizingtheexam

inationou

tline

sgovernance;d

istrib

utionof

power;respo

nsibilitie

sam

ongkeyen

tities;proced

ures

toinvestigate

andaddresssecuritybreaches, che

ating,or

othe

rformsof

inapprop

riate

behavior;and

proced

ures

forspe

cial/disa

dvantagedstud

ents.Ita

lsospecifies

who

cansit

forthe

exam

inationandiden

tifiesrulesabou

titsprep

aration.

Thedo

cumen

talso

describ

esthepu

rposeof

theexam

ination,

states

fund

ingsources,

andexplains

itsalignm

entwith

curriculaandstandardsandtheform

atof

theexam

inationqu

estio

ns.H

owever,the

policydo

cumen

tdo

esno

tde

scrib

eauthorize

duses

ofresults.

5.While

policym

akersanded

ucatorssupp

orttheexam

inationprogram,itisun

clearto

whatextent

othe

rstakeh

olde

rgrou

ps(teacher

unions,s

tude

nts,

parents,med

ia,think

tanksa

ndNGO

s,em

ployers,andun

iversities)supp

ortit.

6.TheMinistry

ofEducation'sD

irectorateGe

neralhas

coordinatedeffortsw

ithed

ucatorsfrom

allsectorsto

improvetheexam

ination.

7.Effortstoim

provetheexam

inationaregene

rally

welcomed

bytheleadershipincharge

oftheexam

ination.

8.Thereisregularfun

ding

allocatedby

thegovernmen

tfor

theexam

ination.

9.Fund

ingcoversallcoreexam

inationactiv

ities:examinationde

signandadministratio

n,anddata

processin

gandrepo

rting.

10.F

unding

does

notcover

research

andde

velopm

enta

ctivities.

11.T

heMinistry

ofEducation'sE

xaminationDe

partmen

thas

been

runn

ingtheexam

inationsin

ce19

49.

12.T

heCe

ntralInspectorate

andtheGe

neralDirectorateof

Gene

ralEducationis

theexternal

body

towhich

theMinistry's

Exam

inationDe

partmen

tis

accoun

tableto.

13.T

heexam

inationresults

areofficially

recognize

dby

certificatio

nandselectionsystem

sin

thecoun

tryandanyw

here

abroad.Lebane

sestud

ents

with

Lebane

secertificatio

ncanaccessforeignun

iversitiesinanycoun

try.

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

26

14.W

hiletheexam

inationofficeusually

hasa

secure

building,adeq

uate

commun

icationtools(pho

ne,email,andinternet),andsecure

storagefacilities,itdo

esno

tnormallyhave

compu

tersfora

lltechnicalstaff,

accessto

adeq

uate

compu

terservers,orthe

ability

toback

updata.

15.T

heexam

inationofficeis

adeq

uately

staffedin

term

sof

quality

,bu

tno

tne

cessarily

interm

sof

quantity.

Mainlytempo

rary

andpart

timestaffare

respon

sibleforrun

ning

theexam

ination.

16.T

heop

portun

ities

offeredon

anannu

albasis

toprep

areforw

orkon

theexam

inationareun

iversitygraduate

programs(m

asters

ordo

ctorallevel),

aswell

asno

nun

iversitytraining

courseso

rworksho

ps,spe

cificallyfocusedon

educationalm

easuremen

tand

evaluatio

n.

17.T

heexam

inationmeasuresn

ationalschoo

lcurriculum

guidelines

orstandards.

18.W

hatism

easuredby

theexam

inationislargelyaccepted

bystakeh

olde

rgroup

s.

19.T

hematerialavailableto

prep

arefor the

exam

inationinclud

esexam

ples

ofthetype

sof

questio

nsthat

areon

theexam

inationandinform

ationon

howto

prep

areforthe

exam

ination.Thismaterialisa

ccessib

leby

allstude

nts.

20.T

here

arevoluntarycoursesor

worksho

psthat

areregularly

updatedandareofferedthroughthecontinuo

usteache

rin

servicetraining

provided

bythe

Center

forE

ducatio

nalResearchandDe

velopm

ent.

21.T

eachersh

avethetaskso

fselectin

gor

creatin

gexam

inationqu

estio

nsandscoringguides.The

yalso

administer,sup

ervise,and

scoretheexam

ination.

