Educational Testing

Introduction: Research has asserted MCQ items using three response options (one correct answer with two distractors) is comparable to, and possibly preferable over, traditional MCQ item formats consisting of four response options (e.g., one correct answer with three distractors), or five response options (e.g., one correct answer with four distractors). Some medical educators have also adopted the practice of using 3-option responses on MCQ exams as a response to the difficulty experienced in generating additional plausible distractors. To date, however, little work has explored how 3-option responses might impact validity threats stemming from random guessing strategies, and what impact 3-option responses might have on cut-score
determinations, particularly in the context of medical education classroom assessments. The purpose of this work is to further explore these critically important considerations that largely have gone ignored in the medical education literature to this point. Methods: A cumulative binomial distribution formula was used
to calculate the probability that an examinee will answer at random a given number of items correctly on any exam (of any length). By way of a demonstration, a variety of scenarios were presented to illustrate how examination length and the number of response options impact examinees’ chances of passing a given examination, and how subsequent cut-score decisions may be impacted by these factors. Results: As a general rule, classroom assessments containing fewer items should utilize traditional 4-option or 5-option responses, whereas assessments of greater length are afforded greater flexibility in potentially utilizing 3-option responses. Conclusions: More research on items with 3-option responses is needed to better understand what value, if any, 3-option responses truly add to classroom assessments, and in what contexts potential benefits might be discernible.

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This volume was conceived as a "best practices" resource for assessment in the way that Vocabulary Myths by Keith S. Folse is one for reading and vocabulary teachers. Like others in the Myths series, this book combines research with good pedagogical practices.

The book opens with an introduction that reviews many key assessment terms and concepts.

The myths examined in this book are:

Assessment is just writing tests and using statistics.
A comprehensive final exam is the best way to evaluate students.
Scores on performance assessments are preferable because of their accuracy and authenticity.
Multiple choice tests are inaccurate measures of language but are easy to write.
We should test only one skill at a time.
A test’s validity can be determined by looking at it.
Issues of fairness are not a concern with standardized testing.
Teachers should not be involved in preparing students for tests.
Implications for teaching and an agenda for needed research are discussed in a conclusion.

This paper offers an analysis of Singapore’s Chinese language education and assessment policy. The paper is comprised of four sections. The first section outlines the structure of the paper which is followed in the second section by a general overview of Singapore’s current education and examination system. The third section, which focuses on Chinese language education and assessment in Singapore, traces briefly the historical trajectory leading to the implementation of Singapore’s bilingual policy. This section also examines the limitations of the current bilingual policy which, it is argued, entails an over-simplified reconceptualization of the state’s internally heterogeneous Chinese population as a community with one “mother tongue” paired with a single culture and set of values. The concept of “mother tongue” in the Singaporean context is problematic as it undermines the legitimacy of the bilingual policy. Further, Singapore’s bilingual policy has been accepted by the general public without critical engagement with the key issue of bilingualism itself. This paper also discusses how the underlying premise of Singapore’s bilingual policy, namely that English and Chinese assume sharply different roles in society, has broken down rapidly in recent years. These limitations, as the fourth section maintains, have implications for how the Chinese language is perceived, taught and examined in Singapore.

Keywords: bilingual policy, Chinese language education and assessment policy, language testing and assessment in Singapore, mother tongue, Singapore’s education and examination system

Psychology has many applications including psychological testing. In this paper, an attempt is made to identify the types of tests used in Ghana and discuss the problems associated with the current state of psychological testing in Ghana. It was concluded that the current state of psychological testing has been too Eurocentric and Westernized. As a result, it limits the applicability and usefulness of the tests in the Ghanaian setting. After this critical evaluation, suggestions were then made for the improving psychological testing in terms of construction of Ghana-centric tests and validation of imported tests. Though this paper focuses on Ghana, it is expected that the discussions and recommendations would equally be relevant for other non-European and non-American populations of world.

