Ministry of Education launches piloting of national assessment standards for primary and secondary education

The Ministry of Education and Research (MEC) has announced the launch of the call for applications for educational institutions interested in participating in the piloting of national assessment standards for primary and secondary education. According to the institution, this stage is considered "essential” for validating and adjusting the standards before their application at the national level. The initiative is part of a broader process of school assessment reform, which aims to more clearly align student assessment with the competency-based curriculum and educational objectives assumed at the national level.

The piloting of the standards is carried out within the project "New Regulations for a Relevant Curriculum and Open Education" (RECRED), implemented by the MEC in partnership with the National Center for Curriculum and Evaluation, the Bucharest Teaching Staff House, the Buzău Teaching Staff House, the Cluj Teaching Staff House and the Olt Teaching Staff House. The RECRED project runs from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2028 and aims to ensure the continuity and coherence of the pre-university curriculum, with a focus on developing students' skills. In this context, the first stage of developing assessment standards for primary and secondary education, related to the subjects in the common core, has already been completed. According to a press release sent by the Ministry of Education and Research, the piloting of national assessment standards involves several stages and responsibilities for participating teachers. The selected teachers will take part in two online training sessions, supported by the project team, aimed at using the standards in classroom assessment. Subsequently, they will apply the national assessment standards in both current (formative) and summative assessments, including end-of-year assessments, for the classes and subjects included in the pilot. Teachers will also report student results according to the performance level descriptors and provide feedback according to the established methodology, thus contributing to the process of analyzing and validating the standards. The Ministry emphasizes that the pilot does not change the current rules on grading. "The pilot does not imply derogations from the regulations in force on grading and finalizing grades; the standards-based assessment will constitute the source of data and information necessary for the grading carried out by teachers," the MEC stated.

The call for applications is open to educational units in urban and rural areas that provide primary and/or secondary education and that express their institutional willingness to support the participation of teachers in training and piloting activities.

The Ministry draws attention to the fact that registration within the call does not automatically guarantee effective participation in the piloting. After the registration period, the project team will select participating schools based on sampling algorithms that ensure geographical representativeness, a balance between urban and rural areas, diversity in school size and profile, and coverage of the targeted subjects and grade levels. The selected teachers will be trained in February, and the actual piloting of the assessment standards will take place between March and June 2026. The education authorities believe that the results obtained from the piloting will contribute decisively to the foundation of a clearer, more coherent and more relevant assessment system for the educational path of students.