22.T

here

issomedo

cumen

tatio

non

theexam

ination,bu

titisn

otinaform

alrepo

rtform

at.

23.D

espite

therebe

inginternalandexternalreview

ersor

observersto

ensure

thequ

ality

oftheexam

ination,

thereisno

externalcertificatio

nor

audit,piloto

rfie

ldtesting,or

transla

tionverification.

24.T

hefewinapprop

riate

behaviorsthat

typically

occura

reim

person

ation(w

henan

individu

alothe

rthantheregistered

cand

idatetakestheexam

ination)

and

copyingfrom

othe

rcand

idates.Intheeven

tof

thesecond

ucts,stude

ntsareforbidde

nto

beadmitted

into

theexam

inationprocessforfour

consecutive

term

s.

25.T

heexam

inationresults

arecred

iblefora

llstakeh

olde

rgroup

s.

26.A

llstud

entscantake

theexam

ination;

thereisno

language,gen

der,or

othe

requ

ivalen

tbarrie

rs.

27.T

here

isno

system

aticeviden

ceof

improp

eruseof

theexam

inationresults.

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

27

28.S

tude

nt'snames

andresults

areno

tcon

fiden

tialand

aremadepu

blicon

theweb

siteof

theMinistry

ofEducation.

29.T

heop

tions

forthe

stud

entswho

dono

tperform

wellontheexam

inationareretaking

theexam

inationor

repe

atingthegrade.

30.T

here

areno

mechanism

sinplaceto

mon

itorthe

conseq

uences

oftheexam

ination.

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

28

LEBANON

National(orSystem

Level)LargeScaleAssessment(NLSA)

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

29

ENABLINGCONTEXT

Overallfram

eworkof

policies,lead

ership,organ

izatio

nalstructures,fiscaland

human

resourcesinwhich

NLSAactivity

takesp

lace

inacoun

tryor

system

andthe

extent

towhich

that

fram

eworkiscond

uciveto,orsup

portiveof,the

NLSAactiv

ity.

LATENT

EMERGING

ESTABLISHED

ADVANCED

ENABLINGCONTEXT

1:SettingclearpoliciesforNLSA

NoNLSAexercise

hastaken

place.

The

NLSA

has

been

operating

onan

irregular

basis.1

TheNLSA

isastable

program

that

has

been

operatingregularly

.This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Thereis

nopo

licydo

cumentpe

rtaining

toNLSA.

2There

isan

inform

alor

draft

policy

documen

tthata

utho

rizes

theNLSA.

Thereis

aform

alpo

licydo

cumen

tthat

authorize

sthe

NLSA.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

3Thepo

licydo

cumen

tisno

tavailableto

thepu

blic.

Thepo

licydo

cumen

tisavailableto

the

public.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Thereisno

plan

forN

LSAactivity

.4This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Thereisagene

ralund

erstanding

that

the

NLSAwilltake

place.

There

isa

written

NLSA

plan

forthe

comingyears.

ENABLINGCONTEXT

2:Havingstrong

publicengagementforNLSA

Allstakeh

olde

rgrou

psstrongly

oppo

setheNLSAor

areindiffe

rent

toit.

Some

stakeholde

rgrou

psop

pose

the

NLSA.

Moststakeh

olde

rsgrou

pssupp

ortthe

NLSA.

5Allstakeho

lder

grou

pssupp

ortthe

NLSA.

(CONTINUE

D)

*

* *

*

*

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

30

LATENT

EMERGING

ESTABLISHED

ADVANCED

ENABLINGCONTEXT

3:HavingregularfundingforNLSA

There

isno

fund

ing

allocated

tothe

NLSA.

There

isirregular

fund

ingallocated

totheNLSA.

6Thereisregularfund

ingallocatedto

the

NLSA.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Fund

ing

covers

some

core

NLSA

activities:d

esign,administratio

n,analysis

andrepo

rting.

Fund

ingcovers

allcore

NLSA

activities:

desig

n,administratio

n,analysis

and

repo

rting.

