The International Observatory on Academic Achievement - Documentary search

File number :
CS-APE-12e

Bibliographic reference :
Mondon, P. (1984). L’évaluation du système éducatif. Dans J.P. Nioche & R. Poinsard (Éds.), L’évaluation des politiques publiques, (pp. 121-129). France : Édition Economica.

Abstract :

The purpose of this text was to illustrate the innovative and reliable nature of the research study, not to present its results. Mondon goes over the first part of the research project designed to assess the French educational system in the 1980s. Subsequently to the many studies on academic selection and grade repetition in the 1960s, it was noted that very little was known about young people's knowledge (did they know more or less than before?) or about schools as institutions that reproduce aspects of the social system such as unequal access opportunities. Along these lines, the objective of the research study presented in this text was to determine the state of young people's knowledge and know-how throughout their educational path. All school system players took part in the assessment.

Methodology
The schools in the sample were randomly selected. That way, when a school was chosen, all the students in every class participated. No classes were selected by school heads, otherwise results could have been distorted. Pre-tested exams were administered as paper-and-pencil questionnaires between 1979 and 1984 and covered several disciplines including mathematics and French. Through concern for continuity, a longitudinal dimension was added to the research project, with the subjects being monitored for a number of years following assessment. Teachers were provided with a protocol for administering the questionnaire, designed to homogenize this procedure in all classes and schools. In addition, they were asked to fill out a questionnaire on how they saw their students' chances of achievement and their perception on the usefulness of the concepts assessed and the proposed assessment.

Research Limits
In spite of everything, the author points out that there were a few limits to the research study, among which the fact that the students' oral expression was not assessed and the risk of teachers using the tools improperly.

At the time the article was written, the information gathered had been grouped by objectives but had not yet been assessed. The anticipated results were expected to enable analysts not only to make links between the students' academic achievement and environment, but also to highlight performance conditions that favoured school life, to establish achievement profiles and to compare results over several years.

Key Words :
Public Policies, Assessment, Educational System, Methodology, Equal Opportunities

Monitored Countries :
France