O E C D R e OECD Reviews of Evaluation v ie w and Assessment in Education s o f E v a Romania lu a t io n a Hannah Kitchen, Elizabeth Fordham, Kirsteen Henderson, n d Anne Looney and Soumaya Maghnouj A s s e s s m e n t in E d u c a t io n R o m a n ia OECD Reviews of Evaluation and Assessment in Education Romania 2017 Hannah Kitchen, Elizabeth Fordham, Kirsteen Henderson, Anne Looney and Soumaya Maghnouj ThisworkispublishedundertheresponsibilityoftheSecretary-GeneraloftheOECD.The opinionsexpressedandargumentsemployedhereindonotnecessarilyreflecttheofficial viewsofOECDmembercountries. This document and any map included herein are without prejudice tothe status of or sovereigntyoveranyterritory,tothedelimitationofinternationalfrontiersandboundaries andtothenameofanyterritory,cityorarea. Please cite this publication as: Kitchen, H., et al. (2017), Romania 2017, OECD Reviews of Evaluation and Assessment in Education, OECD Publishing, Paris. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264274051-en ISBN978-92-64-27404-4(print) ISBN978-92-64-27405-1(PDF) Series:OECDReviewsofEvaluationandAssessmentinEducation ISSN2223-0947(print) ISSN2223-0955(online) ThestatisticaldataforIsraelaresuppliedbyandundertheresponsibilityoftherelevantIsraeliauthorities.Theuse ofsuchdatabytheOECDiswithoutprejudicetothestatusoftheGolanHeights,EastJerusalemandIsraeli settlementsintheWestBankunderthetermsofinternationallaw. Photocredits:Cover©iQoncept-Fotolia.com,©AKS-Fotolia.com,©SergejKhackimullin-Fotolia.com. CorrigendatoOECDpublicationsmaybefoundonlineat:www.oecd.org/about/publishing/corrigenda.htm. ©OECD2017 Youcancopy,downloadorprintOECDcontentforyourownuse,andyoucanincludeexcerptsfromOECDpublications,databasesand multimediaproductsinyourowndocuments,presentations,blogs,websitesandteachingmaterials,providedthatsuitable acknowledgementofOECDassourceandcopyrightownerisgiven.Allrequestsforpublicorcommercialuseandtranslationrightsshould besubmittedtorights@oecd.org.Requestsforpermissiontophotocopyportionsofthismaterialforpublicorcommercialuseshallbe addresseddirectlytotheCopyrightClearanceCenter(CCC)[email protected]çaisd’exploitationdudroitdecopie(CFC) [email protected]. 3 FOREWORD – Foreword Romania’s education system has made significant improvements in recent decades, not least in terms of student learning outcomes and strengthening institutional capacity. These improvements make Romania a regional leader. They also provide the foundations to further improve quality and equity, so that all young Romanians have the chance to reach their full potential and realise their aspirations. This review was undertaken by the OECD with the support of UNICEF at the request of, and in close collaboration with the Romanian Ministry of National Education and Scientific Research. Focused on the assessment and evaluation system for Romania’s schools, it provides recommendations to help the country capitalise on the positive practices that it has already put in place, so that they have the support and visibility to flourish and enable positive change across the education system. It encourages Romania to put student learning at the heart of evaluation and assessment. This will mean moving towards a system where assessment is not used only to measure and reward performance but as the basis for discussion and feedback. This will provide students, teachers, schools and policy makers with the information, space and professional advice to be able to reflect critically on their work and identify what they can do better in the future. The review is the first time that the OECD Directorate for Education and Skills and UNICEF have come together to work in this way. This co-operation has meant that the review has been able to benefit from our organisations’ complementary experience and expertise to provide an analysis that is sensitive to the history and context of evaluation and assessment in Romania’s education system while drawing on international research and best practice from around the world. Above all though, we hope that this co-operation provides useful recommendations that will help Romania enhance its evaluation and assessment system so that it raises the learning outcomes of all its students. This report comes at an important moment for Romania, as it is considering a new law on education with the potential to bring significant change. We hope that its recommendations can inform this process, and help to develop an education system that provides excellence for all. Andreas SCHLEICHER Sandie BLANCHET Director for Education and Skills and Special Advisor Representative on Education Policy to the Secretary-General UNICEF Romania OECD OECD REVIEWS OF EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT IN EDUCATION: ROMANIA 2017 © OECD 2017 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS – Acknowledgements This review was developed in co-operation with UNICEF, whose staff provided valuable guidance and direction. In particular, the review team would like to thank Philippe Testot-Ferry, Senior Regional Education Advisor in UNICEF Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States Regional Office for his co- operation and commitment which enabled this unique partnership between the OECD and UNICEF. We are indebted to the guidance, support and insights of the UNICEF Romania office, notably Sandie Blanchet, UNICEF Representative Romania, Luminita Costache, Education Specialist, and Eugen Crai, Consultant. The review team would also like to thank the Romanian government, under the leadership of the Ministry of National Education and Scientific Research and the Romanian Presidential Administration for their support and contributions to the review. The review has benefited from the encouragement of the Minister of National Education and Scientific Research, Pavel Nastase, and his team. We are also grateful for the support and insights from Romania’s former Ministers of Education, Mircea Dumitru, Adrian Curaj, Sorin Cîmpeanu and Remus Pricopie and their teams. We express the same gratitude to Ligia Deca, Advisor of the President of Romania on Education and Research for her insights and contributions shared with the review team. We are very grateful to the officials and education experts from the Romanian Ministry of National Education and Scientific Research and beyond, who graciously shared their insights and knowledge with us. In particular, we would like to thank Tania Irimia, Director and Liliana Preoteasa, Director of Romania Secondary Education Project Implementation