The diagnostic tests that 4th grade primary and 2nd grade ESO students are taking this week have generated surprise and criticism among the teaching staff. The reason: these are multiple-choice exams that are supposed to assess the students’ competencies. But there will be one that can be analyzed: written expression. The Department of Education defends that they are “good tests, although they can be better.” “It’s not just a matter of written expression. How do you evaluate mathematical reasoning without semi-open questions?” said Núria Planas, director of the Evaluation Agency, responsible for designing the tests.
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Last year, the tests contained multiple-choice and open questions, so students had to reason certain answers. This year they are exclusively multiple-choice. The Department of Education does not explain the reason for the change. But this has generated criticism from the teaching staff, who consider it a “serious mistake” not to have included open questions and label the tests as “deficient,” because they will not assess one of the main competencies that students should have. Planas assured, in an interview with TV3, that next year this detail will be corrected and “there will be open questions.”
The tests are being taken this week by a total of 160,000 students: 76,000 from primary and 85,000 from ESO. In the case of 4th grade primary students, the exams take place throughout the week and assess areas such as languages (Catalan, Spanish, and English), Mathematics, and Environmental Knowledge. These are daily exams in which questions from different subjects were mixed.
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In the case of 2nd grade ESO students, the three languages and Mathematics are also assessed, in addition to Experimental Sciences. In the Val d’Aran, students also take an exam in Aranese. These are census exams, meaning that students from all centers take them, and they were implemented three years ago with the entry into force of the Lomloe.
From these tests, an individualized report for each student will be obtained, which families will receive to know their children’s competency level. Schools will also have information about student performance, and the Generalitat will have a snapshot of the Catalan educational system.
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