Education in Latvia’s Transition: The Challenge of Management REPORT ON EDUCATION IN LATVIA 2001/2002 Riga 2003 The Centre for Public Policy “Providus” has taken over the tradition of the Soros Foundation-Latvia (SFL) and is offering readers a new annual report on education in Latvia. The report discusses the changes in the Latvian education system over the last twelve years. Latvia has accumulated great experience in educational reform. Since January 2003 the Centre for Public Policy “Providus” has taken on education policy work while the Soros Foundation-Latvia is continuing the implementation of its bilingual education program “Open School” and the social studies program “Man in Society”. This annual report on education is the result of joint efforts by the Centre for Public Policy “Providus” and the Soros Foundation-Latvia. The individual articles reflect the views of individual authors and may not coincide with the views of “Providus” and the SFL. The respective contributors bear responsibility for the content of their articles. Education in Latvia’s Transition: The Challenge of Management REPORT ON EDUCATION IN LATVIA 2001/2002 Editors: Indra Dedze, Centre for Public Policy “Providus” Stephen Heyneman, Vanderbildt University, Tennessee, USA Guntars Catlaks, Civitas International, Brussels Created and printed by ISBN 9984-663-98-1 5 CONTENTS Introduction . 7 Chapter 1. Management of Information The Measurement of Education Quality . 10 JÇnis Egl¥tis (Association of School Leaders of Latvia) Centralized and Standardized Examinations . 24 Ilvija Vule, L¥ga Krasti¿a and Brigita Zepa (Baltic Institute of Social Sciences) Non-Graded Assessments in Primary Education . 36 L¥ga Liepi¿a (Riga City School Board, Zieme∫i District Department), Valent¥na Sni¿a (Association of Primary School Teachers of Latvia) and Valda Re˙e (Riga Secondary School of Culture) Chapter 2. Educational Administration The Educational Dimension of Regional Education Reform . 46 Inese DidÏe (Education and Youth Service, Dobele City Council) and Brigita Tivãa (Adult Education and Information Centre of Dobele City) The Social Correction System . 58 Rita N¥krence, Liene Ìbele, øina Lobanovska, Reform School “Strauti¿i” Chapter 3. Teacher Training Pre-Service Training in Higher Education . 74 Andrejs Geske, Andris Grinfelds, Andris Kangro and Juris Za˙is (University of Latvia) Aspects of Teacher Professional Development System . 88 MÇr¥te Seile (School Support Centre) Chapter 4. Higher Education Student Loans and Access to Higher Education in Latvia . 96 Rita Ka‰a Labor Market Experience of Graduates from Daugavpils University . 120 Aleksejs ·¿it¿ikovs (Soros Foundation – Latvia) The Ethnic and Gender Dimension of University Costs and Benefits . 130 Ilze Berga and MÇrti¿‰ Bïrzi¿‰ (Stockholm School of Economics in Riga) Higher Education Taxes and Property . 140 JÇnis Dzenis, Ivars LÇcis and JÇnis Stonis (University of Latvia) REPORT ON EDUCATION IN LATVIA 2001/2002 Introduction The Centre for Public Policy “Providus” has taken tions in Latvia. The respective contributors bear over the tradition of the Soros Foundation-Latvia (SFL) responsibility for the content of their articles. and is offering readers a new annual report on edu- At first the report focuses on measuring the quali- cation in Latvia. The report discusses the changes in ty of education. In what ways could the Latvian edu- the Latvian education system over the last twelve cation system be compared with that of the OECD years. Latvia has accumulated great experience in and other countries? Do the government and society reforming the education system. In the beginning the have sufficient information to be able to assess objec- reform entailed the changes in the education content tively the performance of schools? What should be and the devising of new text-books. Today’s challenge required to enable adequate and accurate description is to ensure sustainability of the positive develop- of the actual quality of education offered by a school? ments and equal access to education for all citizens. These issues are closely related with the implementa- the Soros Foundation-Latvia has taken an active role in tion of a centralized examination system in Latvia. facilitating changes in education. Over recent years the Such a system has been successfully implemented in focus has been on education policy-making process- several countries, for example, Sweden, Denmark and es, issues related to decision-taking and citizen Lithuania. However, during the implementation pro- involvement in finding solutions to educational prob- cess Latvia has faced problems well known in other lems. countries, as the higher education institutions are very Since January 2003 the Centre for Public Policy different – some