Use of a single, standardised instrument to make high-stakes decisions about test- takers is pervasive in higher education. Contrary to longstanding best practices encouraged by researchers, professional organizations, test publishers, and many accrediting bodies, however, few, if any such institutions have endeavoured to meaningfully validate the instrument(s) they use for their specific context and purposes. The current study attempted to address this void by developing and applying an argument-based validation framework for two widely adopted placement assessment methods – a standardised placement test (Accuplacer), and a locally developed and marked writing sample –utilised by a 2-year higher education institution in the Pacific.
A hybrid of two validation structures – Kane’s interpretive model and Bachman’s assessment use argument – was implemented in order to assure a balanced focus on both test score interpretation and test utilization. Various types and sources of evidence informed the study, including instrument outcomes, student course results, institutional practices and policies, test publisher data, and the opinions of stakeholders gathered via focus group interview and questionnaires.
Results are argued to provide insights regarding a number of current issues in the literature, including: i) debates regarding the relative strengths and weaknesses of standardised tests and locally developed and marked writing samples for informing placement decisions; ii) the value of locally conducted validation efforts to evaluate the performance and impact of an institution’s chosen assessment instruments, and identifying opportunities for improvement; and iii) the need for further argument-based validation studies, particularly those which attend to both test score interpretation and the long- neglected area of test utilization, to be carried out wherever assessments are used to make decisions which impact stakeholders.

“The Impossible Quiz” is actually a disguised review activity that leverages the connection between emotion and memory to focus student attention, help them remember difficult material, and provide an early warning for those students who need to review more thoroughly before the “real” exam.

As elegantly demonstrated in Albert Einstein’s quotation ‘Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted’, the assessment process in a language class could be considered a painstaking process. An instructor plays a decisive role in determining how to evaluate the knowledge assumed by their students whose learning performance is highly influenced by assessment (Struyven et al., 2005), assessment being the methodological and ‘systematic process’ of collecting information ‘about student achievement’ (Dhindsa et al., 2007, p. 1261).
The objective of the following assignment is to delineate assessment methods, to give an insight into a published test by analyzing the data gathered through testing and to produce a testing item which will be a useful tool for the instructor since it will cater for the needs of their students, thus rendering the assessment process a useful instrument for linguistic and communicative competence.

This paper focuses on a small case study in which we developed and tested a set of spreadsheets as a 'do-it-yourself' e-examination delivery and marking environment. A trial was conducted in a first-year university level class during 2017 at Monash University, Australia. The approach enabled automatic marking for selected response questions and semi-automatic marking for short text responses. The system did not require a network or servers to operate therefore minimising the reliance on complex infrastructure. We paid particular attention to the integrity of the assessment process by ensuring separation of the answer key from the response composition environment. Students undertook a practice session followed by an invigilated exam. Student's perceptions of the process were collected using pre-post surveys (n = 16) comprising qualitative comments and Likert items. The data revealed that students were satisfied with the process (4 or above on 5-point scales). Comments revealed that their experience was in part influenced by their level of computer literacy with respect to enabling skills in the subject domain. Overall the approach was found to be successful with all students successfully completing the e-exam and administrative efficiencies realised in terms of marking time saved.

Please cite as: Hillier, M. & Grant, S. (2018). Do-it-yourself e-Exams. In M. Campbell, J. Willems, C. Adachi, D. Blake, I. Doherty, S. Krishnan, S. Macfarlane, L. Ngo, M. O’Donnell, S. Palmer, L. Riddell, I. Story, H. Suri & J. Tai (Eds.), Open Oceans: Learning without borders. Proceedings ASCILITE 2018 Geelong (pp. 121-130).

Learning depends on the interaction of a gamut of cognitive, socio-cultural and emotional parameters (Resnick, 1989) and is, therefore, considered to be a very complex and strenuous process. Evidently, accurately assessing learning is an even more arduous task, especially with the aim of rendering this assessment meaningful in the learning process. In his ‘Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction’ Tyler (1949) first introduced the idea of ‘evaluation’ and shifted focus on educational assessment from the traditional paper-pen/memorizing-grading process to the testing-to-learn procedure and ‘portfolio assessment’ which would have a wash-forward effect on the students.
The ensuing assignment endeavors to outline this alternative assessment method of ‘portfolio’ with the aim of evaluating students of Secondary Education on the skill of Writing.

As part of its educational and social mission and in fulfilling the organization's non-profit Charter and Bylaws, ETS has and continues to learn from and also to lead research that furthers educational and measurement research to advance quality and equity in education and assessment for all users of the organization's products and services.

Mobile assessment (m-assessment) is a natural extension of incorporating technology into educational assessment. M-assessment is an emerging area as first known studies were published in 2005. Although it is a new area, scholars from all around the world showed interest and examined delivery and effects of m-assessment. Current scientific knowledge encompasses the use of m-assessment in various contexts including mobile environment, classroom, work based settings, informal learning settings, and distance education. Current studies also reported effects of m-assessment on student achievement and attitude as well as advantages and concerns regarding administration of m-assessment. The chapter concludes with stating future directions in four areas including extending the purpose of m-assessment, extending the context in which m-assessment can be used, improving delivery of m-assessment, and advancing research to evaluate effects of m-assessment.

