Social and Educational Impact from the Introduction of National Exams in Greek High Schools: First Findings

In 1997 the Greek Government introduced a law by which the assessment of the students in Greek Lyceums (High Schools) changed. According to the new law the assessment of the 10th and the 11th grade students is based, for the first time, not only on their in school performance as assessed by their teachers but also on national written exams taken by all students in all subjects taught in school. The overall assessment will then be used as the only factor taken into account for entrance to higher education institutions. The new system was used for the first time in the year 1998-1999 and the first national exams for the 11th grade of all Greek High Schools took place in June 1999. In this paper we present the results of a survey that was conducted in September 1999 to assess the performance of students of the 11th grade as well as of students of the 10th grade in order to ascertain the first educational and social implications of the new system. This study is the first attempt in this direction. A comparison is also presented of the performance of students in the school year 1998-1999 to the results of the previous year 1997-1998, when no national exams were used.