"Kasbiy rivojlanish kuni" qanday tashkil etiladi? Vazirlik ma’lumot berdi

In the 42nd issue of the newspaper "Marifat" dated October 16, 2024, an article was published entitled "We needed a rating system based on clear criteria!". Dilrabo Davidova, director of the Scientific and Practical Center for Pedagogical Excellence and International Assessment at the Agency for Specialized Educational Institutions, which implements the "criteria-based" assessment system, lists several "advantages" of this system. Before we look at these "advantages", let's look for an answer to the question "what is a criteria-based assessment?".

From the point of view of testology, assessment is the measurement of a certain characteristic (knowledge, skills) of the evaluator (students, students) and the formulation of conclusions based on the results of the measurement. And these conclusions serve as the basis for making certain decisions (for example, to help a student fill in the gaps in learning, to transfer him to the next grade or stay in his class, to issue or not to give him a school certificate, etc.).

To draw conclusions, the measurement results are compared with what. What can be done with the measurement results

Based on comparison, the assessment can be of three types:

Based on the norm. At the same time, the results of the appraiser are compared with the results of the category to which he belongs (for example, other students of the same age) and on this basis the position of the appraiser relative to other appraisers of this category is determined.

Based on the criterion. In this case, the results of the appraiser are compared with the predetermined criteria, and not with the results of other appraisers. These criteria can be, for example, the level of knowledge in a particular field of science (in testology, this is called a "domain").

Ipsative assessment. At the same time, the results of the appraiser are compared with his previous results and on this basis a conclusion is made about the degree of growth of his knowledge or skills.

To make it even clearer, let's look at the three types of assessment mentioned above using the example of a running competition. Let's say you are running a competition, and its condition is that the participants must run a certain distance. If you use norm-based scoring, you will pay attention to who crossed the finish line, who finishes first, second, etc., that is, you compare the results of the competitors with each other. If you want to use criteria, you define and announce certain criteria in advance: for example, to win a competition, you need to complete this distance in a certain time. Then everyone who meets the criteria you set will be the winners, and if no one can meet this requirement, no one will be declared a winner. If you take a qualitative assessment as a basis, then you will be interested in which participant improved his results the most, comparing his results with the results in previous competitions. Of course, the above example is very simplistic, which does not take into account some of the processes and principles necessary for the assessment to perform its functions correctly from a scientific point of view. To understand these processes and principles, it is necessary to delve into testology, which is impossible within the framework of the same article.

It should also be borne in mind that there is no concept of which type of assessment is better and which is worse. All three types of assessment are equally valid, which type of assessment depends on the purpose for which the conclusions drawn from the assessment are used. Now, let's take a look at what requirements must be met for the criteria-based evaluation to work properly. The first step in this process is to develop criteria for comparing the results of the appraisers. To do this, the boundaries of the field of science (subject area) to be assessed, the characteristics that evaluators must demonstrate, that is, the behavior that they must perform (in testology, they are called "constructs") and the criteria for their evaluation are determined.

Take, for example, a literature subject in the 7th grade. If literature is an area here, we will need to define the boundaries of that area for Class 7. Let's say that students in the 7th grade get acquainted with such concepts as analogy, adjective, symbol. This means that readers should be able to find analogies, adjectives, symbols in a literary text, analyze what they serve in the work. These are constructs. Now it is necessary to determine the criteria for evaluating these constructs: at what level the student performs this action, we can say that he has mastered the literature of the 7th grade with "excellent", and what level is considered "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory" - these must be determined. And, of course, this is a subject area, constructs and criteria have been established, the document must be open, and appraisers must be aware of this. Transparency is one of the most important principles of valuation. So, the first question is: has the Scientific and Practical Center of Excellence and International Assessment created such a document, published it in any open source?

