How Europe compares
France
French primary school education remains tightly focused on facts and basic skills. Spot tests are common, especially dictations to check a child's knowledge of French grammar and spelling.
However, formal testing is relatively sparse. All children are given a national test of basic skills and knowledge at about eight years old. The test occurs – crucially – at the beginning of the third year of primary school, not at the end. There is, therefore, little pressure on the children. The main aim is to check the standard of the school.
Otherwise, most primary schools have internal tests, or contrôles, in maths, French, geography and history, and English at the end of each of the five short terms that make up a school year. A child who is struggling can be asked to redoubler, or go down a year. A brilliant child can sauter, or go up.
There is no national examination to move from primary to secondary education, simply a recommendation by a conseil of teachers and parents.
Italy
Pupils at Italian schools are tested on average about one test per subject per term, which goes towards the continual assessment of their performance, but does not count all that much. But for serious, GCSE-type, make-or-break exams, from the age of 13 to 18 Italian students enjoy a long exam holiday, all the way up to the maturita exam which they take at the end of liceo, the senior schools in the Italian system. On the other hand, the continual assessments can be rigorous, and if students at the top high schools score less than six out of 10 in two or more subjects they run a serious risk of having to take the year again.
Germany
Germany's state-run primary school pupils start their education at the age of five or six. For the first two school years, they are not given marks for their academic performance. Parents are merely handed a school report on their child's abilities and behaviour at the end of each school year.
From the age of seven, pupils are subjected to continuous assessment. Every piece of work, including tests and homework, is marked on a 40/60 per cent oral/ written basis. The marks go towards an annual school report.
When pupils leave primary school at 10 or 11, they are provided with a recommendation, based on continuous assessment, to decide what type of secondary school they attend.
Sandra,
ReplyDeleteI like that you reported on three different countries, what a great idea to provide us with a sample of the different assessment systems of the countries. I think that the USA should learn from the education system in France; I like the let the children learn without the added stressors attitude of the French people. In the USA we stress our children out with the many different assessments that are unfair and unnecessary in many ways. The USA is failing our children, as we speak there will be a child who graduates from high school this year who cannot read or write, yet we bombard our children with assessment tests and they still fail. Something needs to be done to help our children.
Sandra & Danita,
ReplyDeleteYou are so right about the testing situation, why you need to take a test in order to graduate from high school, some children can be very smart and articulate but when it comes to test taking they can't function. I know some children who were honor students all through school, but when they couldn't pass the state exam they couldn't graduate, correct me if I'm wrong but I feel that test should be ban!!
I have heard that in countries like Russia when you reach high school age you can go to school for something specific like physics. Its like starting college when you are high school age. I am curious as to the type of secondary schools they have in Germany. I will have to research this and find out.
ReplyDelete