A new step in the curricular reform was achieved with the launch in public consultation of the draft Order for the approval of the national assessment standards for primary and secondary education. The document, developed within the RECRED project, proposes for the first time an explicit national curricular reference for the evaluation, by defining the expected performance levels for each specific competence in the school programs of the compulsory subjects.
The assessment standards describe the knowledge and skills a student can demonstrate for each specific competency in the school curriculum, for three levels of performance: basic, enhanced and advanced. They do not replace specific competences, but make them assessable in a clear, unified and coherent way, giving teachers tools by which grades can be objectively and transparently justified. The implementation of the standards does not involve the replacement of grades and does not change the existing grading system in pre-university education.
Documents accompanying the draft order include a presentation note and an educational policy document on performance descriptors, which underpin the application of the standards. These materials were created within the RECRED project and are consistent with the new National Curriculum Reference Framework from Romania, also a result of the same project, in accordance with the Pre-University Education Law no. 198/2023.
What test standardization entails
Starting with the 2026-2027 school year, the assessment method for primary, secondary and 9th grade students will undergo important changes, according to the decisions of the Ministry of Education, which implements the provisions of the Pre-University Education Law (Law 198/2023).
According to the new measure, teachers are obliged to award marks and qualifications based on national evaluation standards, developed for each subject in the common core, which means that the evaluation will no longer be based exclusively on the criteria set individually by each teacher, but on a unitary set of requirements valid at the national level.
The Ministry defines standardization as a “paradigm shift”, which moves to competency-based assessment, with the main aim of making assessment clearer, more comparable between schools and more oriented towards students’ actual skills.
The new standards, developed by the National Center for Curriculum and Assessment and the National Center for Technology and Dual Technology Education, set out concretely the knowledge and skills students must demonstrate in each subject and level of study.
Although the form of scoring remains unchanged, the major difference lies in basing these results on factors other than simple memorization of information.
The standards, the third regulatory component of the National Curriculum
The national assessment standards represent the third regulatory component of the National Curriculum, alongside the educational framework plans and school programs. Through this approach, an explicit national curricular reference for assessment is established, which ensures coherence between curriculum, teaching and assessment and creates the premises for a unitary, transparent and comparable assessment at national level.
The document introduces a unified framework of performance descriptors, which underpins the development of standardized assessment tools and the interpretation of student results. The standards will form the basis for the development of future national assessments.
The draft order is subject to public consultation, and all accompanying documents are available on the Ministry’s website. Reasoned opinions and proposals can be sent to the e-mail address [email protected], within the next ten calendar days from the date of publication. The approval of the order, after completing the transparency stage, represents an important moment in the implementation of the curricular reform provided for by Law no. 198/2023.
