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"Measuring for Success"
May 12-16, 2014St. Petersburg, Russian Federation
The 4th READ Global Conference will take place from May 12-16 in St. Petersburg, Russia. The conference theme, “Measuring for Success”, provides an opportunity to explore a variety of learning goals and the role that assessment plays in monitoring and achieving them. The conference also presents an opportunity to showcase the impressive impact of the READ Trust Fund program at the country and global levels over the past five years.

Established in October 2008, the Russia Education Aid for Development Trust Fund (READ Trust Fund) is a collaboration of the Government of the Russian Federation and the World Bank. The program focuses on improving education quality and learning outcomes in low-income countries through the design, implementation, and use of robust systems for student assessment.

READ Trust Fund has provided support for assessment activities at both the global and country levels. At the global level, the focus has been on generating and sharing new knowledge and good practices in the form of training, tools, and publications. At the country level, the program has provided tailored support for assessment reforms and activities in eight target countries – Angola, Armenia, Ethiopia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mozambique, Tajikistan, Vietnam, and Zambia.

The 4th READ Global Conference took place from May 12-16 in St. Petersburg, Russia and focused on the theme of "Measuring for Success". In addition to keynotes and panel discussions by international experts, the conference also presented an important opportunity to showcase the impressive successes of the READ program at the country and global levels over the past five years. Each READ country team led a session at the conference to highlight their country’s results and successes under the READ program. In addition, countries had the opportunity to showcase their products and activities through the READ expo event that took place over the course of the first three days of the conference. Following the main conference proceedings, there were visits to four educational sites in St. Petersburg and two technical training workshops for the READ country teams. In total, 122 participants from 19 countries attended this year’s READ Global Conference. They included representatives from the eight READ countries; global technical experts in the areas of education, assessment, and learning; World Bank and other donor and international agency staff; and government officials.

This event is by invitation only. If you have questions, please contact readtf@worldbank.org

Conference Summary

Conference agenda (in English, Russian, Portuguese)

Speaker Bios (in English, Russian, Portuguese)

Presentations:

  • Keynote 1 Address (National Perspective) EN, RU, PT
    “How assessment is being used to monitor and attain learning goals in South Africa”
    Anil Kanjee, Tshwane University of Technology (South Africa) 

  • Keynote 2 Address (Global Perspective) EN, RU, PT
    “Ten things policymakers should know about learning goals and assessment”
    Andreas Schleicher, OECD

  • Keynote 3 Address (School/Classroom Perspective) EN, RU, PT
    “Assessing learning goals in the classroom”
    Ban Har Yeap, Marshall Cavendish Institute (Singapore)

  • READ in Action: Trust Fund Program Highlights and Results Framework EN
    Marguerite Clarke, 木瓜影院

  • Developing and Measuring National Learning Standards (EN)
    Fernando Cartwright, Polymetrica International (Canada), and Vincent Greaney, Independent Consultant (Ireland)

  • READ in Action: Reimbursable Advisory Services and CICED Program Highlights and Results
    Tigran Shmis, 木瓜影院, and Artem Stepanenko, CICED 

Related Materials:

Workshop on classroom assessment

Workshop on Large-scale assessment with a focus on the SAM tool


As part of the READ Global Conference program, participants had the opportunity to visit four educational sites in St. Petersburg on May 14, 2014. These included a primary school, a secondary school, a center for education quality assessment, and an institute for teacher professional development.


The main objectives of the site visits were to (i) expose participants to the Russian education system, particularly examples of good practices within that system; (ii) help participants understand the role of learning goals in the Russian system and how assessment is used to monitor and achieve those goals; and (iii) allow participants opportunities to network with Russian experts in the areas of education, learning, and assessment.

More details about the four sites can be found here (Portuguese and Russian versions)

Established in October 2008, the Russia Education Aid for Development Trust Fund (READ Trust Fund) is a collaboration of the Government of the Russian Federation and the World Bank that focuses on improving education quality and learning outcomes in low-income countries through the design, implementation, and use of robust systems for student assessment.

WHAT WAS DONE?

READ Trust Fund has used its US$32 million dedicated fund to support groundbreaking analytical work and technical assistance that helps countries:

  1. establish or strengthen systems or institutions that formulate learning goals and carry out assessments of student learning;
  2. improve existing or develop new instruments to measure student learning outcomes;
  3. strengthen existing or develop new mechanisms (policies) to use learning outcomes data to improve education quality.

READ Trust Fund has provided concurrent support at both the global and country levels. At the global level, the focus has been on generating and sharing knowledge and good practices in the form of tools, reports, and case studies. At the country level, READ Trust Fund has provided tailored support for assessment reforms and activities in eight target countries.

WHAT WAS ACHIEVED?

  • Groundbreaking knowledge and tools on ‘what works’ in student assessment, including a new framework for understanding, evaluating, and improving assessment systems; a set of case studies on good practices from around the world; and training materials for building country practitioner and Bank staff knowledge in this area. 
  • Impact on the global policy dialogue. READ’s focused support for student assessment has raised the profile of assessment as a key input to improved education quality and learning. The program is being used as a resource for discussions on post-2015 learning goals.
  • Concrete results on the ground in the eight target countries, including the establishment of the first-ever national testing center in Tajikistan to counter corruption in university entrance examinations, and the creation of teacher training programs in Armenia and Kyrgyz Republic to enhance the quality of classroom assessment practices in those countries.

WHAT LESSONS WERE LEARNED?

  • Building a strong assessment system is a lengthy process. It requires long-term vision and planning, and sustained support and commitment from all stakeholders.
  • The READ Trust Fund program offers a useful model for taking global knowledge and tools and effectively refining and applying them in support of local solutions in developing countries. 

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