The next step after the development of a document defining the subject area, structures and criteria for their evaluation in the context of each subject and class is the establishment of standards. In testing, standard-setting refers to determining the number of test items that the graders have demonstrated and the level of skill. For example, 7th grade students were given a version of the test consisting of 10 test tasks in literature. How many of these tasks do we get an "excellent" grade? For how many of them would we put "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory"? This process doesn't just happen when someone dictates, "Let's put a 5 in the test on such-and-such a percentage, or a 4 or 3 on such-and-such." There are standardization methods adopted in testology that provide an in-depth analysis of the design by which each test task is measured. It is important to note that the rulemaking process must be conducted separately for each variant of the test, because, for example, marking all variants of the test as a common "5 points in 80% of cases" will result in failure to meet the criteria. So, the second question: does the Scientific and Practical Center of Excellence and International Assessment conduct a rule-making process for each version of the test, following the scientific requirements of testing?

If it is not possible to answer "yes" to the above two questions, then the system that the Center is implementing cannot be called "criteria-based". We have not yet talked about other scientific requirements for the introduction of a criterion grading system. For example, does the center check the validity of test items? After all, validity is the main criterion for determining the validity of any test! Does the center make sure that these test tasks are processed in the same conditions by graders, that is, students, in all schools where the system is implemented? Are there test protocols, instructions that must be followed by supervisors (teachers) and graders (students) during testing, are they monitored? Is the test material safe before, during the test and after the test (during the processing of test results)? Without them, it is impossible to "ensure the objectivity and accuracy of assessing the level of skill of the student", which is claimed in the center! Does formative assessment provide participants in the education system (students and teachers) with the necessary information to determine their next steps in the educational process, because this is its main task?

Testology is a science. Students should simply be reminded that the rule of presenting BSB and CHSB at the end of each chapter of the textbook and each quarter of the school year, indicating how many points are awarded to these BSBs and CHSBs, is not a sufficient basis for us to say that "a criteria-based grading system has been introduced". For this purpose, the evaluation system must meet the above and a number of other scientific requirements of testology. Otherwise, the so-called "criteria-based" assessment system will be nothing more than fraud and a distraction of teachers and students. Now let's look at the claims about the benefits of the so-called "criteria-based" assessment system that the Center is implementing.

"The reader can clearly see their own opportunities and gaps." To do this, firstly, it is necessary to voice the subject area and constructs to be evaluated in the context of each subject and class, as described above, the criteria for their evaluation, and secondly, the reader from each assessment (after BSB-CHSBs) should be given an analysis of his work with an indication to the reader which constructs he has mastered at what level. Is this being done?

"Teacher... Determining the individual trajectory and teaching each student based on their individual abilities allows us to accurately diagnose what the problem of language failure is for each student in the class." In order to determine the individual trajectory and problems of students in mastering, the teacher must also have a document in his hands that defines the area, constructs, and criteria for their evaluation, which will be evaluated in the context of each subject and class. A teacher can only identify gaps in learning if they can compare each student's test scores with such a document. Do teachers have such a document on the basis of which they can analyze the results of each student's tests? Another important point: isn't it the task of formative, not summative assessment, to identify problems in mastery and determine further steps on this basis, because when identifying gaps by summative assessment, it is too late to take any steps?  "Parents need to get evidence of the level of education and development of their child, monitor his progress, help in the learning process... will allow us to do this." Again, the same thing. In order for a parent to be able to help his child, he must have at his disposal not just information about the grades (points) of his child, but analyses of what constructs the child has mastered (in other words, to what extent). Is there a system in place to provide such tests to parents?

In fact, in order for the criterion system of evaluation to perform its functions, it must must be able to provide education actors and stakeholders (teachers, students, parents, school administration, ministry) with reliable information that allows students to analyse their educational achievements and problems in reality. At the same time, as one of the teachers wrote, we can only see that the system makes teachers "happy", adding: "This year we switched to summative assessment. Between the newspapers, BSB and CHSB, I'm so lucky that happiness makes my head explode every day."

Komil JALILOV,

Freelance Researcher