elearning – National Assessment and Examinations Center

The First Round of the National School Olympiad

The first round of the National School Olympiad of the 2022-2023 academic year was held electronically from December 9 to December 13.

Any student from grade 7 to grade 12 was eligible to participate remotely anytime during the set dates. The testing time was limited and counted by the special computer program. Tests with different level of difficulty was used in STEM subjects depending on the grades of the participants. However, the same level of difficulty was offered in humanities subjects. The items mostly focused on reasoning and problem solving as well as the general educational background of students.

More than 56 700 students took part in the first round of the of the National School Olympiad including pupils with special educational needs and convicted juveniles.

The second round of the Olympiad will be held in the examination centers and the first 1000 participants with 60% or above in the first round will be eligible. Only the brightest top 50 students in each subject will move to the third round and compete for the national award. Also, the winners of the National School Olympiad will group up for the international Olympiads in the relevant subjects.

The main goal of the Olympiad is to stimulate the learning process and raise the motivation of students.

NAEC is 20 years old! Anniversary conference

On Tuesday, November 22, National Assessment and Examinations Center held a conference dedicated to the 20th anniversary of it’s establishment.

The conference was opened by the Minister of Education and Science of Georgia, Mikheil Chkhenkeli. Long time partners, the representatives of various state agencies, local and international organizations and individuals working in the field of education got together to recall NAEC’s history and hear about the future plans.

The organization, which made a significant contribution to the creation of a fair, transparent assessment system based on meritocratic principles, was founded in Georgia in 2002.

Initially the Center conducted examinations only for university entrants. However, due to hard work and devotion of the team the area of activity expanded soon afterwards.

Currently, NAEC conducts various types of exams, administers international educational research and consults local and foreign partner organizations on assessment and large scale, high stakes examinations.

The Center’s employees, most of whom have been working in the organization since its establishment, recalled the path taken by National Assessment and Examinations Center, the first exam process and the difficulties that accompanied the introduction of the new exam model.

At the conference, the Center also presented a project “Assessment for Development”. The goal of the project is to measure students’ achievements towards the national curriculum and track their progress.

It is worth mentioning that the item development, as well as registration, test delivery and marking is fully electronic. The results are aimed to help students and parents track the progress made during the learning process and get information about the weaknesses and strengths.

The second part of the conference was dedicated to themed discussions and presentations on the following topics:

“Assessment for Development”: implementation challenges and results;
Challenges related to scientific (STEM) careers and professional choices of 15-year-old students;
TIMSS 2019 – analysis of student responses according to content and cognitive areas;
Differences and achievement gaps between the students at the primary level in Georgia.

The event concluded with a summary of the discussions.

“Assessment for Development” – Project Workshop

The National Assessment and Examinations Center organized a workshop for school principals and teachers of Vake-Saburtalo and Old Tbilisi districts within the framework of the project “Assessment for Development”.

The event was held at the 55th Public School. Dr. Sophia Gorgodze, Director of the National Assessment and Examinations Center, and Dr. Eka Jeladze, Project Manager, discussed the test results with representatives of the schools involved in the project. The participants of the meeting once again received detailed information about the electronic platform of the report and its specifics.

The last large-scale pilot test for the electronic platform was conducted in more than 500 public schools throughout Georgia within the framework of the following project in May. Both Georgian and mathematics tests were taken by 5,000 to 7,000 students on each day of the testing. Students and parents, as well as teachers and principals, have recently received detailed diagnostic evaluation results. In order to better understand the electronic system and, in particular, the report module, the National Assessment and Examinations Center plans to conduct meetings for other schools involved in the project.

Explore more about “Assessment for Development” project here.

The first round of the National School Olympiad 2020-2021

The first round of the National School Olympiad 2020-2021 was held from the 16^th to 20^th of November. Pupils from all over the country took part in the Olympiad online, from homes.

The contestants were given an opportunity to log in at www.naec.ge from 09:00 AM to 20:00 PM with their ID, password and complete the assignments. The students were able to see their results on the screen at the end of the test.

