The Second Workshop Training of the Geneva University’s Backstopping to ERNWACA

Date: 
1 February 2016 to 3 February 2016
City: 
Cotonou
Country: 
Benin

The Executive Secretariat of the Educational Research Network for West And Central Africa (ERNWACA) is pleased to inform you that a training workshop on development of surveys based on standardized tests will be held from 1st to 3rd February 2016 in Cotonou, Benin.

This is the second training workshop of the University of Geneva’s Backstopping to ERNWACA financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) of Benin.

Presentation:

After the significant progress in access to basic education, there is a need in most of ERNWACA member countries to implement and analyze data from standardized tests. Increasingly, the educational strategies are based on the measurement of student learning outcomes. The Workshop 2 of the Backstopping to ROCARE will focus on standardized tests and related data analysis.

Objective of the workshop:

This is to introduce researchers and practitioners of ERNWACA network to analysis of surveys based on standardized tests.

  1. Understand the theoretical and methodological foundations of these investigations.
  2. Identify substantial contributions of international comparative studies with national education policies.
  3. Discuss conceptual and methodological limitations of these investigations in the current African educational context.

Program:

The training will last three days each including a thematic focus. Each axis will be handled by one of the international experts.

Day 1 (9h-17h): The emergence of international comparative surveys and their importance in education policies (Georges Felouzis).
The PISA surveys will be at the heart of this first training day. The workshop will also focus on their potentials and limitations. One part of this first day will also be dedicated to the understanding and interpretation of the PISA results.

Day 2 (9h-17h): Impacts standardized tests on education systems (Bernard Wentzel).
Two main axes will guide this second day of the training . The first will deal with the governance of education through the learning outcomes using the examples of the Romand Institute for Research and Educational Documentation and Switzerland. The second axis will deal with the methodologies of surveys based on standardized tests and their impact on curricula.

Day 3 (9h-17h): Analysis of Educational Systems program of CONFEMEN The third day entails three presentations.
The first will deal with the PASEC experience in the development of comparative studies in Francophone Africa (missions, key findings, new approach of PASEC). The second presentation will focus on the experience of Benin to assess learning achievement (National Evaluation structure: roles, operation and production). The third presentation will be on the changes in educational policies conducive to the establishment of a national system of measurement of student achievement. This last intervention will focus on the role and importance of evaluation in the piloting of education systems and will present an inventory of national assessment institutions.

Trainers:

Pr. Georges Felouzis:
Lecturer of Sociology of education policy at the University of Geneva, the G. Felouzis research topics revolve around three main axes:
- evaluation of educational policies
- ethnic segregation in schools and its consequences
- the route of the students in the university He currently heads the Geneva Group of Educational Policy Analysis.

Pr. Bernard Wentzel:
Director of Romand Institute of Research and Educational Documentation (IRDP), B. Wentzel held positions of researcher and university trainer in France and Switzerland. His research led him to become interested in the employment of teachers and their initial training.

Technical Team of PASEC: Mr. Moussa Ounteni and Mr. Antoine Marivin
PASEC was created in 1991 by the Ministers of Education to conduct the Evaluation of Educational Achievement. It contributes to the dialogue on issues of quality of education. The program contributes to the dissemination of assessment methods and capacity building in Southern countries.