OECD REVIEWS OF EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT IN EDUCATION : serbia.

283 Pages·2020·5.146 MB·English

by  OECD

OECD Reviews of Evaluation and Assessment
in Education
SERBIA
Soumaya Maghnouj, Daniel Salinas, Hannah Kitchen,
Caitlyn Guthrie, George Bethell and Elizabeth Fordham
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OECD Reviews of Evaluation
and Assessment
in Education: Serbia
Soumaya Maghnouj, Daniel Salinas, Hannah Kitchen,
Caitlyn Guthrie, George Bethell and Elizabeth Fordham
This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and
arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of OECD member countries.
This document, as well as any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over
any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area.
The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use of
such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in
the West Bank under the terms of international law.
Please cite this publication as:
Maghnouj, S. et al. (2020), OECD Reviews of Evaluation and Assessment in Education: Serbia, OECD Reviews of Evaluation and
Assessment in Education, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/225350d9-en.
ISBN 978-92-64-39200-7 (print)
ISBN 978-92-64-84521-3 (pdf)
OECD Reviews of Evaluation and Assessment in Education
ISSN 2223-0947 (print)
ISSN 2223-0955 (online)
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© UNICEF/UN048825/Ergen, © UNICEF/UN040893/Vas, © UNICEF/UN040894/Vas, © UNICEF/UN0262726/
Corrigenda to publications may be found on line at: www.oecd.org/about/publishing/corrigenda.htm.
© OECD 2020
The use of this work, whether digital or print, is governed by the Terms and Conditions to be found at http://www.oecd.org/termsandconditions.
FOREWORD  3

Foreword
Serbia has made improvements in access to education and international assessments show
that learning outcomes have remained generally stable in recent years, with slight
improvements among the highest-achieving students. This signals widening educational
inequities. Moreover, a large share of students in Serbia continue to leave school without
mastering basic competencies and efforts to achieve educational excellence are jeopardised
by limited institutional capacity and low levels of public spending on education. Serbia
needs to strengthen school leadership, modernise the teaching profession and provide
schools with the support they need to prepare their students for success in a creative and
knowledge-based economy. This is crucial to the country’s economic development, social
prosperity and European integration.
This review was undertaken in partnership by the OECD and UNICEF at the request of,
and in close collaboration with, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological
Development in Serbia.
Focused on the country’s educational assessment and evaluation systems, this review offers
recommendations to help Serbia capitalise on promising policies and practices that support
student learning. The proposals put teaching and learning at the heart of assessment and
evaluation, meaning that student assessments, teacher appraisals and both school and
system evaluations all contribute to the ultimate goal of helping students learn.
The review builds on the collaboration between the OECD Directorate for Education and
Skills and UNICEF. It has benefitted from our organisations’ complementary experience
and expertise to provide an analysis that is grounded in the context of evaluation and
assessment in Serbia’s education system while drawing on international research and best
practice from around the world.
Above all, we hope that this review will be a useful reference for Serbia as it reforms its
educational evaluation and assessment systems. As the country develops its next mid-term
education strategy and introduces a new national assessment and examinations system, this
review provides guidance that can be used to inform decision-making. We hope that the
review’s recommendations contribute to the development of an education system that
provides excellence for all.

Andreas Schleicher Regina De Dominicis
Director for Education and Skills and UNICEF Representative to Serbia
Special Advisor on Education Policy to
the OECD Secretary-General