7

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Fund

ing

does

notcoverresearch

and

developm

enta

ctivities.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Fund

ing

covers

research

and

developm

enta

ctivities.8

ENABLINGCONTEXT

4:Havingstrong

organizationalstructuresforNLSA

Thereis

noNLSAoffice,

adho

cun

itor

team

.TheNLSAofficeisatempo

rary

agen

cyor

grou

pof

peop

le.9

TheNLSAofficeisape

rmanen

tagen

cy,

institu

tionor

unit.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Political

considerations

regularly

hampe

rtechnicalcon

siderations

Political

considerations

sometim

eshampe

rtechn

icalconsiderations.1

0Po

litical

considerations

never

hampe

rtechnicalcon

siderations.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

TheNLSAofficeisno

taccoun

tableto

aclearly

recognize

dbo

dy.

The

NLSA

office

isaccoun

table

toa

clearly

recognize

dbo

dy.1

1This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

(CONTINUE

D)

*

*

**

**

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

31

LATENT

EMERGING

ESTABLISHED

ADVANCED

ENABLINGCONTEXT

5:Havingeffectivehuman

resourcesforNLSA

Thereisno

staffa

llocatedforrun

ning

anNLSA.

TheNLSAofficeis

inadeq

uately

staffed

toeffectivelycarryou

tthe

assessmen

t.TheNLSAofficeisadeq

uately

staffedto

carry

out

the

NLSA

effectively,

with

minim

alissue

s.12

TheNLSAofficeisadeq

uately

staffedto

carryou

ttheNLSA

effectively,

with

noissue

s.

Thecoun

trydo

esno

toffe

ropp

ortunitie

sthat

prep

are

individu

als

forwork

onNLSA.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Thecoun

tryofferssomeop

portun

ities

toprep

are

individu

als

for

work

onthe

NLSA.

13

The

coun

try

offers

awide

range

ofop

portun

ities

toprep

areindividu

alsfor

workon

theNLSA.

* *

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

32

SYSTEM

ALIGNMENT

Degree

towhich

theNLSAiscoherent

with

othercom

ponentso

fthe

educationsystem

.LATENT

EMERGING

ESTABLISHED

ADVANCED

SYSTEM

ALIGNMENT1:

Aligning

theNLSA

with

learning

goals

Itis

notcleariftheNLSA

isbasedon

curriculum

orlearning

standards.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

TheNLSAmeasurespe

rformance

against

curriculum

orlearning

standards.

14This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Whatthe

NLSA

measuresis

gene

rally

questio

nedby

stakeh

olde

rgroup

s.This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

WhattheNLSAmeasuresis

questio

ned

bysomestakeh

olde

rgroup

s.What

the

NLSA

measures

islargely

accepted

bystakeh

olde

rgroup

s.15

There

are

nomechanism

sin

place

toen

sure

that

the

NLSA

accurately

measures

what

itis

supp

osed

tomeasure.

Therearead

hocreview

sof

theNLSAto

ensure

that

itmeasures

what

itis

intend

edto

measure.1

6

Thereareregularinternalreview

sof

the

NLSAto

ensure

that

itmeasureswhatit

isintend

edto

measure.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

SYSTEM

ALIGNMENT2:

Providingteacherswith

opportunitiestolearnabouttheNLSA

Thereareno

coursesor

worksho

pson

theNLSA.

There

are

occasio

nal

courses

orworksho

pson

theNLSA.

17Therearesomecoursesor

worksho

pson

theNLSAofferedon

aregularb

asis.

Therearewidelyavailablehigh

quality

courses

orworksho

pson

the

NLSA

offeredon

aregularb

asis.

*

*

* *

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

33

ASSESSMENTQUALITY

Degree

towhich

theNLSAmeetstechnicalstand

ards,isfair,an

disused

inan

effectiveway.

LATENT

EMERGING

ESTABLISHED

ADVANCED

ASSESSMENTQUALITY1:

Ensuring

thequality

oftheNLSA

No

optio

nsare

offered

toinclud

eall

grou

psof

stud

entsintheNLSA.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Atleaston

eop

tionisofferedto

includ

eallgroup

sofstude

ntsintheNLSA.

18Diffe

rent

optio

nsareofferedto

includ

eallgroup

sofstude

ntsintheNLSA.

There

are

nomechanism

sin

place

toen

sure

thequ

ality

oftheNLSA.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Therearesomemechanism

sin

placeto

ensure

thequ

ality

oftheNLSA.