Unit, Ministry of Education; Ciprian Fartusnic, Director of the Institute of Educational Sciences and his staff; Cristian Mirescu, Director and Roxana Mihail at the National Centre for Assessment and Evaluation; and Serban Iosifescu, President at the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Pre-University Education, who provided valuable contributions to the review. We sincerely thank all the participants to the review visits, including officials from the Ministry of National Education and Scientific Research, the National Institute of Statistics, the World Bank, the National Council of Students, researchers, non-governmental organisations, school leaders, teachers, teacher unions, parents and students, that kindly gave their time to share their views, experience and knowledge with us. We would especially like to thank the schools in Bucharest Municipality, and in Prahova and Constanta counties for welcoming us so warmly during our review visits. The OECD review team was led by Elizabeth Fordham, OECD Secretariat, co-ordinated by Hannah Kitchen, OECD Secretariat, and included Kirsteen Henderson (external expert, Canada), Anne Looney (Executive Dean, Institute of Education Dublin City University, Ireland) and Soumaya Maghnouj (OECD Secretariat). OECD REVIEWS OF EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT IN EDUCATION: ROMANIA 2017 © OECD 2017 6 – ACKOWLEDGEMENTS We would also like to thank Delia Raluca Sancariuc, who provided valuable linguistic support. Within the OECD Secretariat we thank Marco Kools, for the initial idea for the review, and Marie-Amelie Doring-Serre, Manuela Fitzpatrick and Sakshi Mishra who made very helpful contributions to the report. The review team also acknowledges the support and contributions from Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills; Paulo Santiago, Head of Policy Advice and Implementation Division; and that of Tracey Burns, Pablo Fraser, Deborah Nusche, Sandrine Peterson and Claire Shewbridge who provided feedback during the drafting process, as well as colleagues from the Public Governance Directorate. Célia Braga-Schich, Sara Gouveia and Marta Rilling provided administrative support and organised the publication process, and Sally Hinchcliffe edited the report. OECD REVIEWS OF EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT IN EDUCATION: ROMANIA 2017 © OECD 2017 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS – Table of contents Acronyms and abbreviations .................................................................................................................. 11 Executive summary ................................................................................................................................. 13 Assessment and recommendations ......................................................................................................... 17 Education and development in Romania ............................................................................................... 17 The role of evaluation and assessment in educational improvement ..................................................... 17 Evaluation and assessment in Romania ................................................................................................. 19 Student assessment in Romania: Putting student learning at the centre ................................................ 21 Teacher appraisal in Romania: Ensuring appraisal supports teachers’ professional development ........ 25 School evaluation in Romania: From compliance to school improvement ........................................... 29 System evaluation in Romania: Using information for system improvement ....................................... 33 References .............................................................................................................................................. 36 Chapter 1 The Romanian education system ......................................................................................... 37 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 38 Key features of the education system in Romania ................................................................................. 38 Main trends in participation, outcomes and equity ................................................................................ 52 Recent policy developments .................................................................................................................. 59 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 60 Annex 1.1 Key indicators ...................................................................................................................... 61 Notes ...................................................................................................................................................... 63 References .............................................................................................................................................. 64 Chapter 2 Student assessment in Romania: Putting learning at the centre ....................................... 67 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 68 Context and main features of student assessment in Romania .............................................................. 69 Policy issues ........................................................................................................................................... 80 Policy Issue 2.1: Aligning student assessment with the learning goals of the new curriculum ............. 81 Policy Issue 2.2: Mitigating the negative impact of the national examinations on student learning and progression ............................................................................................................................................. 91 Policy issue 2.3: Supporting teachers’ assessment literacy ................................................................. 101 Policy Issue 2.4: Strengthening central capacity for assessment ......................................................... 110 Conclusion and recommendations ....................................................................................................... 113 Note ...................................................................................................................................................... 115 References ............................................................................................................................................ 