OECD REVIEWS OF EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT IN EDUCATION: SERBIA © OECD 2020

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS  5

Acknowledgements
This review was funded by UNICEF and developed in close co-operation with UNICEF’s
Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia and UNICEF’s Serbia Country Office whose
staff provided valuable guidance and support. In particular, the review team would like to
thank Parmosivea Soobrayan, Regional Education Advisor for Europe and Central Asia,
for his co-operation and commitment to the partnership between the OECD and UNICEF.
The review team would like to convey its sincere appreciation to the UNICEF Serbia
Country Office, led by Ms Regina De Dominicis, Representative. We would also like to
thank Severine Leonardi, Deputy Representative and the UNICEF Serbia education team,
notably Tanja Ranković, Education Specialist, and Dejan Stanković, Education Officer, for
their guidance, support and insights.
The review team would further like to thank the Government of Serbia, under the leadership
of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, for its support and
contributions to the review. The review has strongly benefitted from the encouragement
and support of Dušan Kićović, State Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Science and
Technological Development, and Vesna Nedeljković, former Assistant Minister for Pre-
school and Primary Education who also chaired the Steering Committee.
We are very grateful to the officials and education experts from the ministry and beyond,
who graciously shared their insights and knowledge with us, in particular the members of
the Steering Committee: Gordana Kosanović, Special Advisor to the Minister;
Slavica Jašić, Head of Sector for Pre-school and Primary Education; Gordana Cvetković,
Head of the Group for Minorities’ Education, Social Inclusion and Prevention of Violence
and Discrimination; Ljiljana Marolt, Head of the Group for Pre-school Education; Dragan
Marinčić, Coordinator for Development of Secondary Education and Adult Education;
Aleksandar Pajić, Special Advisor for Secondary Education and Adult Education; Zlatko
Grušanović, Director of the Institute for Improvement of Education; Gordana Čaprić,
Deputy Director of the Institute for Education Quality and Evaluation; Aleksandar Baucal,
Professor at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade.
We sincerely thank all the participants in the review visits, including officials from the
ministry and its technical agencies – the Institute for Education Quality and Evaluation
(IEQE) and the Institute for Improvement of Education (IIE). We would also like to extend
our gratitude to other national bodies, such as the National Education Council (NEC), to
civil society organisations, as well as to international bodies including the European Union
Delegation and the World Bank. We are grateful to the researchers, non-governmental
organisations, school leaders, teachers, teacher unions, parents and students who kindly
gave their time to share their views, experience and knowledge with us. We would
especially like to thank the schools in Belgrade and Novi Sad for welcoming us so warmly
during our review visits.
The OECD review team was led by Elizabeth Fordham (OECD Secretariat), co-ordinated
by Soumaya Maghnouj (OECD Secretariat) and included George Bethel (Director of
Anglia Assessment), Daniel Salinas (OECD Secretariat), Hannah Kitchen (OECD
Secretariat) and Caitlyn Guthrie (OECD Secretariat). Within the OECD Secretariat, we
OECD REVIEWS OF EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT IN EDUCATION: SERBIA © OECD 2020
6  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

would also like to thank Manuela Fitzpatrick, Anna Vitória Périco e Santos and Aanya Niaz
who also made very helpful contributions to the report and drafted the introductory chapter.
We would also like to thank Tatjana Skocajić for her valuable research support. The review
team is grateful for the support and advice from Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education
and Skills, and Paulo Santiago, Head of Policy Advice and Implementation Division.
Matthew Gill and Mernie Graziotin provided administrative support and organised the
publication process, Eleonore Morena copy-edited the report and Rachel Linden helped to
prepare the draft for publication.
OECD REVIEWS OF EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT IN EDUCATION: SERBIA © OECD 2020
TABLE OF CONTENTS  7