19There

are

avarie

tyof

mechanism

sin

placeto

ensure

thequ

ality

oftheNLSA.

There

isno

technicalrepo

rtor

othe

rdo

cumen

tatio

nabou

tthe

NLSA.

20Thereissomedo

cumen

tatio

nabou

tthe

technicalaspe

ctsof

theNLSA,

butitis

notinaform

alrepo

rtform

at.

There

isa

compreh

ensiv

etechnical

repo

rtbu

twith

restrictedcirculation.

Thereis

acompreh

ensiv

e,high

quality

technicalrep

ortavailableto

thegene

ral

public.

ASSESSMENTQUALITY2:

Ensuring

effectiveusesoftheNLSA

NLSAresults

areno

tdissem

inated

.NLSAresults

arepo

orlydissem

inated

.21NLSA

results

are

dissem

inated

inan

effectiveway.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

NLSAinform

ationisno

tused

orisused

inwaysinconsisten

twith

thepu

rposes

orthe

technicalcharacteristicsof

the

assessmen

t.22

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

NLSA

results

are

used

bysome

stakeh

olde

rgrou

psin

away

that

isconsisten

twith

the

purposes

and

technical

characteristics

ofthe

assessmen

t.

NLSA

inform

ation

isused

byall

stakeh

olde

rgrou

psin

away

that

isconsisten

twith

the

purposes

and

technical

characteristics

ofthe

assessmen

t.There

are

nomechanism

sin

place

tomon

itorthe

conseq

uences

oftheNLSA.

23This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Therearesomemechanism

sin

placeto

mon

itorthe

conseq

uences

oftheNLSA.

There

are

avarie

tyof

mechanism

sin

place

tomon

itorthe

conseq

uences

oftheNLSA.

* *

* * *

*

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

34

National(ofSystem

Level)LargeScaleAssessment(NLSA)

1.TheMeasurin

gLearning

Achievem

entw

asadministered

forthe

firsttim

ein19

94,and

hass

ince

been

operatingon

anirregular

basis

.Itcon

tinue

dto

beim

plem

entedin19

95,199

7,20

03,and

2012

,eachyear

assessingadiffe

rent

gradeleveland

diffe

rent

seto

fsub

jects.Inthelatestassessmen

t(20

1220

13),

theNLSAmeasuredtheed

ucationalachievemen

tofgrade

s4and7inthesubjectsof

Arabic,French,English

,and

Mathe

matics.

2.Thereisno

policydo

cumen

tpe

rtaining

toNLSA.

Tocond

uctanatio

nallarge

scaleassessmen

t,theCe

ntre

forEd

ucationalR

esearchandDe

velopm

ent

(CER

D)mustsub

mitaprop

osalto,and

receiveapprovalfrom

theMinister

ofEd

ucation.

3.Thisop

tiondo

esno

tapp

lyto

thisdimen

sionas

thereisno

policydo

cumen

tpertainingto

NLSA.

4.Thereisno

plan

forN

LSAactiv

ity.

5.Whilepo

licym

akersa

nded

ucatorssup

portthenatio

nallarge

scaleassessmen

tprogram

,itisu

nclear

towhate

xten

tother

stakeh

olde

rgroup

ssup

portit.

6.Thereisirregular

fund

ingallocatedto

thenatio

nallarge

scaleassessmen

tbythebu

dget

oftheCe

nter

forE

ducatio

nalResearchandDe

velopm

ent.

7.Fund

ingcoversallcoreNLSAactiv

ities

(design,administratio

n,analysis,

andrepo

rting),asw

ellasstafftraining.

8.Fund

ingcoversresearch

andde

velopm

enta

ctivities.

9.TheNLSAofficeiscomprise

dof

agrou

pof

peop

letempo

rarilyassig

nedto

carryou

tthe

assessmen

texercise

.

10.P

oliticalcon

siderations

sometim

eshampe

rtechn

icalconsiderations.

11. T

heNLSAofficeisaccoun

tableto

theCe

ntralInspe

ctorate,

which

isamon

itorin

gbo

dy,a

ndto

aspecialissue

scommittee

mandatedby

theCe

nter

for

EducationalResearchandDe

velopm

ent.