The detailed timetable can be found here.

The highest score in each subject can be seen here.

Please click for testing instruction (in Georgian).

One should get at least 60% of the maximum score and be among the top 1000 students in the subject ranking list in order to make it to the second round. The ranking list of each round will be published by the National Assessment and Examinations Center on the website, in a special program, which will be accessible to the school administration.

If a participant was the winner of the Olympiad of the relevant subject of the previous year and for good reason failed to register or was not present in the first round of the Olympiad, he / she was given a right to participate in the next round of the Olympiad.

The Olympiad was held according to a specific grade in the following subjects:

Mathematics;

Georgian language and literature;

Georgian language and literature for students from non-Georgian (ethnic minority) schools;

History;

Geography;

Physics;

Chemistry;

Biology;

Foreign languages: English, German, French, Russian.

In case of any violation or other concern the Olympiad participant is entitled to apply to the local educational resource center by 17:00PM of the second day after the end of the relevant testing.

The National Training Olympiad is held in three rounds and each round is based on the National Curriculum.

More than 30,700 students registered in the National Teaching Olympiad this year. The Olympiad aims to stimulate the learning process and increase the motivation of students. Also, to identify candidates for the teams that will participate in the International Olympiads on behalf of Georgia.

The results of the first round can be found here.

Project “Assessment for Development” Pilot Testing

The National Assessment and Examinations Center conducted a pilot testing from the 26^th to 27^thof November to assess 7^th graders’ knowledge and skills in Mathematics and Georgian Language and Literature.

More than 1000 students from different schools in Georgia took part in the pilot testing. The testing was done online. Students were given an opportunity to complete test assignments electronically, from home.

The test results will be used by the Center to improve an online platform and testing format of the project “Assessment for Development”. Diagnostic evaluation will also help schools plan the upcoming academic year accordingly.

For the purposes of the project as well as due to the pandemic, only seventh-graders were involved in the pilot testing at this stage – the next try out will be planned after the results are analyzed.

In the framework of the same project, in the beginning of 2020, approbation of individual assignments was conducted in about 60 public schools. The National Assessment and Examinations Center started working on the project “Assessment for Development” in 2019.

It aims to assess the achievement level of fourth and sixth grade students with the help of an electronic platform at the end of the school year in Georgian language and literature (literacy) and mathematics (quantitative literacy).

The results will help students and parents monitor the progress made during the learning process and get information about the strengths and weaknesses of the students. This project will enable schools to observe the teaching and learning trends both at individual class level and at the school level in general.

The final results will not affect the student’s annual assessment.

Publication in the Georgian Language

An Online Open Door Day was Held for the 12th Graders from Kutaisi

The National Assessment and Examinations Center has been hosting Open Door Days online during the pandemic. This time some university entrants from Kutaisi were invited to discuss upcoming Unified National Examinations.

The event turned out to be highly engaging for the participants. Topics such as preparation for the exams, registration procedures as well as various issues related to specific subject groups were covered during the meeting.

Questions about the Unified National Examinations 2021 were answered by the director of the Center and the representatives of the subject groups.

In order to better inform the entrants, the National Assessment and Examinations Center started conducting Open Door Days in November. School-leavers from Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti have already been hosted online.

School-leavers from other regions of Georgia will also have an opportunity to attend online meetings. Electronic Open Door Days are conducted via the Microsoft Teams program. Students are distributed according to their location. Regional Resource Centers as well as school administration spread information about the timetable.

Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018 Report, Georgia

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a triennial survey of 15-year-old students that assesses their level of key knowledge and skills essential for full participation in society. The assessment focuses on proficiency in reading, mathematics, science and an innovative domain (in 2018, the innovative domain was global competence), and on students’ wellbeing.

Results from PISA indicate the quality and equity of learning outcomes attained around the world, and allow educators and policy makers to learn from the policies and practices applied in other countries.

Georgia has been involved in PISA since 2009. In 2018 (as in 2015), Georgia’s participation was made possible through the financial support of Second Compact of Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) with Georgia, administered by Millennium Challenge Account – Georgia (MCA-Georgia).

