EntreAssess discussed at United Nations in Geneva

News of the EntreAssess approaches to understanding what it takes to be entrepreneurial have been discussed at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva.

A few years ago UNCTAD conducted a series of Multi Year Expert Groups and developed an ‘eco system’ approach to developing policy frameworks that support entrepreneurship. Enhanced Entrepreneurship Education and Skills Development is one of 6 pillars that support the Entrepreneurship Policy Framework and Implementation Guidance, and it includes embedding entrepreneurial learning in both formal and informal learning. Of course supporting teachers and encouraging the sharing of learning is a big part of this, and it is exactly where EntreAssess can help.

Key questions in the UNCTAD policy framework ask if national curricula are being developed and if it is integrated in all disciplines. It also asks if both attitudes and enabling skills are developed, and not simply knowledge recollection – as assessed in examinations and written tests. Additional forms of assessment are clearly needed, so that a fuller picture of learner performance can be considered, and learners can be better supported as a result.

This is important, because in an ever-changing landscape, the ability to harness… breadth as well as depth of knowledge, at appropriate points in time, becomes a new goal.

One of the key points being considered by UNCTAD’s team is not the relatively easy to assess understanding of hard skills (management, financial, operational), but also what are often called soft skills, such as creativity and innovation. These skills became a central theme of UNCTAD discussions and research during 2014-15, and are now uppermost in many people’s minds when thinking about the topic.

Findings so far suggest that assessment needs to evolve, and that more supportive ways to evaluate learning that aligns effectively with teaching practices are required. The research also concluded that whilst models are being developed, they are often too complex and time consuming to be realistic options for a teacher to undertake.

Again this is where EntreAssess can help to inform and help teachers and educators across all disciplines.

Andy Penaluna, Research Director of the Centre for Creative Entrepreneurship, University of Wales Trinity Saint David 




Local Action Group Iceland: Trying out assessment methods in innovation education and entrepreneurship

During the 2016-2017 school year, INNOENT Iceland took on a project with the LEA of Borgarbyggð. The project aimed to introduce innovation education and entrepreneurship education into the school curriculum at all levels of education in the district. This includes pre-primary (ages 1-5), as well as primary and secondary schools (ages 6-16).

At project kick-off, all teachers were invited to a one-day introduction to the INNOENT education approach to innovation and entrepreneurship education. Teachers were also invited to take part in a 10 ECTS course conducted over the school year. 25 teachers took part in online training and monthly face-to-face meetings bringing theory together with praxis and reflections about the application of the methods.

Emancipatory pedagogy as underlying theory to teaching innovation and entrepreneurship

The assessment of innovation and entrepreneurship has been one of the most hindering parts of the emancipatory pedagogy that underlines the INNOENT education approach to learning. Traditional evaluation of performance, products and processes are of little use, if the aim is to enable each child to become the best possible chosen version of themselves. It is the explicit aim of emancipatory pedagogy to require each child to have an opinion about what they undertake and their own performance. It is not the purpose of teachers to tell children who they are or what they are capable of. Children must get the opportunity to develop a true understanding of themselves.

The online course covered different methods of self-evaluation and other evaluation methods. Different rubrics were introduced of which one stems from a book written in 1953 by Gerald Holmes ‘The Idiot Teacher’. The book covers the ‘Prestolee self-evaluation’ (named after Prestolee primary school in the UK) that asks children to mark desirable and undesirable qualities on a sliding scale. The children would, for example, identify if they were more inclined to be generous or greedy, be humble or show conceit. This would nudge them to contemplate their self-understanding as well as give the children the opportunity to change if they did not like where they were at.

Prestolee sliding scale self-evaluation sparks discussion at teacher level  

In Iceland, we filled in the evolution form with the teachers and kick-started a very fruitful discussion. First, our teachers wondered if the children would fully understand the Icelandic translation. Some of the words are rarely used in everyday language or in school. Related, teachers deliberated how some of the characteristics would translate into actions, for instance if a child doesn’t know what it means to show originality, how is it going to show originality in their actions in a conscious manner? Second, we discussed with the teachers if the children would be honest in their evaluation of themselves. They agreed it would depend on the age of the children as well as the environment the children were in; children would answer differently in a school environment that encourages open discussion and sharing of opinions.

Application of Prestolee self-evaluation very different in schools

Most teachers designed evaluation forms based on the Prestolee form; however, there was a big difference in how they were used. In one pre-primary school, the form was much reduced and structured around qualities that were being emphasised in the theme that the children were working on at the time: the child would situate her/himself on the sliding scale and the teacher would use recordings to show the parents and the child interviews where s/he showed the quality under review. In another school, the self-evaluation form was used in a more extensive way to introduce the language to the children.

