Dragos Iliescu (BRIO): We have launched the first standardized testing system for Romania’s educational system

Newsroom 13/07/2016 | 12:22

Dragos Iliescu, founder of TestCentral, tells Business Review about the recent launch of Brio, the first standardized testing system in Romania, and the impact this platform will have on the local education system.

 Anda Sebesi

 What is Brio and what are its main advantages?

Brio is the first standardized testing system in Romania. www.brio.ro, the platform on which this system runs, facilitates the evaluation of Romanian students from the 1st to the 12th grade through objective, valid and errorless tests. These standardized tests are normalized, meaning that answers given by the participants are related to those given previously by a comparable group of similar individuals (students of the same age). Thus, the score can be understood fairly and is not dependent on the generosity or strictness of the assessor or the easiness or difficulty of the questions. In addition, the results of each Brio test are actionable. Each report shows exactly what a student does or does not know so that it is clear what they should work on to increase their performance.

How does the Brio system work?

Brio is a useful tool for parents, teachers and students. A parent or student can create an account on the site and buy testing credits, based on which they can assess their knowledge and skills as many times as they want – before major exams, each week or month, or when a topic is completed. The system allows users to configure the test that meets their needs – they can select a specific grade and even chapters from that specific grade. Each registered user has a dashboard where he or she manages his or her account easily.

What was the reason behind this initiative on the local market?

Some members of the project team were and still are involved in different international testing programs like PISA, developed by the OECD. PISA is the most extensive international evaluation in the education sector, conducted in 62 countries every year. It shows us annually the lack of measures taken to improve the local education system, proving to us how poorly Romanian students fare in reality. According to the latest data, Montenegro and Albania are the only European countries with lower scores than Romania.

But this is just one of the many other international classifications that show this truth. Brio is a private initiative that aims to change this situation by offering an assessment tool of international size to those players interested directly in education: parents and students. We believe that we need to stop waiting for the miracle worker who will solve all the problems in the Romanian education system. It is time for education to be managed also by its direct beneficiaries. All the countries that obtain higher scores at PISA have in common the existence of standardized evaluation systems like Brio. The performance of students can be managed only if it is first evaluated properly.

How do you think that Brio will improve the level of education?

Brio offers students the answer to two essential questions: what is their level of knowledge and skills and what can they do to get better results. The Brio score – a centile one, which gives each tested student his or her position at national level compared with all the other students of the same grade, is the answer to the first question. The report’s detailed results, which indicate exactly the chapters and sub-chapters on which the student needs to work more, are the answer to the second question.

Are there any rivals on the Romanian market? If so, what differentiates you from them?

There are some websites with scholastic tests in the Romanian online environment but definitely we cannot speak about competition. Brio opens a new category on the local market. First it is about the specific methodology of standardized testing, where tests are based on a psychometric model called Item Response Theory. It is the same methodology that underlies international tests like GMAT, GRE and SAT. All the questions have been experienced and adjusted carefully on representative samples of students from 1st to 12th grade. Some 60,000 children have been tested and 200,000 hours of tests have been run to calibrate the items in the four years of preparation. The math tests alone comprise over 20,000 items. This huge bank of questions allows the same student to test his or her knowledge repeatedly for the same grade, without answering a repeated question. In addition, the score shows the position of the student at national level, so it is the only method through which Romanian parents can find the real level of their kids beyond the class boundaries.

For how many students and teachers is this method available now and for what subjects can it be used?

For now, just math tests are available. The system will offer Romanian language tests by the end of 2016, while chemistry and physics tests will be available at the beginning of 2017. We had over 3,000 sign ups in the first week from launch. Brands that believe and want to invest in the future of Romania can be helpful. Through CSR projects they can promote access to the platform for students from some regions or specialized schools/high schools.

How do you think the Romanian education system will look in the future?

As health is an individual’s most important property, it remains the first condition of a functioning system. A healthy education system has the capacity to educate not just a few geniuses, but to make hundreds of thousands of students perfectly functional as adults in the current society. An objective and anticipative evaluation, like a medical one for an individual, is a vital factor here. Brio intends to support this process, with the ambition of proving that changing the educational system is achievable.

 

 

 

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