About the Flemish central assessments
The Flemish central asssessments (Vlaamse toetsen) are standardised, multi-disciplinary Flemish primary and secondary schools tests. They are drawn up centrally before being taken, evaluated and analysed digitally. For the Flemish Government, this is seen as a way of bolstering schools’ internal quality assurance, while also improving the overall quality of education. In the first instance, the tests will focus on Dutch language (reading, writing and grammar comprehension) and mathematics. Learn more about the Flemish Tests.
Project details
‘The Flemish government has not taken any chances here’, says Bert. ‘A detailed feasibility study was carried out to determine which partners would be chosen to assist with running the central assessments, with the project being split into several parts.’
‘The Dutch Central Institute for Test Development (Cito) took care of the pedagogical side of things, advising on the approach and the impact of such tests on the Flemish education landscape.’
‘We were involved in the technical and legal side of the study, working together with Timelex, a law firm specialised in IT, since when it comes to such large-scale centralised testing systems, there are a lot of legal considerations to be taken into account – with issues surrounding participant data and identity protection being particularly sensitive.’
‘During the final tender for the project, we were chosen to oversee the technical side with our online testing platform assessmentQ.’
The Flemish Government’s needs match perfectly with our platform’s standard features.
Bert Wylin, e-Assessment Expert, assessmentQ
Versatile and readily scalable
assessmentQ beat off three other candidates. ‘The Flemish Government’s needs match perfectly with our platform’s standard features’, continues Bert. ‘For example, assessmentQ is well suited to the multifaced nature of the Flemish central assessments, with adapting to different subjects, question types and age groups being no problem for the platform.’
‘The Flemish Government also have full confidence in the level of customisation we provide. They already count us as a trusted partner for the AVOHOKS doctor and dentist exams, safe in the knowledge that we fully live up to their expectations, also in terms of deadlines.’
‘Another advantage offered by our platform is that it is readily scalable. For the Flemish central assessments, our system must simultaneously process up to 70,000 tests. While, as you can imagine, this can be highly stressful and complex, assessmentQ is able to handle it without incurring any major additional costs.’
Improving quality of education
What does the introduction of the central assessments mean for schools? According to Bert, ‘on an organisational level, the impact will be minimal. Registration is secure via the new ‘LeerID’ system, providing each student with their own login details. Once logged in, the relevant tests for each school are readily displayed.’
‘Our customer will see the results very rapidly. Answers to closed questions are checked automatically, while we can also correct the answers to open questions even faster via the use of artificial intelligence. At our end, all such information is anonymised. The government is then able to collate the results and personal data, before passing it on to the schools.’
‘When it comes to pupils and teachers, the Flemish Tests will have little direct impact. The results will not be used to evaluate them or to see if the pupils “pass”. Likewise, schools will not be ranked according to their results. However, if their average scores are low, they will be given access to help and advice in improving their quality of education. This ultimately constitutes the Flemish central assessments’ primary goal, which we are happy to support by delivering tangible, objective results.’