12.T

heNLSAofficeiscompo

sedof

mainlytempo

rary

orparttim

estaff.Noissue

shavebe

eniden

tifiedwith

theirp

erform

ance.

13.O

nlyfund

ingop

portun

ities

forattend

inginternationalprogramsor

coursesor

worksho

psin

educationmeasuremen

tandevaluatio

nareavailablein

Lebano

nforp

reparin

gindividu

alsfor

workon

theNLSA.

14.T

heNLSAmeasuresp

erform

ance

againstn

ationalcurriculum

orlearning

standards.

15.W

hatthe

NLSAmeasuresislargelyaccepted

bystakeh

olde

r group

s.

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

35

16.T

here

aread

hocreview

softhe

NLSAto

ensure

that

itmeasuresw

hatitisinten

dedto

measure.

17.T

here

areoccasio

nalcou

rses,w

orksho

ps,orp

resentations

ontheNLSA.

18.O

ptions

toinclud

eallstude

ntsgrou

psinthenatio

nal large

scaleassessmen

texercise

includ

especialplans

toen

sure

that

theassessmen

tisadministered

tostud

entsinhard

toreachareasa

swellaso

fferin

gthelargescaleassessmen

tinthelanguage

ofinstructionform

oststude

ntgrou

ps.

19.T

hemechanism

sthat

arein

placeto

ensure

thequ

ality

oftheNLSAaretraining

allp

roctorsor

administrators

accordingto

protocol,h

avingastandardize

dmanualfor

largescaleassessmen

tadministrators,c

ondu

ctingapilotbe

fore

themaindata

collectiontakesplace,

having

allb

ookletsnu

mbe

red,

doub

leprocessin

gof

data,and

having

internalreview

ersor

observers.Ho

wever,d

iscrepanciesareno

trecorde

don

astandard

sheet.Th

ereisalso

nodo

ubledata

scoring,externalreview

erso

robservers,ore

xternalcertificationor

audit.

20.T

here

isno

technicalrep

orto

rother

documen

tatio

nabou

tthe

NLSA.

21.R

eports

with

NLSAresults

areavailableforalls

takeho

lder

grou

ps,as

wellas

mainrepo

rtscontaining

inform

ationon

overall a

chievemen

tlevels

and

subgroup

s.Th

erearealso

worksho

psor

presen

tatio

nsfork

eystakeh

olde

rson

theresults.H

owever,rep

ortsdo

notcon

taininform

ationon

tren

dsover

time

overalland

fors

ubgrou

psor

standard

errors.Ad

ditio

nally,the

reisno

med

iabriefin

gor

coverage

todiscussor

featureNLSAresults,a

ndtheNLSAresults

areno

tdissem

inated

with

in12

mon

thsa

fter

thelargescaleassessmen

tisa

dministered

.

22.N

LSAinform

ationisno

tusedor

isused

inwaysincon

sistent

with

thepu

rposes

ofthetechnicalcharacteristicso

fthe

assessmen

t.

23.T

here

areno

mechanism

sinplaceto

mon

itorthe

conseq

uences

oftheNLSA.

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

36

LEBANON

InternationalLarge

ScaleAssessment(ILSA)

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

37

ENABLINGCONTEXT

Overallfram

eworkof

policies,lead

ership,organ

izatio

nalstructures,fiscaland

human

resourcesinwhich

ILSA

takesp

lace

inacoun

tryor

system

andtheextent

towhich

that

fram

eworkiscond

uciveto,orsup

portiveof,ILSAactiv

ity.

LATENT

EMERGING

ESTABLISHED

ADVANCED

ENABLINGCONTEXT

1:SettingclearpoliciesforILSA

Thecoun

try/system

hasno

tparticipated

inan

ILSA

inthelast10

years.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Thecoun

try/system

hasparticipated

inat

leasto

neILSA

inthelast10

years.

Thecoun

try/system

hasparticipated

intw

oor

moreILSA

inthelast10

years.1

The

coun

try/system

has

not

taken

concrete

step

stoparticipateinan

ILSA

inthene

xt5years.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Thecoun

try/system

hastakenconcrete

step

stoparticipateinat

leasto

neILSA

inthene

xt5years.

2

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

There

isno

policy

documen

tthat

addressesp

articipationinILSA

.There

isan

inform

alor

draft

policy

documen

tthata

ddresses

participationin

ILSA

.

