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National Assessment National assessment began in China over a thousand years ago. The context was that the Chinese decided to give everyone an equal chance to work for the government, therefore everyone got a governmental exam and the person who succeeded got the desired job. Despite the Chinese good intentions success in this exam depended on where you studied and not on your ability. In addition, the exam tested memory only which is a relevant fact to tests nowadays. Tests nowadays test memory and knowledge that is easy to check and not knowledge that is important to check. Britain was the second country after China that used national exams. The British started national exams in the 19th century. Until that time only upper class men went to universities. In an effort to allow everyone to go to universities, Britain allowed entrance exams. Even though the principle was a good one, in practice the change was very little because men who studied at good schools hence the upper class passed these exams. Britain has a class system that works today as well. Today, in Israel the used national exams are the Meitzav, the Bagrut, the Psychometric exam and other entrance exams. These national exams are far from perfect, everyone takes them but no one has the chance to excel in them. Success in these exams depends on how smart you are and where you study. According to research, the most important factor on determining students’ grades is mothers’ education. Fathers’ education is less important and this is a fact. National exams have different expectations: Although there eight different expectations, but exams tend to meet some of these expectations only. Bagrut tests, for example, have two main expectations: criteria for selection and prediction of future potential and performance. Meitzav tests on the other hand have expectations that include evidence of teachers’ effectiveness, evidence of students’ learning, comparative performance between schools and national/local improvement. There is an ongoing clash between schools and academia because these two bodies have different goals. Schools are interested in having as many students as possible and that these students have equal opportunities and universities threaten to disregard the Bagrut results if the ministry does not change its policy and claim that they will consider the Psychometric exam results only. National exams are becoming industrial. There are special courses that train for these exams in addition to booklets. Both courses and booklet have one purpose; to improve the tests’ results. Different examples of different schools and assessment systems were presented in the class; a third class grader takes a test in a private school, a principal who asks teachers to give grades only at the end of the 3rd grade, another school that provides grades at the end of the 6th grade and because of that the pupils are highly motivated, and finally a school that has no tests nor grades till the 9th grade. Then the class was divided into four groups and each group was given a different task. Each group presented its result. Here are the tasks and the results. Group one: Advantages of the Bagrut exam:
 * Evidence of teachers’ effectiveness.
 * Evidence of students’ learning
 * National/local improvement which means how the school improved relatively to other schools in the country
 * Comparative performance between schools(which school got the highest grade in comparison with other schools)
 * Prediction of future potential and performance. The Psychometric test for example is a high stake exam. (High stake exams are exams whose results are important to the people taking them.)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Criteria for selection, for example the results of the Psychometric exams decide who to choose to which faculty.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Identification of those needing help, for example the Meitzav test whose main purpose is to check the students and schools difficulties.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Motivation for pupils: National exams make students study and teachers teach.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Motivate students to study and teachers to teach
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Force teachers to teach strategies
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Reflect the level of students’ knowledge
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Prepare for life; competition, overcoming obstacles and hard work
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Accomplishment
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Students learn to work under pressure
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Prepare for higher education
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Teach other skills and not only writing and reading.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Group Two: Disadvantages of the Bagrut exams:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Don’t reflect students’ capability
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Students learn for the test
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Teachers teach for the test mainly weak learners that are taught only strategies to succeed in the test and not knowledge.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Teachers and administration control the list of who does what, in other words they decide whether a particular student does a 4 point test or a 5 point test and this affects the students and their future.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Students are under unnecessary pressure while Bagrut tests can be partially replaced by alternative assessment which reduces the pressure.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Not valid because they do not test students progress.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Don’t check knowledge

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Group three: Advantages of the Meitzav exams:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Give equal opportunities
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Locate difficulties
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Locate students with learning problems and difficulties
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Check if the students meet the standards
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Motivate students and teachers
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Include three different levels
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Allow formative assessment vs summative assessment

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Group Four: Disadvantages of the Meitzav exams: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Conclusion: The following quote concludes the lesson. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">“Examination system can have a powerful impact on curriculum development, and whilst the potential for positive effects can be impressive, the overall impact as experienced by pupils is more often than not, tilted towards negative effects. This is especially the case if the examination is high stake for pupils and schools.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">(De Luca, 1994)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Above students average
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Vocabulary demands are not clear
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Include grammar that is not taught in the 5th grade
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Students’ cognitive ability does not allow them to pass
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Are done after a year of beginning to study English
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Not suitable for LD students
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Teachers teach for the test
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Principals and inspectors’ pressure
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Length of the exam
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Results do not provide a clear picture of every student
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The date is not convenient
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">obsession