Introduction: Research has asserted MCQ items using three response options (one correct answer with two distractors) is comparable to, and possibly preferable over, traditional MCQ item formats consisting of four response options (e.g., one correct answer with three distractors), or five response options (e.g., one correct answer with four distractors). Some medical educators have also adopted the practice of using 3-option responses on MCQ exams as a response to the difficulty experienced in generating additional plausible distractors. To date, however, little work has explored how 3-option responses might impact validity threats stemming from random guessing strategies, and what impact 3-option responses might have on cut-score determinations, particularly in the context of medical education classroom assessments. The purpose of this work is to further explore these critically important considerations that largely have gone ignored in the medical education literature to this point...

Le strumentazioni digitali e il mondo dell’ICT hanno già da tempo iniziato a modificare il campo della valutazione dell’istruzione e mostrano di possedere tutto il potenziale per modificarlo ulteriormente. Un aspetto di questo processo è legato alle modalità di somministrazione, più efficienti ed economiche rispetto a quelle tradizionali (Bridgeman 2009). Tra gli elementi a loro favore vi è la possibilità di ampliamento e arricchimento che riflettano meglio i domini di competenze da valutare. Vi sono costrutti cognitivi che sono difficili da valutare con i sistemi tradizionali e che sono in buona parte emersi come parte integrante dell’era digitale (Kelley, Haber 2006). Inoltre, la somministrazione di prove in modalità digitale consente di indagare meglio le interazioni dinamiche tra lo studente e il materiale di valutazione (tempi di risposta, modalità di costruzione della risposta o di risoluzione del problema). Tuttavia, oltre alla questione della "economicità" e a quelle più strettamente tecniche, il digital assessment ha aperto una serie di dibattitti molto importanti per l’immediato futuro della valutazione in campo educativo. L’utilizzo di strumentazioni e pratiche di ordine digitale nelle valutazioni di larga scala costituisce uno sviluppo progressivo delle metodologie di valutazione tradizionali oppure comporta una profonda trasformazione pedagogica del modo in cui l’istruzione e l’apprendimento verranno gestite nell’immediato futuro? Gli autori affrontano una serie di limiti e problemi cruciali che emergono con la rapida diffusione delle pratiche di valutazione digitale.

The Rise of High-Stakes Educational Testing in Denmark (1920–1970) is an attempt to determine why and how tests rose to prominence in an educational system that used to rely on qualitative tests and teacher evaluations. The study addresses the important issues of how testing interacts with and influences an educational system, and which common factors are involved in order to implement testing in an educational system. The study is based on three relatively unknown case studies – illustrious examples of high-stakes educational testing practices in the Danish public school system. The first case study discusses the sorting of children into remedial education based on standardised intelligence testing in the Frederiksberg municipality from 1930 to
1943. The second case study deals with the comprehensive testing programme conducted at the Copenhagen experimental school of Emdrupborg from 1948 to 1959. The third case study examines the testing of Greenlandic children during the preparation scheme in the Greenlandic educational system from 1961 to 1976.

Despite profound influence of selection-by-ability on children's educational opportunities, empirical evidence for the validity of 11-plus tests is scarce. This study focused on secondary selection in Kent, the largest grammar school area in England. We analysed scores from the 'Kent Test' (the 11-plus test used in Kent), Cognitive Assessment Tests (CAT4) and Key Stage 2 Standardised Assessment Tests (KS2) using longitudinal data of two year cohorts (N 1 = 95, N 2 = 99) from one primary school. All the assessment batteries provided highly overlapping information, with the decisive effect of content area (e.g. verbal vs maths) over task type (e.g. knowledge-loaded vs knowledge free). Thus, the value in differentiating 'pure' (i.e. knowledge-free) ability in 11-plus testing is questionable. KS2 and Kent Test aggregated scores overlapped very strongly, sharing nearly 80% of variance; moreover, KS2-based eligibility decisions had higher sensitivity than the Kent Test in predicting the actual admissions to grammar schools after Head Teacher Assessment (HTA) appeals have taken place. Finally, the use of multiple pass marks for each Kent Test component, as well as the total score, was found to increase the chance of false rejection. This study provides preliminary evidence that national examinations could be a good basis for selection to grammar schools; it challenges the use of complex admission rules and multiple decisions, and questions the value of 11-plus tests.