Thereis

aform

alpo

licydo

cumen

tthat

addressesp

articipationinILSA

.3This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Thepo

licydo

cumen

tisno

tavailableto

thepu

blic.4

Thepo

licydo

cumen

tisavailableto

the

public.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

ENABLINGCONTEXT

2:HavingregularfundingforILSA

Thereis

nofund

ingforparticipationin

ILSA

.Thereis

fund

ingfrom

loansor

external

dono

rs.5

There

isregularfund

ing

allocated

atdiscretio

n.Thereisregularfun

ding

approved

bylaw,

decree

orno

rm.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Fund

ingcovers

somecore

activ

ities

oftheILSA

.6Fund

ingcovers

allc

oreactivities

ofthe

ILSA

.This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Fund

ing

does

notcoverresearch

and

developm

enta

ctivities.7

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Fund

ing

covers

research

and

developm

enta

ctivities.

(CONTINUE

D)*

* *

* * *

*

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

38

LATENT

EMERGING

ESTABLISHED

ADVANCED

ENABLINGCONTEXT

3:Havingeffectivehuman

resourcesforILSA

There

isno

team

ornatio

nal/system

coordinator

tocarry

out

the

ILSA

activities.

There

isa

team

ornatio

nal/system

coordinator

tocarry

out

the

ILSA

activities.

There

isa

team

and

natio

nal/system

coordinator

tocarry

out

the

ILSA

activities.8

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

The

natio

nal/system

coordinator

orothe

rdesignatedteam

mem

berm

ayno

tbe

fluen

tin

the

language

ofthe

assessmen

t.

Thenatio

nal/system

coordinatorisfluen

tinthelanguage

oftheassessmen

t.9

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

TheILSA

officeisinadeq

uatelystaffedor

traine

dto

carry

out

the

assessmen

teffectively.

TheILSA

officeis

adeq

uately

staffedor

traine

dto

carryou

ttheILSA

effectively,

with

minim

alissue

s.

TheILSA

officeisadeq

uatelystaffedand

traine

dto

carryou

ttheILSA

effectively,

with

noissue

s.10

* *

*

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

39

SYSTEM

ALIGNMENT

Degree

towhich

theILSA

meetstechnicalqua

litystan

dards,isfair,

andisused

inan

effectiveway.

LATENT

EMERGING

ESTABLISHED

ADVANCED

SYSTEM

ALIGNMENT1:

ProvidingopportunitiestolearnaboutILSA

The

ILSA

team

has

not

attend

edinternationalw

orksho

psor

meetin

gs.

The

ILSA

team

attend

edsome

internationalw

orksho

psor

meetin

gs.

TheILSA

team

attend

edallinternatio

nal

worksho

psor

meetin

gs.1

1This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

The

coun

try/system

offers

noop

portun

ities

tolearnabou

tILSA.

12This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

The

coun

try/system

offers

some

oppo

rtun

ities

tolearnabou

tILSA.

Thecoun

try/system

offers

awiderange

ofop

portun

ities

tolearnabou

tILSA.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

13This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Opp

ortunitie

sto

learn

abou

tILSA

are

availableto

thecoun

try's/system

'sILSA

team

mem

berson

ly.

Opp

ortunitie

sto

learn

abou

tILSA

are

availableto

awideaudien

ce,inadditio

nto

the

coun

try's/system

'sILSA

team

mem

bers.

*

**

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

40

ASSESSMENTQUALITY

Degree

towhich

theILSA

meetstechnicalqua

litystan

dards,isfair,

andisused

inan

effectiveway.

LATENT

EMERGING

ESTABLISHED

ADVANCED

ASSESSMENTQUALITY1:

Ensuring

thequality

ofILSA

Data

from

the

ILSA

has

not

been

publish

ed.

The

coun

try/system

met

sufficien

tstandardsto

have

itsdata

presen

ted

bene

ath

the

main

display

ofthe

internationalrep

orto

rinan

anne

x.14

The

coun

try/system

met

alltechnical

standards

requ

ired

tohave

itsdata

presen

ted

inthe

main

displays

ofthe

internationalrep

ort.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Thecoun

try/system

hasno

tcontrib

uted

newknow

ledgeon

ILSA

.15

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Thecoun

try/system

hascontrib

uted

new

know

ledgeon

ILSA

.