A further education school that took a part in another project with INNOENT Iceland in spring 2017 is also developing their evaluation methods using the Prestolee forms and other methods, some partially based on the EntreComp framework. This school will be in part a follow-up project by the LEA of Borgarbyggð for the next school year.

Rosa Gunnarsdottir is principal of Icelandic project partner RG Mennt.




Asturias Local Action Group: Looking back to move forward

Our Local Action Group had its final meeting last week (13/06/2017).  Just to provide some context, this was a diverse group formed by 2 Primary school teachers, 2 Secondary school teachers and 1 VET teacher alongside 2 staff from our organisation.   Action kicked off in November 2017 and we got together every four weeks to explore, design and put to test practical methods for the assessment of the entrepreneurial competence in a real classroom setting. Inthe first place, we tried to gain a thorough understanding of what’s actually going on at schools when it comes to the assessment of this competence.   Key conclusions were duly reported in a previous blog post – but let’s just say there was plenty of room for improvement.

It needs to be highlighted that none but one of the members taught business or entrepreneurship-related subjects so it was important to come up with a more inclusive definition of the competence. Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) sounded like a good candidate to act as a proxy of the fuzzy “Turning ideas into action” definition in a non-business classroom context. We tweaked the OECD definition of CPS a little and this was our working definition of CPS:

“The capacity of an individual to effectively engage in a process whereby two or more agents attempt to identify, understand and provide solutions to an open-ended problem by sharing the understanding and effort required to come to a solution and pooling their knowledge, skills, resources and efforts to reach that solution.”

Truth be told, CPS had been on our radar for some time. Last year we mapped 2-3 behavioural indicators to each phase of the CPS process before we embarked on a (with hindsight, naive) attempt at drafting a progression model for the EE key competence across levels. (This was way before EntreComp was released.)

Shortly after, we stumbled upon an impressive and certainly inspiring body of practical knowledge into the assessment and reporting of generic skills in the VET sector in Australia, and more specifically the assessment of problem-solving (Curtis & Denton, 2003; Matters & Curtis, 2008). The assessment processes described offered a vast array of inspiring insights that informed the subsequent actions of this local partner group, mainly our decision to…

  • Adopt an approach that requires key competencies to be assessed on a selection of existing tasks in order to overcome the perceived assessment load barrier;
  • Put the focus on informing students of the key elements of generic skills and on encouraging them to analyse their use of the skill and to contemplate alternative situations in which it might be applicable which suggests the need to reinforce the ipsative and formative aspects of assessment.

Some personal insights from the teachers involved…

Carlos Hevia-Aza (Secondary School Teacher at Colegio Sagrada Familia El Pilar)

“We would have needed some more time but I’ve learned a lot. My plans are to give it a go next year with a slightly older group of students. […] From a professional perspective, getting to know different assessment approaches and contexts has been a very enriching process and it has helped a great deal in making competence-based assessment  more doable and action-oriented.”

Paz Fernández de Vera (Secondary School Teacher at IES El Batán)

“I really liked the workflow in this Local Action Group. On the positive side of things I reckon that the CPS process facilitates activity design and assessment of entrepreneurial competence. I found the Australian experience very inspiring and it has given me some important hints to improve my approach to assessment.  All the documentation, articles and summaries provided as well as the input from peers in the local action group have expanded my understanding of this difficult topic. And finally, putting the whole thing to test in the classroom and seeing students reaction has been very clarifying for me.  On the negative side, I missed some more interaction in the group and I felt being such a diverse group, which is a great thing, hindered progress at times.”

Paulina Álvarez Suarez (Primary School Teacher, CP El Parque)

“CPS informed the design of our biodiversity challenge for our 7-year old pupils. Putting them in front of a complicated rubric is out of question, but it was surprising to see how quickly they got familiar with the different phases of the CPS process. Pupils had no difficulties in relating the things they were doing with a particular phase and more importantly, when confronted with an altogether different challenge they have spontaneously started talking about CPS stages.“

This is essentially the road we traveled so far. It’s been a bumpy ride. Mental potholes, blocks and at times I even felt like I could smell it burn from our overloaded (cognitive) engines. Let us just share some achievements and shortcomings.

Key achievements

  • We designed a simple assessment protocol that may contribute to a more coherent assessment of the EE key competence across subjects and levels.
  • Each teacher designed/adapted curricular activities and assessment tools that were put to test in a real classroom setting in the 5 schools represented in the local action group.
  • The CPS process, and the fact that each stage is linked to a small set of behavioural indicators, was useful to align curricular learning outcomes, assessment tasks and teaching and learning activities across a broad range of contexts.
  • CPS provides a good scaffold for students and signals the cross-curricular aspect of the EE competence. Even the younger students seem to identify common CPS patterns in very different tasks and transfer some of the learning to new situations.

