The Matura exam as a measure for evaluation of acquired competences and enrollment in higher education

in Slovakia

Information day on the introduction of

Matura Exam

NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR CERTIFIED EDUCATIONAL

MEASUREMENTS

15 December 2014 Belgrade, Serbia

PaedDr. Miroslava Jurenková

National Institute for certified

Educational Measurements

was established in 2008 from the National Institute for Education.

NUCEM is responsible for:

external part of the Maturita examination,

testing of 5th and 9th grade pupils,

national and international projects.

ISCED 1: external T5 testing ISCED 2: external T9 testing ISCED 3: external MATURITA

ISCED 1: external T5 testing ISCED 2: external T9 testing ISCED 3: external MATURITA

Before: internal part of Maturita exam – oral examination which was conducted by teachers at schools with the aim to test the students' knowledge according to the set of centrally prepared topics.

No elements of external validity and reliability.

No possibility to compare outcomes of students (some teachers could also ask only questions that reflected their own teaching and other teachers could have higher demands).

It led to disappointment did not reflect assessment in other EU countries, the emphasis was put on memorizing certain topics by students.

A commission of headteachers, teachers and other professionals, after examining the situation in nearby countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovenia) and from their own experience with international projects, proposed an idea of a project that would implement school-leaving examination into secondary schools.

1998 the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic assigned the National Institute for Education to prepare a new conception of the school-leaving examination.

2000 a new conception of the

Maturita exam

The National Institute for Education proposed a new model of the school-leaving (MATURITA) examination, which was designed to be comparable with similar examinations in EU countries.

An idea of implementing objective tests, setting standards and establishing common assignments for external part of MATURITA examination comparable with the achievement standards in other national contexts was very innovative.

2000 - 2003 pilot testing

The National Institute for Education administrated

many pilot tests.

External tests, with the aim to verify the state of knowledge of graduates, showed significant differences in achievement of students (a little correlation in the demonstrated skills and marks the students had acquired at their last school reports).

Teachers expressed the need for the standardized tests in all mandatory subjects.

2004 the first MATURITA tests (Rehearsal exam) was taken by 51,965 students (English language, German language and Mathematics). Students with special educational needs: were also involved in the Rehearsal Examination.

2005 was the first official year of testing externally – MATURITA. Slovak language and literature + Foreign language and Mathematics

2008 a New School Act, foundation of NÚCEM, Testing 9 + Maturita: obligatory

Secondary Grammar Schools

Slovak language and literature/Hungarian language and literature/Ukrainian lang. and literature

foreign language

2 elective subjects/ Slovak language and Slovak literature (SLSL) and 1 elective subject

Secondary Vocational Schools

Slovak language and literature/Hungarian language and literature/Ukrainian lang. and literature

foreign language

vocational part – theoretical

vocational part – practical

plus max. 2 voluntary subjects

STRUCTURE:

External part (NÚCEM)

Internal written part (NÚCEM & schools)

Internal oral part (schools)

To verify readiness of secondary school graduates for

university studies or for future careers.

To enable graduates to get the certificate of obtained

educational degree (entrance to universities/to get a

qualified job – labor market).

To guarantee the objectivity of the evaluation

(exams) and the comparability of Maturita examination

with similar examinations abroad.

To influence the improvement of educational process

(feedback, reports, recommendations ...).

SL SLSL HL UL EL GL RL FL SL IL MAT Inf P Ch Bio Geo His Civ

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012 - now

MONITOR – pilot testing MATURITA

Rehearsal Exam Maturita on-line

Subjects written part time

external part Time &

Test structure

languages of instruction

(SLL, SLSL, ULL, HLL)

150 min 90 min

(40 mc + 24 o)

foreign languages B2 level

60 min 120 min

(46 mc + 34 o )

foreign languages B1 level

60 min 100 min

(36 mc + 24 o)

Mathematics -

120 min

(20 mc + 10 o)

mc = multiple choice items o = open-ended items

27972

5619

15751

51965

60759 62177 62397 60301 60732 62,263 60369 59383

56345

50215

222

472

591 686

613 631

768 759 755 756 764 754 751 739

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

MONITOR Generálnaskúška

MATURITA

The Number of Schools and Students Participating in Maturita – ISCED 3

number of students number of schools

MATURITA – Facts and Figures

The development of external testing has also been

implemented within European projects:

Evaluation of the quality of education in primary

and secondary schools in Slovakia in the context of

ongoing content reform of education (2010 – 2013)

Increasing the quality of education at primary and

secondary schools with the use of electronic

testing (2013 – 2015)

Both projects: co-financed from the European Social Fund

LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION (Slovak language and literature, Hungarian language and literature, Slovak language and Slovak literature, English language, German language, Russian language)

MAN AND NATURE (Biology, Physics, Chemistry)

MAN AND SOCIETY (History, Geography, Civic Education)

MATHEMATICS AND INFORMATION (Mathematics, Informatics)

miroslava.jurenkova@nucem.sk