600 000 students completed the assessment in 2018, representing about 32 million 15-yearolds in the schools of the 79 participating countries and economies. In Georgia, 5 572 students, in 326 schools, completed the assessment, representing 38 489 15-year-old students (83% of the total population of 15-year-olds).

Computer-based tests were used in Georgian schools, with assessments lasting a total of two hours. In reading, a multi‑stage adaptive approach was applied in computer -based tests whereby students were assigned a block of test items based on their performance in preceding blocks.

Students also answered a background questionnaire, which took about 35 minutes to complete. The questionnaire sought information about the students themselves, their attitudes, dispositions and beliefs, their homes, and their school and learning experiences. School principals completed a questionnaire that covered school management and organisation, and the learning environment.

A detailed report of PISA 2018 country-by-country can be found here.

The presentation in English can be downloaded from here. Download

NAEC in 3rd FLIP+ annual online event, 11th – 12th June 2020

About FLIP+ e-assessment community

The FLIP+ e-assessment community was officially launched as a non-profit association in June 2019.

It grew from first conversations dating back to January 2017 between the official education assessment bodies from four countries (France-Luxembourg-Italy-Portugal: hence the acronym) who were seeking solutions to common challenges in e-assessment. The assessment center (CAEd) from Brazil joined this initial group in 2018, and ever since several other institutions and bodies from many countries have expressed their interest in the initiative. Georgia Joined in 2019.

NAEC became the member of international FLIP+ E-assessment Community in 2019 to discuss and share challenges and success stories of e-assessment project. As a community member, NAEC can share the experiences in e-assessment content development, as well as in TAO open source development by composing extensions for the platform (e.g. portable computer interaction for the development of different interactive technology-enhanced items, reporting features for the platform, offline version for test delivery and etc.). NAEC can work on certain extensions for the platform in cooperation with other countries, thus sharing the budget for the development, or exchange already developed extensions free of charge.

3rd FLIP+ annual online event, 11th – 12th June 2020 (Link)

During its third international FLIP+ online event , the FLIP+ association gathered over 100 participants from 50 different institutions working in the field of educational assessment. Participants joined in from 24 countries as well as from IEA and OECD.

Under the FLIP+ motto of “sharing”, participants were able to learn about the e-assessment experiences of countries like Denmark, Georgia, Lithuania and Norway and gain insights about developments in six other FLIP+ member institutions. Work undertaken this year related to the FLIP+ Item Library was also presented. It should be recalled that the first ideas to set up the item library were initially discussed during the 2019 annual event in Rome. A year later, participants greatly welcomed the live demo of the initial prototype of the Item Library platform which showed where the items would be stored, how they could be accessed, reviewed, worked upon and shared.

Publication about NAEC presentation on the 3rd FLIP+ annual online event, 11th – 12th June 2020 (Link)

Georgia: Assessment for Development (Link)

MOU between NAEC and SEC

The National Assessment and Examinations Center of Georgia (NAEC) signed the Memorandum of Understanding with the State Examination Center of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SEC)

On 20 May 2020, Sophia Gorgodze –Director of the National Assessment and Examinations Center of Georgia (NAEC), Maleyka Abbaszade – Chairperson of SEC’s Board of Directors, as well as the senior executives of both parties met in a video format.

During the meeting, the parties expressed satisfaction with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), discussed the progress of the first stage of this partnership in the following areas and shared mutual expectations of the next stage, as outlined in the MoU:

SEC’s support on the development of an item bank of the Teachers Certification Exams for the Azerbaijani language and literature teachers working in Georgian secondary schools with Azerbaijani as the language of instruction;
Review of the SEC’s Georgian language test items for school-leaving exams (grade 9 and 11) by the NAEC;

It should be noted that the assessment instrument constructed with the SEC’s support on Teachers Certification Exams for the Azerbaijani language and literature teachers working in Georgian secondary schools with Azerbaijani as the language of instruction will be used for differentiating and rewarding performance as a part of the Azerbaijani language and literature teachers’ certification.

