Coordinator: Csaba Csíkos

Practitioners who carry out processes of assessment in their everyday work play an essential role in the modernization of educational evaluation, as is the case when any kind of educational innovation is spread. One of the most important elements of the program is the comprehensive development of educational culture through direct interaction with practitioner teachers: constant training of the participants, systematic collection, analysis and utilization of their remarks, recommendations and feedback and their integration into the development program.

The in-service training of experts working in certain fi elds as well as of practitioners involved in the program is of high priority for the effectiveness and sustainable development of the online assessment system. The teachers in the approximately 250 schools involved in the project along with the experts in their fi elds of research provide professional training aimed at broadening the scope of knowledge of the in-service practitioners according to a three-level system:

1. On the fi rst level, every teacher in the participating schools will receive an opportunity to gain fi rsthand experience with the online diagnostic testing system along with access to extensive information on its functioning and usage.
2. The second level of training will see one representative for each content domain in every institution receive a 30-lesson, in-depth, course on mathematics and research methodology.
3. On the third level, one teacher from each participating institution will be offered the opportunity to participate in a professional training course that will provide them with special certifi cation upon completion. Beyond the immediate duties connected with diagnostic evaluation, this certifi cate course would train participants to be able to implement institutionlevel comprehensive evaluation objectives in the three main literacy domains specifi ed for the project (reading, mathematics and science).

During the project the chance for various types of personal consultation will be available to practitioners. This would be accomplished primarily through the use of information and communication technology devices as opposed to face-to-face in person consultations. Researchers, experts and professional evaluators involved in the program will become familiar with the project goals and objectives through special thematic trainings and small-group workshops led by experts. The wider professional public would be informed about the results of the project as they become available at conferences.