Table of Contents
Abbreviations and acronyms .............................................................................................................. 13
Executive summary ............................................................................................................................. 15
Improving the value of school-based assessments and central examinations for teaching and
learning .............................................................................................................................................. 15
Promoting and supporting good teaching .......................................................................................... 16
Developing schools’ capacity for improvement ................................................................................ 16
Building stronger foundations to evaluate national education performance ...................................... 16
Assessment and recommendations ..................................................................................................... 19
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 19
Main trends ........................................................................................................................................ 19
Evaluation and assessment in Serbia ................................................................................................. 23
Improving the value of school-based assessments and central examinations for teaching and
learning .............................................................................................................................................. 27
Promoting and supporting good teaching .......................................................................................... 32
Developing schools’ capacity for improvement ................................................................................ 37
Building stronger foundations to evaluate national education performance ...................................... 40
References .......................................................................................................................................... 45
Chapter 1. The Serbian education system ......................................................................................... 47
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 48
National context ................................................................................................................................. 48
Key features of the education system in Serbia ................................................................................. 51
Structure of schooling in Serbia ......................................................................................................... 60
Main trends in participation, learning and equity .............................................................................. 64
Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 75
Annex 1.A. Key indicators................................................................................................................. 76
References .......................................................................................................................................... 78
Chapter 2. Improving the value of school-based assessments and central examinations for
teaching and learning .......................................................................................................................... 85
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 86
Key features of an effective student assessment system .................................................................... 86
Student assessment in Serbia ............................................................................................................. 92
Policy issues ..................................................................................................................................... 104
Policy issue 2.1. Ensuring a better balance between formative and summative purposes in school-
based assessment .............................................................................................................................. 104
Policy issue 2.2. Planning for the successful implementation of a new final examination (Matura)
at the interface of upper secondary and tertiary education .............................................................. 117
Policy issue 2.3. Strengthening the technical quality of the central examination at the end of basic
education .......................................................................................................................................... 130
Table of recommendations ............................................................................................................... 137
OECD REVIEWS OF EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT IN EDUCATION: SERBIA © OECD 2020
8  TABLE OF CONTENTS

References ........................................................................................................................................ 138
Chapter 3. Promoting and supporting good teaching .................................................................... 143
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 144
Key features of an effective appraisal system .................................................................................. 144
The teaching profession in Serbia .................................................................................................... 149
Teacher appraisal in Serbia .............................................................................................................. 157
Policy issues ..................................................................................................................................... 160
Policy issue 3.1. Providing teachers with stronger encouragement and incentives to develop their
practices and seek higher responsibilities ........................................................................................ 160
Policy issue 3.2. Improving the developmental value of regular in-school appraisal ...................... 168
Policy issue 3.3. Making sure that professional development opportunities meet the needs of
teachers ............................................................................................................................................ 173
Policy issue 3.4. Preparing and selecting a new generation of teachers .......................................... 177
Table of recommendations ............................................................................................................... 185
References ........................................................................................................................................ 186
Chapter 4. Developing schools’ capacity for improvement ........................................................... 191
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 192
Key features of an effective school evaluation system .................................................................... 192
School governance in Serbia ............................................................................................................ 199
School evaluation in Serbia ............................................................................................................. 201
Policy issues ..................................................................................................................................... 207
Policy issue 4.1: Develop external evaluation into a meaningful process for school improvement 208
Policy issue 4.2: Support schools to develop a culture of self-evaluation and learning .................. 217
Policy issue 4.3: Put school improvement at the centre of the National Education Strategy .......... 226
Table of recommendations ............................................................................................................... 232
References ........................................................................................................................................ 233
Note .................................................................................................................................................. 236
Chapter 5. Building stronger foundations to evaluate national education performance ............ 237
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 238
Key features of effective system evaluation .................................................................................... 238
System evaluation in Serbia ............................................................................................................. 242
Policy issues ..................................................................................................................................... 250
Policy issue 5.1. Using the new education strategy to focus on achieving national priorities ......... 250
Policy issue 5.2. Enhancing the availability and use of evidence for accountability and
policymaking ................................................................................................................................... 258
Policy issue 5.3. Developing the national assessment to support system goals ............................... 264
Table of recommendations ............................................................................................................... 276
References ........................................................................................................................................ 277

Tables
Table 1.1. Education and development in Serbia .................................................................................. 49
Table 1.2. Estimates of at-risk-of-poverty by region in Serbia in 2011 ................................................ 50
Table 2.1. Student assessment in Serbia: Current practices and expected reforms ............................... 93
Table 2.2. Examinations in Serbia ......................................................................................................... 99
Table 2.3. Examples of types of feedback ........................................................................................... 113
OECD REVIEWS OF EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT IN EDUCATION: SERBIA © OECD 2020