Education in the data age land

During this meeting, people responsibles for decision-making in education were brought together. We reflected on the importance of evaluation systems to generate educational policies that are efficient and that promote equity. 

We also defined some key characteristics that evaluation systems need to be effective and improve education. 

Coming from different educational contexts, the meeting participants shared some ways to improve data collection, focusing on how evaluation systems reflect the quality of English language teaching, as indicated by the speakers in the following comments:

“In the end, what is important is to know how to speak English, not who teaches you.” Andrés Peri

 

“We need to find tests that are really useful. For example, we need to capture progress a little better, using the framework but also with smaller sub-levels within a level such as A1.1, A1.2, A2.1, or A2.2.” Chihiro Inoue

This meeting was attended by participants from 12 countries, including representation from Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United Kingdom.  42% of participants stated that school exams do not currently correspond to the objectives of the curriculum, while 5% believe that their current school exams are highly in line with the curriculum of their country. 

The speakers were:

Victoria Clark. Global Evaluation Solutions Manager, British Council.

Catalina Covacevich. Education and Skills Directorate Analysis, OCED.

Mauro Luis Rabelo. Secretary of Elementary Education of the Ministry of Education, Brazil.

Andrés Peri. Director of the Department of Research and Evaluation, National Public Education Administration of Uruguay. 

Chihiro Inoue. Evaluation Professor, Centre for Research in English Language Learning and Assessment (CRELLA).