ASSESSMENTQUALITY2:

Ensuring

effectiveusesofILSA

Ifany,

coun

try/system

specific

results

andinform

ationareno

tdissem

inated

inthecoun

try/system

.16

Coun

try/system

specific

results

and

inform

ationaredissem

inated

irregularly

inthecoun

try/system

.

Coun

try/system

specific

results

and

inform

ationareregularly

dissem

inated

inthecoun

try/system

.

Coun

try/system

specific

results

and

inform

ation

are

regularly

and

widely

dissem

inated

inthecoun

try/system

.

Prod

ucts

toprovidefeed

back

toscho

ols

anded

ucatorsabou

tthe

ILSA

results

are

notm

adeavailable.

17

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Prod

ucts

toprovidefeed

back

toscho

ols

anded

ucatorsabou

tthe

ILSA

results

are

sometim

esmadeavailable.

Prod

ucts

toprovidefeed

back

toscho

ols

and

educators

abou

tILSA

results

are

system

aticallymadeavailable.

Thereisno

med

iacoverage

oftheILSA

results.1

8Thereis

limite

dmed

iacoverage

ofthe

ILSA

results.

There

issome

med

iacoverage

ofthe

ILSA

results.

Thereiswidemed

iacoverage

oftheILSA

results.

Ifany,

coun

try/system

specific

results

andinform

ationfrom

theILSA

areno

tused

toinform

decisio

nmakingin

the

coun

try/system

.19

Results

from

the

ILSA

are

used

ina

limite

dway

toinform

decisio

nmakingin

thecoun

try/system

.

Results

from

theILSA

areused

insome

waysto

inform

decisio

nmakingin

the

coun

try/system

.

Results

from

the

ILSA

are

used

ina

varie

tyof

ways

toinform

decisio

nmakinginthecoun

try/system

.

Itis

notclearthat

decisio

nsbasedon

ILSA

results

have

hadapo

sitiveim

pact

onstud

ents'achievemen

tlevels.20

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

This

optio

ndo

esno

tapply

tothis

dimen

sion.

Decisio

nsbasedon

theILSA

results

have

had

apo

sitive

impact

onstud

ents'

achievem

entlevels.

*

* ** * * *

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

41

InternationalLargeScaleAssessment(ILSA)

1.Inthelast10

years,Lebano

nhasp

articipated

inTIMSS

in20

03,200

7,and20

11,and

inPA

SECin20

09.

2.Lebano

nhastaken

concrete

step

stoparticipateinPISA

andTIMSS

in20

15.

3.Theform

alpo

licydo

cumen

tthat

addressesparticipationin

ILSA

sistheLetter

from

theHe

adof

theCenter

forEducationa

lResearchan

dDe

velopm

ent,

authorize

dby

theMinistry

ofEducationandHigher

Educationon

February

2,20

11.

4.Thepo

licydo

cumen

tisn

otavailableto

thepu

blic.

5.Fund

ingfortheILSA

isprovided

bytheregularbu

dget

ofthegovernmen

t,allocatedat

thediscretio

nof

theCe

ntre

forEducationalRe

search

and

Developm

ent,andfrom

loanso

rexternaldon

ors.

6.Fund

ingforparticipatingin

TIMSS

2011

covers

internationalparticipationfees,im

plem

entatio

nof

theassessmen

texercise

inLebano

n(e.g.,printin

gbo

oklets,travel toscho

ols),p

rocessingandanalyzingdata

collected

from

implem

entatio

nof

theassessmen

texercise,a

ndattend

ance

atinternational

expe

rtmeetin

gsforthe

assessmen

texercise

.How

ever,fun

ding

does

notcover

repo

rtinganddissem

inatingtheassessmen

tresultsinLebano

n.

7.Fund

ingdo

esno

tcover

research

andde

velopm

enta

ctivities.

8.Thereisateam

andnatio

nalcoo

rdinator

tocarryou

tthe

ILSA

activ

ities.

9.Thenatio

nalcoo

rdinator

isflu

entinthelanguage

ofassessmen

t.