Key shortcomings

  • Contrary to our expectations, it was hard work to derive level-specific tools (e.g. rubrics) from the descriptors in the progression model. The devil is in the detail some say but in this case, over-specification hindered rather than helped the design of assessment.
  • Language used in the descriptors was also an issue but teachers did a great job in adapting and simplifying the sentences to facilitate students understanding.
  • Rubrics overshadowed the potential of other assessment tools. It seems like the level descriptors of the progression model conditioned teacher response. It may also have to do with teachers being unfamiliar with a wider range of assessment tools they can use.
  • Pilots were undertaken in May-June, so the opportunity for ipsative and formative assessment protocol was lost.
  • Pilots were isolated efforts (1 group, 1 subject) while the protocol foresees CPS process informing assessment across subjects. It would be great to engage in the process at least 2-3 teachers teaching same group of students and see how it works.

Maybe next year?

Iván Diego Rodríguez, Coordinador Programa Educación Emprendedora, Valnalon




Understanding current approaches to assessment of generic skills in Asturias

Valnalon has pioneered the promotion of entrepreneurship in the education system in Asturias (Spain). It plays a brokering role bringing together decision-makers, practitioners, researchers and other social agents such as employers and third sector organisations. It has the remit to design and implement a coherent portfolio of enterprise education projects in primary, secondary and VET under the frame of Regional Action Plan for Entrepreneurship.

Why we are part of EntreAssess

In spite of all action taking place, the assessment of the key competence ‘sense of initiative and entrepreneurship’ at school/classroom level remains as challenging as ever. This was our main reason to join the EntreAssess project.

Current approaches to assessment of generic skills in Asturias

So we started by asking ourselves what is exactly going on inside and outside the classroom during a whole school year when it comes to assessment of the entrepreneurial key competence? Is there room for manoeuvre or do teachers feel ‘handcuffed’ by curricular and administrative constraints?  

A vital first step was to understand the minimum requirements that demarcate the playing field. All the curricular documents and guidance papers consulted highlight the need to develop, assess and report upon key competences or generic skills at both individual, school and system levels.  

Local Action Group

Next we joined forces with a group of 5 teachers (Primary, Secondary and VET levels represented). This Local Action Group meets on a monthly basis and has contributed to unveiling gaps and shortcomings in assessment process. The first output is a blueprint, a visual display enabling the documentation and alignment of front-end (classroom) and back-stage (out of classroom) interactions and touch points between key stakeholders (students, teachers, Heads, families).

In short, the assessment of EE competence in its current shape and form in Asturias schools can be defined as:

  1. Jazzy… with lots of trumpet-blowing in written form but patchy and incoherent protocols (if any) in spite of endless discussions and a landslide of CPD opportunities on the assessment of key competences provided in the last decade.    
  2. Eyeball-based… largely and mostly based on teacher observation and largely oblivious to other methods such as self- or team-assessments.
  3. Post-mortem… or mostly summative, with teachers gathering together to report their observations on key competence development at the end of the school year relying almost exclusively on an impressive long-term memory to retrieve evidence for the progress made by each student during a whole academic year.

Findings and next steps

The picture that emerged was far from comforting, but the schools in our local action group are not sitting around waiting for things to change. Teachers are currently sharing some incipient measures adopted at school level as a reaction to shallow and patchy approaches to assessment currently in place. Pooling all these experiences together alongside those of our transnational partners’ may help us in transforming existing processes into a teacher-led, realistic and feasible approach to the assessment of EE competence in our schools.

Iván Diego Rodríguez, Coordinador Programa Educación Emprendedora, Valnalon




Our second newsletter is out!

We have sent our second newsletter with an update on our work and last meeting. You can also read the story of our adventure in Iceland that involves the EntreAssess team rescuing a fellow teacher who was stranded in a snow drift for hours!

Read the newsletter (in English): http://eepurl.com/cIyYVj

Sign up to our mailing list: http://eepurl.com/cruSrb




EntreComp: From a reference framework to educational practice in entrepreneurial learning

Europe needs its citizens to be entrepreneurial in all walks of life, to be able to cope with the changes that the XXI century is bringing about. Helping citizens grow their entrepreneurship competence is among the priorities of the European Commission in the area of skills development. The Entrepreneurship Competence framework (EntreComp) is one of the tangible outputs of the effort the Commission is devoting in this area. Developed by the JRC on behalf of DG Employment, Skills, Social affairs and Inclusion, the framework defines, describes and clarifies what the constituting elements of entrepreneurship as a competence are, as DigComp does for digital competence.

