On July 24, 2019, a presentation of the Roadmap towards the results of the Program for International Student Assessment implementation in Ukraine was held at the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. State Scientific Institution «Institute of Educational Analytics» (hereinafter – SSI «IEA») was represented by the Director of the Institute, Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor Sergiy Londar.

Program for International Student Assessment (hereinafter – PISA) is carried out under the guidance of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the main purpose of which is to evaluate education systems all over the world. The survey is conducted every three years by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students. Ukraine has already officially joined the international monitoring study PISA, and thus in 2018 participated in the full assessment PISA-2018 for the first time. The Ukrainian Center for Educational Quality Assessment is a responsible institution for conducting PISA assessment in Ukraine.

The contribution of the SSI «IEA» to the PISA international monitoring survey involves carrying out the tasks related to the methodology of selection a statistically representative sampling of the study.

Today, PISA international organizers are conducting a relevant analysis of the PISA-2018 survey results. And in December this year, a presentation of national and international reports according to Ukraine’s participation in PISA-2018 will be launched. Also, the 6th International Conference on Educational Assessment (EA-2019), dedicated to the international monitoring study of the education quality PISA, is scheduled for this year.

PISA Roadmap presentation started with the welcome speech of Vadym Karandiy, a Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine. «It is very important for us to understand and interpret these data properly, as we will receive information that reflects the education development in Ukraine over the last decades, as well as the consequences of the policy that has been implemented over the last years», the Deputy Minister emphasized. In addition, Vadym Karandiy expressed his gratitude to the participants of the event – representatives of the state and public sector for the cooperation in the process of organization and implementation of PISA assessment.

In the next part of the meeting, the Deputy Director of the Ukrainian Center for Educational Quality Assessment Tetiana Vakulenko, who is also the national PISA coordinator in Ukraine, presented the Roadmap towards PISA implementation results in Ukraine and summed up the first few years of education survey realization. In particular, successful implementation of the pilot and basic phases of PISA-2018; preparation and publication of information, education and training materials; holding systematic communication activities on PISA; production of materials for PISA-2018 report and work with educators in the regions. In this context, the preparation for the next assessment PISA-2021 has also started, which involves Ukraine’s participation in piloting the section «Creative Thinking» and engagement of children with special educational needs in the testing.

The key milestone of the event was signing the Memorandum on Cooperation and Partnership between the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and all organizations that are partners and stakeholders in the process of PISA international education quality survey conducting in Ukraine, namely: UNICEF Ukraine, International Renaissance Foundation, National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences, Public association «Osvitoria», NGO «Center for the Study of Society» (CEDOS), NGO «Smart Education», State Service of Education Quality, SSI «IEA» and the Ukrainian Center for Educational Quality Assessment.

For the purpose of implementing this Memorandum, the Parties noted the priority directions of mutual cooperation: strategic planning and realization of measures related to Ukraine’s participation in PISA; PISA survey supporting in educational institutions; creating a team of professional experts for interpretation of the research results; communication support; awareness of the target audiences on PISA results; exchange of information and provide advisory support of specialists, etc.

Therefore, within the framework of PISA results implementation in Ukraine, an action plan was outlined until the end of 2019: PISA website modernization, presentation of national and international PISA-2018 reports, holding an international conference for educational assessment EA-2019, organization of training courses for analysts, researchers and journalists on the use, interpretation and visualization of the data, as well as preparation for the PISA-2021 assessment.

Information and photo from Press Service of the MES