This study investigated learning assessment competence among secondary school teachers within Ibadan Metropolis. Three hundred and thirty teachers (330) were randomly selected from thirty-three secondary schools in eleven Local Government Areas of the metropolis. The ages of the respondents ranged from 25 years to 59 years with mean age and standard deviation of ages of the participants as 33.57 years and 12.34 respectively. A self-constructed School Learning Assessment Competence Scale (r = 0.82) was used to collect the data. Simple Percentage and t. test statistical procedure were adopted for the study. It was found that teachers' school learning assessment competence was low (Average score of 32.36%). There was no significant difference between school learning' assessment competence of male and female teachers (t. cal. = 1.07, df = 328 and P > 0.05). It was also found that there was no significant difference in the school learning assessment competence of teachers based on their years of experience (t. cal. = 1.13, df = 328 and P > 0.05). The results showed that there was no significant difference in the school learning assessment competence of teachers based on their levels of educational qualifications (t. cal. = 1.47, df = 328 and P > 0.05). The results were discussed and necessary recommendations were put-forward. Part of the recommendations was the necessity to formulate policies that will make it possible for teachers to be better prepared in the act of assessment of school learning and retention.

Abstract: This essay investigates the emergence of a profusion of lay and specialist
literature in the late 1950s United States advocating on behalf of “gifted”
and “academically talented” students. This call to reform schools around individual
differences in “intelligence” was associated in its moment with the Sputnik
crisis and the passage of the National Defense Education Act (NDEA). The
essay demonstrates, however, that the emergence of intensified interest in education
for the “academically talented” was actually closely coterminous with
Brown v. Board of Education and should also be understood in the context of early
efforts to desegregate the public schools. It holds that a closer look at the NDEA—
and a supporting body of literature working in tandem with it—reveals continuities
in psychometric conceptions of “intelligence” and testing from the interwar
period into the post–World War II era. This essay thus makes contributions to the
historiographies of the Cold War, civil rights, psychometrics, and education in
the 1950s.

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the region related differential item functioning (DIF) by the use of numerical reasoning test which was adapted from the research of Aye Aye Myint (1997). To obtain the required data, a total of 1802 students (905 students from selected eleven high schools from Yangon city and 897 students from selected five high schools from Pathein city) participated in this study by using the stratified random sampling technique. Survey descriptive research method was used in this study. As a result of the BILOG-MG 3 programme, it was found that Items 2, 5, 10, 13 and 22 show uniform differential item functioning (DIF). So, the items may not be an equivalent measure of the same latent variable for both groups. Among the three categories of numerical reasoning ability, the inductive reasoning ability is the highest for Myanmar high school students. The application in this study provided good information not only for the differential item functioning (DIF) analysis but also guided the direction of numerical reasoning ability test.

This essay investigates the emergence of a profusion of lay and specialist literature in the late 1950s United States advocating on behalf of "gifted" and "academically talented" students. This call to reform schools around individual differences in "intelligence" was associated in its moment with the Sputnik crisis and the passage of the National Defense Education Act (NDEA). The essay demonstrates, however, that the emergence of intensified interest in education for the "academically talented" was actually closely coterminous with Brown v. Board of Education and should also be understood in the context of early efforts to desegregate the public schools. It holds that a closer look at the NDEAand a supporting body of literature working in tandem with it-reveals continuities in psychometric conceptions of "intelligence" and testing from the interwar period into the post-World War II era. This essay thus makes contributions to the historiographies of the Cold War, civil rights, psychometrics, and education in the 1950s. M eet Barry Wichmann, from Rockwell City, Iowa: eleven years old, I.Q. 162. Though he might have looked to the casual observer like any other kid, he was, according to psychometric theory, a rare specimen, scoring in the top 0.005 percent of the population on the Stanford-Binet I.Q. scale. In April 1958, Life magazine introduced Barry and others like him to the American public in a photo essay: "The Waste of Fine Minds." Who were these gifted children? What

The Slovak teaching profession is in a difficult situation. There are signs that the country is facing a teaching staff shortage and that the demand for new teachers will continue to grow. The data indicate that some subjects are being taught by unqualified teachers on a fairly wide scale. Finding quick, simple solutions to these problems is a challenge because teaching is not considered an attractive profession, mainly because of teachers' low salaries and social status. We will illustrate related uncertainties and complications in the teaching profession by looking at two extremes of these trends in the teaching profession. On the one side, we have Teach for Slovakia, which has opened potential for new teaching qualification models. It is an example of inclusive education in the sense that it only works when differences among teachers are accepted and the focus is on teachers' strong points and professional characteristics. On the other side, the introduction of national testing has made teachers accountable for student educational outcomes. Our qualitative interviews reveal that, in the (sometimes critical) views of teachers, accountability is now part of professionalism in Slovakia and is producing various tensions.