EntreComp adopts a broad definition of entrepreneurship, as the capacity to act upon opportunities and ideas and transform them into value for others, value that can be financial, cultural, or social. The framework breaks down this definition into 3 competence areas (Ideas and opportunities, Resources, Into Action), each being made up by 5 competences. An overview table shows at a glance how each competence develops at foundation, intermediate and advanced level. The full framework further describes a progression model with 8 levels of proficiency and establishes 442 reference learning outcomes. These state what the learners should be able to do per each competence depending on how proficient they are expected to be.

EntreComp has been designed as a reference framework – it is neither a curriculum, nor a programme and therefore it cannot be directly applied into educational practices. Public authorities, third sector organisations and private actors in Europe seeking to improve their guidance, education, training and mentoring services for young people and job seekers, to further an entrepreneurial mind-set among citizens can freely use it as reference to tailor their interventions to specific needs. Learning activities have to be designed to embed the 15 EntreComp competences, and if these need to be certified, assessment methods have to be selected.

Assessing somebody’s capacity to act upon opportunities and ideas and transform them into value for others is indeed a burning challenge. The JRC is working to design self-assessment tools for youngsters to reflect on their own entrepreneurial competence. Also, under the Erasmus+ programme, the Commission is funding an international cooperation action (this PEAT-EU project) to make advancements in assessing entrepreneurial learning. PEAT-EU brings together a pool of partners with extensive experience in entrepreneurship education and will work for two years to define what strategies, methods and tools can be used to assess learners’ progression in the development of entrepreneurship as a competence. PEAT-EU findings will help define how educators can select the most appropriate assessment strategy to cover the three competences areas described in the EntreComp, in primary, secondary and VET education. On this basis, guidelines can be developed on how to assess entrepreneurship as a competence. These in turn will be a driver for making entrepreneurial learning a reality in Education and Training systems across Europe.

Margherita Bacigalupo, Research Fellow at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission




Our first newsletter!

Our first newsletter went out following our Kick-Off meeting at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David in Swansea, Wales, UK in October 2016! You can catch up and read it here: http://eepurl.com/cpE605! We also have a translation into Spanish, which you can find here: http://eepurl.com/crwd8T.

The newsletter introduces the EntreAssess project and tells you what we did during our first meeting. Margherita Bacigalupo of the European Commission’s Joint Reasearch Centre also explains the EntreComp framework that is central to our project work.

Stay updated by signing up to our email list here for all future editions: here




What is EntreAssess?

EntreAssess, formally known as Practical Entrepreneurial Assessment Tool for Europe (PEAT-EU), is a Erasmus+ project under key action 2 – Cooperation for Innovation and the Exchange of Good Practices and especially the Strategic Partnerships in the field of Education, Training and Youth.

We are six partners in four countries – Iceland, Spain, Sweden and the UK – who develop practical assessment methods for entrepreneurship education (EE). Most of us have already worked on different European projects developing EE together before.

With this project, we want to gather knowledge and experience to develop a model of progression for assessment in entrepreneurship education across school levels. We believe that practical and easy-to-use assessment methods help to enhance students’ learning in EE and support the quality of education and outcomes in European contexts. Research shows us that teachers in EE have difficulties to identify entrepreneurial students and the Eurydice report (2016) acknowledges that assessment remains a challenge. That’s why we are collecting quality assessment methods – and they don’t just inform learners and teachers but also administrators, policy makers and society in general including parents and work-life.

Assessment in EE is a challenging area of work because it involves skills and real world connections that are not easily evaluated. Traditional assessment has been focussed on hard and measurable and comparable outcomes, at the expense of contextualised learning which is more suited for entrepreneurial education. Therefore teachers need support with their practice in EE in various ways – one important way is by having access to flexible, practical and academically-robust assessment tools!

The basic training and emphasis in EE promotes creativity and action (entrepreneurship). Through evaluation methods that are focused on competences, we can support learners to understand their own potential for creative thought and action, and teachers and facilitators can maximise their impact helping the learner progress.

EntreAssess will build on and develop results from earlier European projects and on the expertise of the partners. We draw, among other, on the work developed by the ASTEE project (Assessment Tools and Indicators for Entrepreneurship Education) and on the innovative work being carried out by the European Commission through the centralised development of EntreComp by DG Employment and the Commission’s Joint Research Centre. The focus of EntreAssess will be placed on a broad suite of practical assessment tools for classroom use.

The project runs from September 2016 to August 2018.

Svanborg R. Jonsdottir & Rebecca Weicht