“State Examination in the Form of External Independent Testing”: Vakulenko explains how to make performance assessment less stressful for fourth-graders
31 October 20:14
Most schoolchildren are not afraid of the state final examination. It’s their parents who make them feel stressed. Tetiana Vakulenko, director of the Ukrainian Center for Educational Quality Assessment, said this in an interview with the "Komersant Ukrainian" YouTube channel.
“Why is there stress from the external independent evaluation? This stress does not come from children and their fear. This stress comes from adults. We, adults – teachers, parents – say: “Tomorrow you have the State Exam in the form of the External Independent Testing.” The abbreviation alone is frightening. For a fourth-grader, it’s like a dragon that suddenly emerged from a dark cave and tries to attack him,” she says.
According to Vakulenko, parents should remember that no one will evaluate their children or teachers based on the results of the SAT. These are just tasks to test basic knowledge and skills.
“No one will evaluate teachers, schools, classes based on the results of the state examination. No one will evaluate children. So I ask adults to explain to children that this is an exciting game. Do whatever you can do, do it. Do the tasks conscientiously. It’s all about you. And for your sake,” she added.
The expert advises not to use the words “stress” or “excitement” in front of children.
“In general, it is better not to use the words “worry” and “stress”. Because they create the atmosphere we don’t want. If you ask a person not to worry, they immediately start to worry,” she says.
Vakulenko adds that the tasks for fourth-graders are interesting, and the format itself resembles a game or a journey.
“We select tasks so that they are exciting. For example, we have to build an animal shelter. The child has to analyze how much food will be needed to feed dogs of different breeds. Or determine how big the enclosure should be. The notebooks themselves are designed as a journey into language or math with Sofia and Danylo. And you are with them, you are just their partner,” she said.
It is worth reminding that the state final certification (SFC) is a form of assessment of students’ academic achievements that concludes each educational level. It was introduced for fourth graders to test basic reading, writing, and math skills.
Since 2024, the Ministry of Education and Science has updated the format of the State Assessment in primary school: tests are conducted in a relaxed atmosphere, without grades on the certificate and without comparing results between schools. The goal is not control, but feedback for teachers and parents.
At the same time, the idea of unifying the format of the state examination for different levels of education is being discussed. The UCEQA proposes to gradually adapt testing of fourth-graders to the principles of EIT/TMT, but in a game form, with an emphasis on developing thinking rather than “passing the exam.”
Ukraine also participates in international comparative studies of the quality of education, such as PIRLS, which show that the level of reading comprehension of Ukrainian fourth-graders is gradually increasing, despite the war and distance learning.