10.T

henatio

nalcoo

rdinator

hasasufficien

tlystaffedteam

that

hasprevious

expe

rienceworking

oninternationalassessm

entsandne

cessarytraining

tocarry

outthe

requ

iredassessmen

tactivities

effectively.Th

enatio

nal coo

rdinator

isflu

entinthelanguage

inwhich

theinternationallevelmeetin

gsarecond

ucted

andrelateddo

cumen

tatio

nisavailable.Noissue

swereiden

tifiedwith

thecarrying

outo

fTIM

SS20

11inthecoun

try.

11.T

heILSA

team

attend

edallinternatio

nalw

orksho

psandmeetin

gsrelatedto

theassessmen

t.

12.Thereareno

oppo

rtun

ities

tolearnabou

tILSAinLebano

n.

13.T

hiso

ptiondo

esno

tapp

lyto

thisdimen

sionbe

causeno

oppo

rtun

ities

tolearnabou

tILSAs

areofferedinLebano

n.

14.L

ebanon

met

sufficien

tstand

ards

tohave

itsdata

presen

tedbe

neaththemaindisplayof

theinternationalrep

orto

rinan

anne

x.

SYSTEM

SAP

PROAC

HFO

RBE

TTER

EDUCA

TIONRE

SULTS

42

15.L

ebanon

hasn

otcontrib

uted

newknow

ledgeon

ILSA

.

16.C

ountry

specificresults

andinform

ationareno

tdissem

inated

inLebano

nandhave

only

been

publish

edin

theinternationalrep

ort.Thereareplansto

publish

anatio

nalrep

ortinLebano

n.

17.P

rodu

ctstoprovidefeed

back

toscho

olsa

nded

ucatorsa

bout

theILSA

results

areno

tmadeavailable.

18.T

here

isno

med

iacoverage

oftheILSA

results.

19.W

hile

itisplanne

dfortheILSA

results

tobe

used

toinform

curriculum

improvem

ent,teache

rtraining

programs,andothe

rassessmen

tactiv

ities

inthe

system

, resultsfrom

theILSA

have

notb

eenused

toinform

decisio

nmakingat

thenatio

nallevel.

20.Itisn

otclearthatd

ecision

sbased

onILSA

results

have

hadapo

sitiveim

pacton

stud

ents'achievemen

tlevels.

LEBANON SABER STUDENT ASSESSMENT SABER COUNTRY REPORT |2013

SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS43

Acknowledgements

This report, part of a 16 country benchmarking exercisein the Middle East & North Africa and Africa regions,was prepared by the World Bank SABER StudentAssessment team, in partnership with the Arab LeagueEducational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization(ALECSO) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific,and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which led datacollection efforts. This effort is part of the Arab RegionalAgenda for Improving Education Quality (ARAIEQ) led byALECSO in partnership with the World Bank. It benefitedfrom feedback and review from Juan Manuel Moreno,Lead Education Specialist and Task Team Leader foreducation projects in Lebanon at the World Bank, staffat the Education Sector Development Secretariat (ESDS)at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education inLebanon, as well as comments received during anational validation workshop held in Lebanon.

References

Clarke, M. 2012. “What Matters Most for StudentAssessment Systems: A Framework Paper.”

READ/SABER Working Paper Series. Washington, DC:World Bank.

World Bank. 2010. Country Partnership Strategy forLebanon for the Period FY11 FY14. Report No. 54690LB. Washington, DC: World Bank.

———. Lebanon Country Indicator Data. Washington,DC: World Bank. Data retrieved fromhttp://data.worldbank.org/ on October 10, 2013.

LEBANON SABER STUDENT ASSESSMENT SABER COUNTRY REPORT |2013

SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS2

The Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) initiativeproduces comparative data and knowledge on education policies andinstitutions, with the aim of helping countries systematically strengthentheir education systems. SABER evaluates the quality of educationpolicies against evidence based global standards, using new diagnostictools and detailed policy data. The SABER country reports give allparties with a stake in educational results—from administrators,teachers, and parents to policymakers and business people—anaccessible, objective snapshot showing how well the policies of theircountry's education system are oriented toward ensuring that allchildren and youth learn.

This report focuses specifically on policies in the area of studentassessment.

This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, andconclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, orthe governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. Theboundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on thepart of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.

THE WORLD BANK

www.worldbank.org/education/saber