Since Monday and until Friday, fifth-grade students from all over France are taking the traditional annual evaluations. This year, these level tests in French and mathematics are the subject of significant controversy.
The level assessments for fifth-grade students were established in 2007. Every year, all fifth-grade students undergo these tests. One hundred questions, sixty in French and forty in mathematics. The goal? To assess the student’s knowledge to best aid their learning and inform parents, allowing them to track their child’s progress. Reading, writing, vocabulary, grammar, and spelling are the skills evaluated in French through exercises such as dictation. In mathematics, knowledge of numbers, calculation, geometry, measurements, organization, and data management are scored through exercises like problems or mental arithmetic.
Contested evaluations
Since the beginning of the week, the fifth-grade evaluations have been a subject of controversy. Why? First, the timing. For parents and teachers, January is not suitable for evaluations: “why not conduct them at the start of the school year in September, it seems more logical,” a mother exclaims. On the teachers’ side, it’s lamented that some concepts that might be mentioned in the evaluation booklets are not grasped by students in January. The online leak of the 2011 booklet did not help matters.
The 730,000 fifth-grade students are taking these tests until Friday.
