20. (A) Read the passage and answer the questions below: Are exams a fair means of assessment?

Testing today can be anything from a mere bureaucratic hurdle to a nerve-racking, future-determining experience for students. But for the past couple of decades there has been a growth of continuous assessment as part of the examining framework. Nowadays much of a student’s overall grades may be based on their performance in projects, essays and other assignments carried out throughout the academic year. What methods can assess students’ proficiency better and this way improve educational outcomes?

Which of the following statements are advantages of formal exams? Continuous assessment?

Which do you consider to be their downsides?

Think of other arguments for and against formal exams and continuous assessment.

• Both teachers and students are provided with ongoing feedback about students’ progress.

• There is a possible increase in both teacher and learner workload (for teachers - extensive record keeping and monitoring of individual learners are required).

• It can make stress levels get out of hand, which can stop students from performing their best. Its results can be affected by numerous random factors like unfamiliar surroundings, illness or some distractions. So it tests self-confidence or self-possession under pressure, rather than pure academic achievement.

• It is not an accurate reflection of the learner’s abilities because plagiarism has reached epidemic proportions with the advent of the internet.

• It tests theoretical knowledge and the rote memory of students.

• As it is marked anonymously, it provides some assurance against conscious or unconscious bias and prejudice on the part of a student's tutor or supervisor.

(b) Read the following texts describing the university admission systems that exist in Russia, the U.S. and the UK. What are the advantages and disadvantages of such standardized tests?

Unified State Examination

Traditionally, in Russia universities and institutes conducted their own admission tests almost regardless of the applicants' school record. In 2003 the Ministry of Education launched the Unified state examination (USE) programme. The set of standardized tests for school-leavers, issued uniformly throughout the country was supposed to replace entrance exams to state universities.

Initially, the reformers reasoned, the USE will empower talented school-leavers from remote locations to compete for admissions at the country’s leading universities – located mainly in Moscow and St. Petersburg – on more equal and transparent terms, at the same time eliminating admission-related bribery.

However, the first few years after the exam’s introduction revealed a number of serious problems, the main one being mistrust of the integrity and transparency of the USE system. Unfortunately, the corruption pervasive in Russian society has left its mark on education, too. As a result, the media and – even more so – social networks are full of scandals about buying grades, leaking exams ahead of time, manipulating lists of university applicants, and so on.

Many university heads, notably Moscow State University rector Viktor Sadovnichiy, resisted the novelty, arguing that their schools cannot survive without charging the applicants with their own entrance hurdles. Nevertheless, in 2009 the USE became mandatory for the students and the universities.

Apart from accusations of insufficient transparency and corruption, the problem with the USE is that its existing model often fails to assess the applicant’s critical thinking skills, creativity, independent thinking, etc. 

Moreover, the focus on standardized testing encourages teachers to equip students with a narrow set of skills that enhance test performance without actually fostering a deeper understanding of subject matter or key principles. The result is what is called “teaching to the test”, depriving students of the opportunity to study the most important and difficult subjects in the last year of school.