About USETI Alliance

 

Alliance for the development of the Ukrainian Standardized Testing Initiative

On May 31, 2010 in the offices of American Councils for International Education (ACTR/ACCELS) in Kyiv the first constituent meeting was held of a new international initiative.  The initiative is aimed at implementing external independent testing in Ukraine and is called Alliance USETI.   

 

The Global Development Alliance Ukrainian Standardized External Testing Initiative (USETI) was ratified by the United States Agency for International Development on April 8, 2010.

 

The following organizations are members of USETI Alliance:

 

United States Agency for International Development  (USAID);

 

American Institutes for Research (AIR);

 

American Councils for International Education (ACTR/ACCELS)—coordinator;

 

The Fakt Publishing House;  

 

the OPORA Civic network;

 

the company Pro.Mova;

 

the L’viv City Community Organization Center for Educational Policy (CEP);

 

the Ivan Franko National University of L’viv (LNU);

 

the Ministry of Education and Sciences of Ukraine (MoES);

 

the International Renaissance Foundation (IRF);

 

the National Academy of Management (NAM);

 

the National University Of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (NAUKMA);

 

the European Union Project Tempus IV Educational Measurement Adapted to EU Standards (Mälardalen University);

 

the Ukrainian Center for Educational Quality Assessment (UCEQA);

 

the Petro Mohyla Black Sea State University (BSU).  

 

 

The goals of USETI Alliance for 2010-2012 are:

 

1)  to strengthen the ability of the UCEQA to create valid and reliable tests and methods to administer them in accordance with international standards;

 

2) to assist in developing a normative legislative basis on which to create test materials and ensure their confidentiality;

 

3) to strengthen Ukrainian citizens’ support of reforming the admission system to establishments of higher education (HEIs);

 

4) to encourage the creation of private initiatives in the sphere of external independent testing (EIT) in Ukraine.

 

 

USETI Alliance is the Successor to the Ukrainian Standardized Testing Initiative. 

 

The Ukrainian Standardized External Testing Initiative (USETI )

2007-2010

 

The Government of Ukraine has acknowledged that corruption has become a serious impediment to the country’s economic, political and social development.  According to the 2005 Corruption Perception Index (Transparency International) Ukraine ranks 107th out of 159 countries in its control of corruption.  In an effort to address this challenge, the Government of Ukraine is implementing a Millennium Challenge Corporation (www.mcc.gov) Threshold Country Plan (TCP) with a single Strategic Objective of Reduction of Corruption in the Public Sector.  The two-year Plan contains five components of which one addresses combating corruption in higher education, through the Ukrainian Standardized External Testing Initiative (the Initiative). The United States Agency for International Development (USAID, www.usaid.gov ) acting within the Threshold Country Plan approved by the Millennium Challenge Corporation, is providing funding for the initiative.

 The TCP targets corrupt practices associated with admissions to institutions of higher education by introducing standardized external testing as a mandatory criterion for university admissions.  This process will replace the entry examinations currently administered by individual universities. The current initiative will build on the experience of domestic and international experience.

The newly created state institution, the Ukrainian Center for Educational Quality Assessment (UCEQA, www.testportal.com.ua), is responsible for developing and implementing the Government of Ukraine’s testing initiative.  The UCEQA is the primary partner and the beneficiary of the technical assistance under this Initiative. The UCEQA is working with nine regional testing centers to strengthen their capacity to perform their core functions. Plans call for a roll out of these centers to some 25 units, one in every oblast of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Standardized External Testing Initiative will be a complement to the activities supported by the GOU and by international donors to build the UCEQA’s capacity for carrying out activities connected with test development, administration, and implementation, and to institutionalize a testing system protected from corruption.

Besides reducing corruption in higher education, the Ukrainian Standardized External Testing Initiative will facilitate broader educational reform in Ukraine.

The initiative will enable training of Ukrainian professionals in independent exams and further development of the necessary testing infrastructure.

The Initiative will also enhance public involvement in the creation of a knowledge assessment system that would be reliable for every citizen.

Finally, the Ukrainian Standardized External Testing Initiative will help lay the legislative foundation for implementation of unified exams for all higher education institutions.

The USETI program consists of the following components:

1.  Collaboration with UCEQA to support test development and administration, as well as provide basic information to the university departments which deal with psychometrics. This component presupposes direct and large scale consultations by international experts.

2.   Improvement of security for all testing processes. Development of the necessary tools and procedures to prevent corruption at all levels, internally as well as externally.

3.  Development of legal and normative bases necessary for creating and protecting testing materials; sanctions for those violating testing security will be an important element of the legislative foundation.           

4.  Increase of public awareness. Timely provision of information to students, parents and educators in order to better integrate the testing process and its various participants and stakeholders.     

5.  Collaboration with the UCEQA to develop testing preparation materials and a private initiative system in this area.

6. Encouragement of the use of standardized external testing in the admission process and definition of the role of standardized external testing in the admission process. Collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, UCEQA, higher educational institutions and other governmental institutions is central to development and promulgation of relevant policies.