Monitoring Student Progress in Mathematics and Science
Since the 2001–2002 academic year, Hungary has administered its National Assessment of Basic Competencies (NABC) every year (except in the 2004–2005 academic year) to assess student performance in mathematics and reading. Since 2004, all students in Grades 6, 8, and 10 have taken part in the testing. The assessment measures students’ ability to use their skills and knowledge to solve problems modeling everyday situations, and does not focus on textbook knowledge. In 2014, a revised framework for the NABC12 was published. The NABC provides benchmarks for student performance in seven levels of competency. School level results are published on a public website nine months after the assessment, while schools and the organizations responsible for them receive additional data analysis software that enables them to study student performance in more detail. Since 2008, the implementation of assessment IDs has made it possible to track individual student development from Grade 6 through Grade 10.
The National Public Education Act guarantees the annual administration of the tests and requires schools to monitor their performance as part of their quality control programs. To reduce disadvantages caused when children develop at different rates, a mandatory assessment of first grade students’ basic competencies was introduced during the 2006–2007 academic year. The Ministry of Education provides all educational institutions with a free evaluation kit called the Diagnostic Development System.13 The evaluation kit is designed to measure student social development and skills, elementary arithmetic, fine motor coordination for writing, and comprehension of and vocabulary for relationships.
In addition to these assessments, student performance and progress are evaluated regularly with numeric grades. Teachers evaluate student performance and progress regularly throughout the school year. Students and parents are notified regularly with grade reports. Students keep a booklet for recording grades and school notices that parents and class teachers sign every month. Teachers use interim grades to determine midterm and final grades. Schools communicate grades to students and parents with a note at the end of each term, and in school reports at the end of the year. Class heads evaluate student behavior and diligence in consultation with class teachers. Grades for student knowledge are based on the following scale: excellent (5), good (4), average (3), satisfactory (2), and unsatisfactory (1). Grades for student behavior and diligence are based on the following scale: exemplary (5), good (4), variable (3), and bad/negligent (2).
In Grades 1 to 3, at midterm and at the end of the year, and in Grade 4, at midterm, teachers present a written evaluation of student progress, describing it as excellent, good, or sufficient and noting if the student requires tutoring.
Students can take noncompulsory mathematics and reading examinations in Grades 4, 6, and 8 provided by the Educational Authority. The examinations in Grades 4 and 6 are part of the examinations used for entrance to secondary general schools starting from Grade 5 or 7. The results of the examination in Grade 8 are part of the examination used for entrance to most secondary schools.