As Widdowson (1978) states, authenticity characterizes the association a messenger and a receiver of a message have and the latter’s ‘appropriate response’ to the former. This very authentic relationship among a test and a test-taker will be examined in the current assignment through third-generation self-sufficient testing items (Morrow, 1979) from a communicative perspective, since according to Fulcher (2000) such testing items ‘re-humanize’ the assessment process.
The objective of the assignment to follow is to deliberate on the notion of authenticity and scrutinize its application on a published test integratively assessing all four skills. In this context, a formal ‘proficiency test will be presented and analyzed in terms of its being either authentic or not.

Most studies find the GRE (Graduate Record Examination) is, at best, a weak predictor of academic achievement. Still the test is widely used to make significant decisions concerning the distribution of educational resources, such as determining who gets into which graduate school programs and/or who receives financial assistance. The present study suggests GRE endures despite of its low predictive validity because it meets the political and economic needs of certain academic and business interests. The analysis concludes there is little incentive for universities to either drop or deemphasize the exam despite its predictive shortcomings.  Therefore, the GRE will remain integral to academic screening.

In this work-in-progress paper, we propose a general model, ViewPoint, for augmented-reality learning which consists of several components such as a learning design specification, a collaborative environment, an augmented reality view, physical objects and a centralised data server. The learning activities focus on the Internet-of-Things, a paradigm that utilises small networked embedded computers (which are largely unseen) to make pervasive computing applications. The core contribution of this paper is a new paradigm that we refer to as a ‘Pedagogical Virtual Machine’ that aims to extract learning related information from the underlying computers that make up the education focus. The paper describes the information architecture of the PVM explaining some of the key concepts such as data representations of hard and soft objects. The paper concludes by reviewing the main findings and discussing our future research plans.

The objectivity of standardized college admissions tests is a myth. It remains a persistent and popular myth despite its lack of empirical and theoretical support. The dominant SAT and ACT exams not only fail to achieve what they, and the institutions that require them, claim they achieve, according to a sizable body of critical research, but they do so by standing on a host of questionable assumptions about scientific objectivity and value neutrality. The objectivity myth enveloping the academic testing industry is disingenuously sustained or quietly acknowledged by the test makers themselves, government agencies, rankings services, universities, and unsuspecting test-takers. There is no objectivity; there is no neutrality. The myth that there is is misleading and ultimately counterproductive to academic improvement, distortive of college rankings, and overemphasized in admissions decisions. It is this myth of objectivity that nevertheless drives educational policies across the country and sustains a " non-profit " testing industry now worth several billions of dollars. That should change.

support and help on the project. It has been argued that in the knowledge economy, a graduate degree will become the new bachelor's degree, the minimal education credential that high-skills employers require. If that is so, then the United States is in peril of losing its competitive edge, with long-term consequences for our economy, our quality of life, and our global standing. This report examines the data behind these assertions, and proposes a set of recommendations to strengthen U.S. graduate education in partnership with industry and government. The United States' system of graduate education is a strategic national asset. Like all valuable assets, it must be attended to and nurtured in order to remain viable and strong. Other countries and regions of the world have recognized the value of graduate education as a vital component of economic development and are making investments accordingly. Europe already produces more doctorates in science and engineering than are pr...

Se desarrolla una propuesta de referencia, basada en una mirada panorámica a la política educativa actual en materia de evaluación, fundada en tres escenarios: las fuentes del pensamiento político global, regional y nacional de la actual política educativa; algunos hitos de reforma vividos en las últimos 3 décadas y, una retrospectiva sobre los momentos históricos que el tema ha tenido en la normatividad y el pensamiento legislativo colombiano; en abierta referencia a la categoría de análisis "evaluación", la cual se aborda desde una perspectiva de sistema y de fenómeno humano y social, para determinar algunas de las relaciones de complejidad mas representativas.

