The Ukrainian Standardized External Testing Initiative Alliance (USETI Alliance) is a three-year project (2010 - 2012) funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

USETI Alliance builds on accomplishments of previous assistance including USETI (МСС TCP), the International Renaissance Foundation, World Bank, British Councils, and others. The expected outcomes of USETI Alliance are:

-       A sustainable strengthened UCEQA capable of independently and transparently developing and implementing secure tests that meet international standards;

-       A secure legislative basis for testing and higher education admission, and an institutionalized partnership between business, higher education, and policymakers;

-       Public support for testing to ensure the sustainability of testing no matter what government comes into power, and

-       A basic high-quality test-preparation industry.

USETI's key innovation was to build a coalition of support for testing as a non-corruptible tool for admissions to HEIs, bringing together parents, educators and NGOs, who are convinced of the benefits of this merit-based approach. This coalition was bolstered by an Education Law and Policy Expert Group (ELPEG).

Members of USETI Alliance:

United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

http://ukraine.usaid.gov/

The Alliance Donor. United States Agency for International Development in the framework of MCC Ukraine Threshold Country Program has been providing assistance to standardized external testing in Ukraine since 2007 and continues to support the use of best international practices in this area through USETI Alliance as the Global Development Alliance.

Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sport of Ukraine

http://www.mon.gov.ua/

A key Partner in all projects related to the external assessment implementation. The Ministry handles administration of the KONKURS system on the level of Ukrainian HEIs and organizes operations of a call-center in the period of admissions. Implementation of external assessment as part of education system reform remains an important focus of the Ministry's activities.

Ukrainian Center for Education Quality Assessment (UCEQA)

http://www.testportal.gov.ua/

UCEQA has been in charge of carrying out the Standardized External Assessment on the national level since its foundation in 2006. UCEQA engages in workshop delivery and provision of targeted training for its staff.

American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS

http://www.americancouncilskyiv.org.ua/

The Project Coordinator. American Councils is the leader in the field of standardized testing with experience of development and administration of foreign languages external tests in the USA and Russia and in setting up national testing systems in Kirgizstan, Georgia and Ukraine. American Councils has been a long-standing partner of ETS, administering language and educational tests abroad and participating in development and administration of professional certification exams in Eurasia.

American Institutes for Research (AIR)

http://www.air.org/

AIR delivers technical assistance in test development, being the leader in test development in the United States and having supported development and implementation of national testing systems in South America, Africa, Middle East and Eastern Europe.

International Renaissance Foundation

http://www.irf.ua/

IRF provides support in delivering monitoring of test administration and admissions campaigns, contributes to the development of transparent assessment and admissions procedures, consolidation of standardized assessment in legal framework, external standardized tests reviews, supports predictive validity studies and various forms of inclusive education in order to maintain the principle of equal access to quality education. IRF is the founder of the Testing Technologies Center (2002), the first institution engaged in national standardized testing which served as a basis for setting up UCEQA, and a co-founder of TIMO Newsletter.

Fakt Publishing House (Kharkiv)

http://timo.org.ua

Fakt Publishing House facilitates test-takers' preparation for Standardized External Assessment (through publishing support materials related to subject tests, building test-prep web-based resource, assisting young people from rural locations to adequately prepare for test taking, contributing to the social web-site "Career", and other activities). Since its first publication launched in 2005, TIMO Newsletter has been the largest source of information and the platform for sharing practices in test development field.

TEMPUS Project Educational Measurement Adapted to EU Standards

http://tempus.org.ua

TEMPUS Project supports seminars and workshops for HEI academic staff and students, international conferences, and summer schools for a wide community of educators, and fosters development of syllabi and didactical materials in the field of educational measurement for HEI.

National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (NAUKMA)

http://www.ukma.kiev.ua/

NAUKMA lends technical assistance, its staff and expertise for the educational measurement and psychometrics courses for university professors and students. Since its re-opening in 1992, NAUKMA has been using standardized tests for admission purposes and disseminates innovation for test developers.

Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (LNU)

http://www.franko.lviv.ua/

LNU provides technical resources (premises, equipments), expertise (staff participation and involvement in seminars and workshops). LNU was one of the first Ukrainian universities to use standardized tests for admission purposes.

National Academy of Management (NAM)

http://www.nam.kiev.ua/

NAM contributes expertise and technical resources for organizing public events to discuss issues of standardized external assessment, and information support of the HEI admissions system. NAM is a private university and has been a supporter of standardized testing since its implementation in Ukraine. NAM was the key partner in setting up the KONKURS web-based admissions management system.

Petro Mohyla Black Sea State University (BSU)

(Mykolaiv)

http://www.kma.mk.ua/

BSU provides technical resources (premises, equipments), expertise (staff participation and involvement in seminars and workshops). BSU has been a keen user of standardized tests in admissions.

OPORA Civic Network

http://www.opora.org.ua/

OPORA focuses its efforts on fostering openness and transparency of preparation and administration of Standardized External Assessment and the HEI admissions campaign. This is the first organization in Ukraine to carry out public observation during the process of Standardized External Assessment administration.

рro.mova Expert Company

http://www.pro-mova.com/

рro.mova performs media monitoring analysis and studies of public perception of standardized testing, provides outreach to Ukrainian business sector to elicit support of testing as a key admissions mechanism. Since 2006, рro.mova has been conducting outreach activities to support testing as well as training UCEQA staff on public outreach actions.

Lviv City Public Organization - Center for Education Policy (CEP)

http://www.ednu.kiev.ua/org/CEP.htm

CEP has been co-administering and involved in elaboration of the KONKURS web-based admissions management system since 2007. CEP provides support to activities promoting public discussions of HEI admissions reform in Ukraine.

Union of HEI Rectors of Ukraine

http://www.vnz.univ.kiev.ua/

Union of HEI Rectors of Ukraine is the largest and most influential association of university leaders whose voice is critical for developing policy of using standardized assessment for admission purposes. The Union provides organizational support and conducts research activities.

Testing Center at the Ministry of Healthcare of Ukraine

http://www.moz.gov.ua/ua/portal/oth_farm.html

The Testing Center contributes expertise and consultancy on various aspects of testing, participates in the development of models to improve and analyze the results of standardized assessment implementation in Ukraine, and provides academic support in training educators in the field of educational measurement. The Testing Center at the Ministry of Healthcare of Ukraine is one of the first institutions in Ukraine to implement standardized testing mechanisms in higher education, having long-term experience in test development, psychometric analysis and scaling of test scores.

Ukrainian National Academy of Pedagogy

http://www.apsu.org.ua/

The Institute of Pedagogy at the National Academy of Pedagogy engages in research activities in the field of testing technologies and educational measurement. Representatives of UNAP participate in various activities aimed at developing policy for application of Standardized External Assessment in HEI admissions.

The Ukrainian Standardized External Testing Initiative Alliance (USETI Alliance)

Vul. Esplanadna, 20 (6-th Floor), Kyiv 01001, Ukraine

Tel.: (380 44) 289 39 52, Fax: (380 44) 289 39 21

e-mail: useti@useti.org.ua; http://www.useti.org.ua