Since the break up of the USSR, its former republics have seen the emergence and rapid expansion of an examinations industry that was, to all intents and purposes, unknown in Soviet times. New national assessment agencies have been established and been charged with, amongst other things, developing high-stakes exams to replace the diverse and…

This profile describes traditional assessment practices in Armenia--many of which are typical of those formerly practised throughout the Soviet Union--and the ongoing efforts to reform formal examinations and school-based evaluation techniques. The extraordinarily high stakes associated with the examination currently used to select applicants for…

This profile describes the key features of the assessment and examination systems of Latvia. A brief overview of the country and its education system is followed by a description of how summative assessment is conducted using a pragmatic blend of traditional school-based practices, standardized tests, and formal examinations which are centrally…

This profile describes the key features of the examination and assessment systems of Romania. It provides a snapshot taken at the end of more than a decade of major political, social and economic changes, when it is widely accepted that Romania has made significant advances in its educational reforms and that important innovations are now becoming…