The validity study of central exam scores used for placement in secondary education institutions

The purpose of this research is to collect evidence regarding the criterion validity and consequential validity of the central exam scores of secondary education institutions (OKMS) that are used for the purpose of selection, placement and making vital decisions about hundreds of thousands of students. In the quantitative dimension of the research modeled with the mixed method, in order to contribute to the feedback and the integrity of the education system and to see the spiral structure of the education curriculum system, the compliance and the validity levels of the central exam were determined to explain the relationship between the 8th and 9th grade academic achievement scores of the same students and the the data sets obtained from the raw scores of OKMS subtests. In the qualitative dimension, opinions of different participants (students, teachers, parents) were taken in the context of the consequential validity and criterion validity in order to determine how consistent this exam is with the targeted purposes and other social values and to gather information about the adverse effects of the measurement results. According to the quantitative results regarding the criterion validity of the study, the end-of-year academic success scores of the 8th and 9th grades adequately explain the OKMS subtest scores. However, although the innovations put into practice are considered partially positive by the participants subject to the research, it is striking that the last system applied, as in the general systems that have undergone frequent changes until today, did not eliminate some basic problems.