Education Council destructive for central tests of Weyts | Education

Minister Weyts has been planning for a system with Flemish, central keys for some time now. The N-VA minister wants to introduce the Flanders-wide central assessments step by step from 2024 at four moments in the school career of students. According to the minister, these tests should help to “keep an eye on the quality of education”. The system should also allow schools “to compare themselves with comparable schools” and give pupils and parents a view of the evolution of individual pupils.

But in an advice from the Flemish Education Council, the plans clash with strong criticism. The title of the advice alone is telling: “The Flemish tests tested: serious shortcomings for legal and substantive support”.

For example, the Education Council finds that the plan “abrasses the constitutional freedom of education”. The freedom of education can only be lawfully restricted if there is a legitimate aim, the measure is adequate/pertinent, proportional/proportionate and necessary.

And that’s where the shoe pinches, says the Vlor. For example, according to the Council, there is insufficient legal substantiation for the claim that the Flemish assessments will enhance the quality of education. “That creates unrealistic expectations for the educational field and society at large,” says the Vlor.

De Vlor also fears that the plan will lead to rankings of school results. Minister Weyts absolutely wants to avoid those results being made public, but the line of professional secrecy elaborated in the decree does not reassure the Vlor. She calls that track “inadequate”. “Public access to the school results will sooner or later be the result of the introduction of the Flemish tests.”

The Vlor urges a “thorough parliamentary debate” on the issue. “In that debate, a thorough consideration is needed between what has now been elaborated by decree and a high-quality alternative,” concludes the Vlor. The Education Council is not opposed to standardized tests per se. These can be “under certain conditions, an added value for education”. But the Vlor prefers “a rich test bank with various psychometrically substantiated standardized tests from which schools can make autonomous choices, taking into account their own educational approach, their own context and the specific information need for internal quality assurance”.

Minister Weyts is clearly not pleased with the advice. “We have finally succeeded in getting everyone to recognize that our quality of education is declining, but part of the field still cramps if you try to do something about it,” says the N-VA in an initial response. “A lot of things are often dragged in, while some simply disagree with the bottom line: that we want the same tests for all students in Flanders, so that we can really monitor the quality of education and intervene where necessary.”

According to Minister Weyts, the tests are an instrument that they have had in just about every other OECD country for a long time. “And they are necessary if we want to boost the quality of education again.”

Flemish MP Elisabeth Meuleman of opposition party Groen calls on the minister to take the criticism seriously and to get the basis of the tests right before launching them. “Minister Weyts presents the central tests as a showpiece, while it is becoming increasingly clear that the basis of the tests is built on quicksand. As a result, the minister again ends up in conflict with the education field, while he should be striving for cooperation. The interests of all students and teachers at our schools, but the minister completely loses sight of that,” says Meuleman.

CD&V MP Loes Vandromme also asks that Weyts not close his eyes to the comments. “No one is against tests and data that can teach us something about the quality of our education. Precisely because of the large investment, it is important to have everyone on board. This is apparent from international research, including by the OECD. Reference was also made to the need for support during the feasibility study in preparation for the Flemish tests. But this advice shows that the minister still has a lot of work to do to create greater support,” said Vandromme.