116 Chapter 3 Teacher appraisal in Romania: Ensuring appraisal supports teachers’ professional development ........................................................................................................................................... 121 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 122 Context and main features of teacher appraisal in Romania ................................................................ 122 Policy issues ......................................................................................................................................... 130 Policy Issue 3.1: Developing common professional teaching standards ............................................. 131 OECD REVIEWS OF EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT IN EDUCATION: ROMANIA 2017 © OECD 2017 8 – TABLE OF CONTENTS Policy Issue 3.2: Making the regular appraisal of teachers more developmental to support improvements to teaching .................................................................................................................... 134 Policy Issue 3.3: Improving the probation period and initial assessment of teachers .......................... 141 Policy Issue 3.4: Rewarding and incentivising teachers’ development of higher competency levels . 148 Conclusions and recommendations ...................................................................................................... 157 References ............................................................................................................................................ 161 Chapter 4 School evaluation in Romania: From compliance to school improvement ................... 167 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 168 Context and main features of school evaluation in Romania ............................................................... 168 Policy issues ......................................................................................................................................... 179 Policy Issue 4.1: Establishing a common framework for school evaluation ....................................... 179 Policy Issue 4.2: Using evaluation results to better support school improvement ............................... 185 Policy Issue 4.3: Strengthening school self-evaluation ....................................................................... 188 Policy Issue 4.4: Developing the principal and school inspector roles ................................................ 194 Conclusion and recommendations ....................................................................................................... 202 Note ...................................................................................................................................................... 204 References ............................................................................................................................................ 205 Chapter 5 System evaluation in Romania: Using information for system improvement .............. 209 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 210 Context and main features of system evaluation in Romania .............................................................. 210 Policy issues ......................................................................................................................................... 216 Policy Issue 5.1: Strengthening strategic planning .............................................................................. 217 Policy Issue 5.2: Aligning system-monitoring to educational priorities .............................................. 222 Policy Issue 5.3: Improving use of results ........................................................................................... 227 Conclusions and recommendations ...................................................................................................... 232 References ............................................................................................................................................ 235 Figures Figure 0.1. Interactions within the evaluation and assessment framework ............................................... 18 Figure 0.2. Aligning evaluation and assessment in Romania to support student learning ........................ 20 Figure 0.3. Using the learning standards to align the assessment system in Romania .............................. 23 Figure 0.4. School evaluation: From compliance to improvement ........................................................... 30 Figure 1.1. The education system in Romania .......................................................................................... 39 Figure 1.2. Total public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP (2002-13) ............................ 43 Figure 1.3. Distribution of total expenditure on education by source of funding (2013) .......................... 44 Figure 1.4. Total public expenditure as a share of GDP by level of education (2013) ............................. 45 Figure 1.5. Structure of the educationsystem in Romania ......................................................................... 46 Figure 1.6. Teachers’ salaries, 2012 .......................................................................................................... 50 Figure 1.7. Change in number of teachers by educational level (2000-14, 2005=100) ............................ 51 Figure 1.8. Gross and net percentage enrolment rates in primary education (2000-12)............................ 53 Figure 1.9. Dropout rates for primary and lower secondary education (2001-2013) ................................ 53 Figure 1.10. Enrolment rates by age (2014) .............................................................................................. 54 Figure 1.11. Students’ proficiency in science (2015) ................................................................................ 55 Figure 1.12. Percentage of population at risk of poverty by county (2011) .............................................. 57 Figure 1.13. Gross enrolment rate by education level and school location (2010-14) .............................. 57 Figure 1.14. Share of public spending by wealth quintile and area of residence (2012) ........................... 59 Figure 2.1. National examinations and national assessments in public schools ........................................ 72 OECD REVIEWS OF EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT IN EDUCATION: ROMANIA 2017 © OECD 2017