are private, others are state-owned, “Providus” is dealing with the analysis of educational some implement just one study program, while oth- policy, while the Soros Foundation-Latvia is continuing ers offer tens of programs. The higher education insti- the implementation of its bilingual education program tutions offer education in specific study areas and “Open School” and the social studies program “Man fields of specialization for which the most appropriate in the Society”. This annual report on education is the students cannot be selected by means of centralized result of joint efforts by the Centre for Public Policy examinations. The prestige of study programs is very “Providus” and the Soros Foundation-Latvia. different – in some cases ten candidates compete for This collection of articles discusses issues such as one study place, while in others, especially in techni- assessment of education, teacher training, financing of cal disciplines, it is very difficult to attract students. The higher education and educational management. The higher education institutions have identified the cen- report presents the perspective of the CPP “Providus” tralized examinations whose results they will take into and the SFL on educational problems and their solu- account when selecting new students in 2004. In the REPORT ON EDUCATION IN LATVIA 2001/2002 8 majority of cases they would consider student scores of students who do not attend school is increasing. At in mathematics, foreign language and Latvian. It must present 10% of convicts are juvenile offenders. The be remembered that school graduation exams serve most common types of crime are theft and robbery. different objectives than entry exams in tertiary insti- Minors released from social correction institutions tutions: the former certify graduation from a second- often fall back to criminal practices. The report ana- ary school, while the latter serve the purpose of select- lyzes the Latvian social correction infrastructure and ing the best candidates and testing their ability to concludes that it has not changed since the Soviet meet various requirements of higher education insti- period and does not help to solve the problems of tutions in different areas. One should be aware that it minors. It has been suggested that the modern social is difficult to devise an examination system that would correction system in Latvia should provide access to meet both objectives. education to minors released from corrective institu- Several European countries have a long experience tions, since they require particular attention to enable of non-graded assessment system at the primary their social integration. school level. In Latvia the non-graded assessment sys- The collection of articles emphasizes that the tem, which has been implemented in lower primary issues related to teacher training and further educa- school, has experienced serious problems. Analysis tion have not lost their importance. Annually a large reveals that the cause of the problems is the lack of number of young teachers receive their diplomas, and clear assessment criteria, failure of parents to under- this supply could meet the demand of schools in stand the descriptive assessment of student achieve- Latvia. However, a great proportion of the graduates ments, and the fact that assessment is separated from do not seek employment in their field of specializa- the teaching/learning process. The establishment of a tion. Schools are still experiencing the lack of English, well-considered and criterion-referenced assessment informatics and natural sciences teachers, mostly in might prevent these problems. places outside Riga and other major cities. This indi- At present, while the local government administra- cates ineffectiveness of public expenditure. One of the tive territorial reform is underway, the issue of provi- reasons might be the fact that Latvian teachers are sion of high quality education to every child and educated for narrowly defined areas of specialization young person is gaining importance. Traditionally based on outdated Soviet tradition. Due to the small Latvia has had a large number of small rural schools number of university graduates entering schools, the where one teacher has on average 10 students. This implementation of the new content and teaching presents difficulties for the local governments, which approaches is placed on the shoulders of teachers have to maintain these schools, because due to the who have acquired their education some time ago declining birth-rates in some rural schools, the num- and can learn new approaches only at teacher-training ber of students has dropped to a critical level where events. There are also several external factors, which the existence of these