The Government of the Azores has established the principles and procedures to be followed in the assessment of learning skills acquired by students attending regional public and private school establishments in the elementary, middle and junior high school levels as well as their impact.
 
The measures were made public through an ordinance published today in the Official Journal. They are intended to "build a school path directed towards the effective promotion of learning and the importance of the commitment and responsibility” of students "during their educational process." These measures are also important to the emergence of a "globalising and holistic approach in the assessment of students throughout basic education," taking into account "the progress and diversity of the tools used to measure the progress of learning."
 
Furthermore, they are also in line with the regional 2010 legislation establishing the regional curriculum based "on a set of skills to be acquired by students," promoting a type of learning in context that is complementary to the regional curriculum and course syllabuses. It is rooted in the geographic, economic, social, cultural and political-administrative specificities of the Azores under an approach that is intended to be meaningful for students."
 
The ordinance now published clarifies the skills of several players in the assessment of students, following previous experiences and in compliance with the basic principles" that underpin the Integrated Plan for the Promotion of School Success - ProSucesso, Azores for Education. It strengthens the educational nature of decisions that shape the evaluation of students and endowing them with tools that predominantly promote the formative component of evaluation in the basic levels of education."
 
In this regard, it reinforces the "formative potential" of evaluation tools so that the results "may provide students and parents with sustained information on student performance, without being limited to the mere completion of syllabuses. It should mobilise teachers, students and families towards the improvement of the learning and school results."
 
The introduction of Assessment Exams for students that are not in the finishing years of basic education is in line with the measures adopted under the national framework. "Given the focus on the informative component, they should encourage a reflection on the results achieved, the identification of the strengths and weaknesses revealed, and the subsequent definition and implementation of strategies deemed necessary for a better performance."
 
The ordinance also streamlines the referral of students who have failed twice in basic education levels. This is also in line with the belief that regular education "should respond to a growing number of students," welcoming the diversity of learning profiles as well as the expectations and motivations of children and young people who "enter to the world of full and effective citizenship, which is ensured by the quality of responses and tools provided by schools."
 
Furthermore, it also clarifies the procedures to be adopted in special evaluation situations. "Under the principles of a curriculum guided by the skills of the 21st century, the certificate of completion of basic education is also open to the extracurricular activities developed by students in such diverse areas as far as the school offer allows the improvement of their school paths, including volunteering, artistic areas, culture and sports."