Methodological Bases of Assessment Mechanisms in The General Education System

Assessment is a key mechanism for managing the quality of general education, yet traditional assessment systems mainly measure reproductive knowledge and are prone to subjectivity. The aim of this study is to substantiate the methodological bases of assessment mechanisms in the general education system by integrating measurement and test theories, the experience of international assessment programmes and empirical evidence on the learning outcomes of students in Uzbekistan. The study used theoretical analysis, comparative analysis of the definitions of measurement and testing in Western, Russian, European, Chinese and Kazakh scientific schools, historical-logical analysis of the IEA and OECD programmes and secondary analysis of Uzbekistan’s results in PIRLS 2021, TIMSS 2023 and PISA 2022. The results show that the scientific schools converge on the requirements of objectivity, validity, reliability and quantitative expression of results, while differing in the breadth of the measurement concept and in the functions they assign to testing. Uzbekistan’s students scored 437 points in PIRLS 2021, 396–443 points in TIMSS 2023 and 336–364 points in PISA 2022, i.e. 57–104 points below the IEA scale centrepoint and 108–140 points below the OECD averages, with the largest gaps in functional reading literacy and science. On this basis, a multilevel model of the assessment system is proposed that links measurement theory, test theory, international experience and the national context with the diagnostic, formative, summative and prognostic functions of assessment. The article concludes that the national assessment system should shift from reproductive grading to criterion- and competency-based diagnostics.