The following projects are expected in the next phase of this mutual cooperation:

Organization of online item development training by the NAEC aimed to improve the Georgian language assessment by Georgian language teachers working in the secondary schools of Azerbaijan.

Provision of online learning and teaching resources as well as practice tests by the SEC for the Azerbaijani language and literature teachers working in Georgian secondary schools with Azerbaijani as the language of instruction;
Exchange of used exam papers available in English and Russian on different subject areas;

Sharing best practices between SEC and NAEC through regular video-conferences. Parties also discussed the characteristics of exams held during the pandemic and shared country specific challenges in test administration and contextualized solutions.

Source:

(Publication in Georgian)
(Publication in Azerbaijan and English Languages)

Project : Assessment for Development

The Government of Georgia in June 2019 has signed Loan Agreement for financing the implementation of Innovation, Inclusion and Quality Project (I2Q Project) with the World Bank[1]. The Project development objectives are to (i) expand access to preschool education; and (ii) improve the quality of education and the learning environments.

Project – Assessment for the Development is under I2Q project component 2, Subcomponent 2.4 – Development of a National Assessment Framework. It aims to implement census-based e-assessment (fully online mode) for the public schools of Georgia. The goal of assessment is to measure students’ achievements towards the national curriculum and track their progress. About 150 000 students of 4th, 6th and 10th grades will be assessed in literacy and numeracy every year. Students, their teachers, parents, corresponding schools and educational authorities will receive the automated e-reports on the assessment results, in order to support data-driven decision-making processes on individual, classroom, school and national level.

The initial phase of the project has already started in 2019 and draft framework for the assessment has been elaborated, as well as e-tests in literacy and numeracy for 4^th and 6^th grades. Two pilot phases have been planned for 2020 in order to try-out the content of the tests, to trial the platform and develop business processes for the e-assessment.

NAEC already has hired the staff, exclusively for the Assessment for Development project: project manager, project assistant, TAO administrators, system administrator, developer, literacy and numeracy experts.

The first pilot took place in February 2020. 6 000 students from 59 schools participated in the pilot in order to try-out the items and online delivery platform.

The items were created and assembled in the tests:

5 tests for the numeracy in 6^th grade. Each test comprised 20 items. The items were developed based on the national curriculum of the 6^th grade math;
4 tests were developed for the 4^th grade numeracy, with 25 items each. The items were developed based on the national curriculum of the 4^th grade math.
10 texts, with 14 items in each, were developed to test literacy skills in the 4^th grade.
10 texts were developed to assess 6^th grade literacy skills, each text included 8-9 items to assess reading and writing skills for the 6^th grade, as defined by the national curriculum of Georgian language and literature.

Students’ responses were analyzed and the items were edited based on the psychometric analysis. The set of the tests were assembled for the second phase of the pilot.

Project team analyzed existing test authoring and delivery platforms and selected OAT (Open Assessment Technologies) TAOTesting open Source eassesement software (TAO). TAO platform enables to create technology-enhanced items (TEIs) and ensures complete content interoperability. It offers: item authoring, test creation, scheduling and delivering tests online on a nation-wide scale, managing test-takers and user access, collecting and saving students responses, automatically grading candidates closed-question responses and exporting the data for further use.

Community edition of TAO platform is installed on the local Education Management Information System (EMIS) servers. EMIS and NAEC provide the hosting and delivery services for the platform.

Version 1.0 of e-reporting and e-scoring modules have been developed and integrated with TAOtesting platform. E-reporting module generates the reports for student, teacher and school based on the data collected from the student responses. E-scoring module enables the human scorer to score the student responses collected from TAO testing platform. Both modules are ready for the trial in the 2^nd pilot of the project.

The second pilot is planned in autumn 2020, involving 300 public schools of Georgia. It aims to try-out the tests (instead of trying-out the items in the first pilot), to test human scoring and e-reporting system and its compliance with Tao platform.

[1] (Link)