Monitoring Student Progress in Reading

Since the 2008–2009 school year, all students in the final grade of upper secondary education (Grade 11) take centralized final examinations, and since the 2009–2010 school year all students in the final grade of lower secondary education (Grade 9) take centralized examinations in mother tongue (language) and mathematics. As reading is a part of the language curriculum, students’ reading comprehension also is evaluated. National monitoring was implemented in 2006, 2009, 2011, and from 2013 to 2016 to assess students’ skills and abilities in the Azerbaijani language as part of the subject curriculum in Grades 4 and 6.

Teachers mainly conduct diagnostic assessments to provide individualized instruction, define teaching strategies, and, when necessary, collect information about students’ knowledge and skills. Teachers collect this information on student knowledge and skills at the beginning of the school year, when beginning new units and topics or when students have transferred from other schools or classes. The results of these assessments are recorded in official documents: formative assessment results are recorded in the formative assessment register and students’ record books and summative assessment results are recorded in the class register. Teachers perform small summative assessments upon completing units and topics in class, and consider these results when calculating semiannual grades.