This study aims to assess the impact of the application of formative assessment on student success in the Republic of Kosovo and to highlight the differences in assessment between teachers and students. The research included 217 teachers and 245 students from 34 lower secondary schools, from different cities and villages of the Republic of Kosovo. Separate questionnaires were prepared for both groups, while 5-point Likert questions were used to measure the evaluation of the effects of formative assessment. The non-parametric one-sample Wilcoxon signed rank test and Mann–Whitney U test methods were used to analyse the results and test the hypothesis. The results of the Wilcoxon test with 95% confidence level show that both teachers and students evaluate positively the effects of formative assessment, while the Mann–Whitney U test results show that for particular aspects there are significant differences in assessment between these two groups for the formative assessment method.   Keywords: Formative assessment, learning outcomes, teaching practice, curriculum, non-parametric methods, Kosovo.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has a significant effect on the economic growth and development of host economies, but also on international economic integration through globalization. Particular aspects of this topic are being extensively addressed by scientific research in recent decades. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether globalization and through it the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has an impact on the economic growth (GDPgr) of the Western Balkan countries which are facing a transitional phase. The relation between FDI and economic growth has been analyzed by employing econometric models with panel data approach: linear regression with poled data, the Fixed Effects model, and the Random-Effects model (GLS). The study is based on panel data of six countries for the period between 2004-2018, obtained by the World Bank. The results of the Random Effects model (GLS) shown that lagged FDI has a significant impact on the economic growth (GDPgr) of the Western Balkans (p<0.05%), as well as gross capital formation (Cap) and government expenditure (Gov) whereas export (Ex) has been excluded from the model. The results also shown that there are significant differences in the factors influencing economic growth among countries in the region (LM Method - Breusch-Pagan test; p=0.02455 < 0.05).

This study aims at understanding the channels through which the students have become aware, the channels which they used to search for information on the schools and the key factor that pushed them to apply for a given school. Through a primary data research with n=788 respondents which are currently enrolled in VET across eight schools in Kosovo, the study has identified a critical importance of the word-of-mouth through family & relatives and friends on generating awareness for a given school and to share information on the school offering. As critical elements to take the decision to apply for the school has been considered the applicants visit directly to the school to get informed more on the offering and the desire to get equipped with the given qualification the school offers. It is important to note the impact that parents have across all the levels from brand awareness development to information search and decision making. The study provides pragmatic recommendations to school management on better optimizing their marketing efforts from a communication channel perspective, such as the importance of the open-days events of school and the usage of the social media channels (especially Facebook) to communicate their offering.