RCEC has developed the Assessment Frameworks for Passage Tests and for Pupil Monitoring Systems for primary education
From 1 January 2023, the Board for Tests and Examinations (the CvTE) is at the behest of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science responsible for monitoring the quality of Passage Tests (formerly Final Tests) and Pupil Monitoring Systems in primary education in the European Netherlands and Bonaire.
Schools in primary education can choose from various Passage Tests for their pupils in group 8 (the final year of primary education). It is important that the results on these tests are mutually comparable, so it does not matter which Passage Test a pupil is offered in group 8. As of 1 January 2023, the CvTE is also responsible for monitoring this comparability of Passage Test results. To this end, the Passage Tests will be equated and normed annually using an advanced computational psychometric model.
In preparation for these new tasks of the CvTE, RCEC was asked to develop the Assessment Frameworks so that the quality of these different tests for primary education can be determined objectively and the comparability of the Passage Tests results can be monitored. To this end, RCEC has developed the following Assessment Frameworks:
- Assessment Framework Passage Tests
- Assessment Framework for Pupil Monitoring Systems group 3 – 8
- Assessment Framework for Observation and Registration Instruments group 1 – 8
- Regulation on Assessment Standards for Passage Tests
- Checklist for Assessing the Quality of Observation categories and Test Items
The various Assessment Frameworks contain the substantive, psychometric and organisational quality requirements that primary education tests and instruments must meet in order to be legally approved and be admitted by the CvTE.
RCEC carried out its assignment in consultation with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the Education Inspectorate, the Expert Group on Tests, the CvTE, Cito Foundation, the COTAN (The Test Affairs Committee Netherlands) and the providers of a Passage Test and/or a Pupil Monitoring System or Observation and Registration Instrument.
The various Assessment Frameworks were approved by His Excellency Minister Dennis Wiersma for Primary and Secondary Education in December 2022. Subsequently, the Assessment Frameworks were published as ministerial regulations in the Government Gazette.
The assignment resulted in a set of robust and usable Assessment Frameworks that all parties involved can work with. We would like to thank all stakeholders for their pleasant and constructive cooperation in the realisation of this final result.
For more information on the new system for primary education tests, please visit here.
The various Assessment Frameworks, Regulation and Checklist can be found here.
You can read about how the Assessment Frameworks were created in this (Dutch) process report.