Iran's university admission programme at change: Policies, prospects and pitfalls from planners' perspectives

Testing-based reforms are perceived as the leverage for promoting quality of learning and teaching. However, such reform policies have failed as often as they have succeeded. As reasons for such a failure were mostly studied after implementation or at completion phase of a reform project, there remain theoretical and analytical gaps regarding exploring policy-making phase. Designed within an evaluation framework, the present study adopted a qualitative-quantitative Delphi method to examine the recent reform policies of Iran's state University Entrance Examinations (UEEs). Panelists were educational policymakers (N = 15) generating their perspectives in iteration rounds that finally identified 'a conceptual picture of consequences', 'paradigm shift towards edumetric culture', and 'ulterior challenges and problems'. Findings reveal that challenges of this change intersect with the policies that still envisage the same selection function for the UEE's alternative. This would thwart the success rate of the ideals aimed by the directing function of the new policy.