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In an exclusive interview with TSF , the president of the Institute for Educational Assessment (IAVE), Luís Pereira dos Santos, assured that the organization is prepared to have the tests in digital format and added that the pilot project will test national secondary education exams , in this format, this year.
Luís Pereira c, graduated in Physics Teaching and Master in Science Teaching Methodology, specializing in Science Didactics, has been president of IAVE since February 8, 2019.
"There was a pilot for the final cycle tests in the 9th year, who, like all pilots, showed us some weaknesses, and it's a good thing he showed us because when we analyze it now, we already know what could go wrong , and also what went well. We already know what we need to fine-tune so that, now, in 2024, and according to the schedule, we can generalize the end-of-cycle tests. We are still analyzing the data very carefully . We do not want to move forward and comply with the schedule blindly [...]. We want to move forward in a very safe way. At this moment, what I can say is that we are convinced that the schedule will be fulfilled, that is, we will have the generalization of the 9th year final exams and, also, if everything goes well, which is happening at the moment, there are no reasons for this not to happen, we will have a very restricted pilot of national secondary education exams. And this is a leap that, as much as we consider that all assessments have their importance, which they do, national exams have a stronger weight because of access to higher education", says Luís Pereira dos Santos.
Even so, the president of IAVE recognizes that not all tests can be done in this format at this time, and some may never even be done in digital format in the future.
Luís Pereira dos Santos emphasizes that "there are exams that, for now, it will not be possible to take in digital format. And Descriptive Geometry is one of these cases, because the object of assessment implies that students draw with all geometry instruments. The drawing is an object of evaluation. It is part of the evaluation criteria [...]. However, this is already a positive aspect. This proof will be digitized, uploaded to the system, and the classification process will be carried out online, which brings us great advantages".
However, the fact that the tests are carried out in digital format has been the subject of some controversy. However, for the president of the Institute for Educational Assessment, the advantages of exams being carried out in this format are several.
"Digital allows us to have interactive items, it allows students to have items in front of them that are simulations of real situations, we can have video supports, audio supports, everything available to the student to respond to the tasks and items that IAVE proposes. We can make this change, this improvement, in the preparation of tests. But it is all done very gradually", recognizes Luís Pereira dos Santos, who also reveals that this support "guarantees greater equity among students, because the classification process of the tests, which is supervised by IAVE, has, by its nature, some weaknesses, because many teachers apply classification criteria, and, sometimes, however specific they may be, there is always a very subjective component in this application of criteria, and, with digital, this subjectivity will be reduced, because teachers will not classify entire tests, they will specialize in some test items, and will be able to be more consistent in applying the criteria, and we can have very interesting techniques in digital, which is having second, third classifications, that is, without the system noticing, the same items are distributed to several classifiers".
Luís Pereira dos Santos ensures that everything is prepared for the operation of digital tests to move forward at the various levels of education, particularly at the conclusion of the various cycles. However, the president of IAVE adds that he is prepared to assume all responsibilities, should anything go wrong.
"The president of IAVE must always assume his responsibilities. I have no doubt whatsoever, and we never shirk our responsibilities. I cannot say more than this. Now, there are risks in everything we do. I usually tell my colleagues who take the tests: we don't want to make mistakes, but we can't be afraid of making mistakes because, otherwise, we don't evolve. We only evolve if we make mistakes and learn from our mistakes. Now, we have to take responsibility, without a doubt. And the president of IAVE will assume these responsibilities", concludes Luís Pereira dos Santos.