The training program is designed to give participants the skills & practical knowledge to gain a competitive advantage in starting / enhancing a career in software testing. Participants receive advanced training in both Manual testing and functional automation with SELENIUM. Successful completion of this program leads to placement assistance and participation in campus placements SRSS.
Pre-Requisites:
Any graduate can pursue a career in software testing.

Substantial evidence suggests that test anxiety is associated with poor memory performance. The relationship between test anxiety and metamemory, however, has remained largely unexplored. The present study examines test anxiety and metamemory from the perspective of storage selection in extended memory systems. A sample of 56 university students with scores in the upper or lower thirds of the distribution for the Test Anxiety Inventory were presented with sentences describing everyday tasks under conditions where low and high importance was attached to future remembering. For each sentence, participants indicated whether they would choose internal memory storage (neurophysiological memory) or external storage (external memory aids) to remember the information. Results showed that test-anxious participants displayed a general preference for external over internal storage, independent of the importance attached to remembering. Low estimated success of internal storage emerged as a potential reason for this preference. Implications of these findings for re¬search on test anxiety, metamemory, and storage selection in extended memory systems are discussed.

Automatic Item Generation (AIG) is the process of designing and producing items for a test, as well as generating different versions of exams that are conceptually and statistically equivalent. Automatic Item Generation tools are developed with the assistance of information systems, which make these tools very efficient. Under this aim, GenerEx, an automatic item generation tool, was developed. GenerEx is used to automatically generate different versions of the Basic Competences Exam (Excoba). Even though AIG represents a great advance for the development of psychological and educational assessment, it is a methodological challenge to obtain evidence of validity of the enormous quantity of possible items and tests generated in an automatic process. This paper has the purpose of describing an approach to analyze the internal structure and the psychometric equivalence of exams generated by GenerEx and, additionally, to describe kinds of results obtained to reach this objective. The approach is based on the process for selecting samples from the generation tool, founded on the assumption that items and exams must be psychometrically equivalent. This work includes three kinds of conceptually different and complementary analysis: the Classical Test Theory, Item Response Theory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Results show that GenerEx produces psychometrically similar exams; however there are problems in some learning areas. The methodology was useful for obtaining a description about GenerEx's psychometric functioning Reception Date

The editors and publisher of Papers in Language Testing and Assessment congratulate the winner of the 2013 Jacqueline Ross TOEFL Dissertation Award: Dr Robert Charles Johnson. Dr Johnson's dissertation is entitled Assessing the assessments: Using an argumentbased validity framework to assess the validity and use of an English placement system in a foreign language context and was supervised by Dr Mehdi Riazi at Macquarie University where it was accepted in 2011. The Jacqueline Ross TOEFL Dissertation Award, granted annually by the TOEFL Program at ETS, recognises a significant and original contribution by a doctoral dissertation to knowledge in the field of second or foreign language testing. Further information about the award can be found at

Research has asserted MCQ items using three response options (one correct answer with two distractors) is comparable to, and possibly preferable over, traditional MCQ item formats consisting of four response options (e.g., one correct answer with three distractors), or five response options (e.g., one correct answer with four distractors). Some medical educators have also adopted the practice of using 3-option responses on MCQ exams as a response to the difficulty experienced in generating additional plausible distractors. To date, however, little work has explored how 3-option responses might impact validity threats stemming from random guessing strategies, and what impact 3-option responses might have on cut-score determinations, particularly in the context of medical education classroom assessments. The purpose of this work is to further explore these critically important considerations that largely have gone ignored in the medical education literature to this point. A cumulative...

Leonardo da Vinci once eloquently quoted that ‘fine gold is recognized when it is tested’ thus divulging the immense power testing has on reforming the test-taker. This methodological procedure of gathering data, i.e. assessing an examinee (Dhindsa et al., 2007), additionally influences the test designer in creating authentic tasks which replicate real-life situations (Wilkins, 1976), integrate all skills and have an interactional stance, thus belonging to 3rd generation communicative testing (West, 2004).
The objectives of this assignment are to portray an original communicative, 3rd generation-based test with authentic texts and tasks designed to furnish students’ needs, to delineate its testing items and marking scheme and to evaluate it, taking testing principles and criteria into consideration.

This study explores the use of a different type of anchor, a midi anchor, that has a smaller spread of item difficulties than the tests to be equated, and then contrasts its use with the use of a mini anchor. The impact of different anchors on observed score equating were evaluated and compared with respect to systematic error (bias), random equating error (standard errors of equating), and total equating error (RMSE) using empirical data. The results show that the midi anchor generally produces more accurate equating results than the mini anchor-with a few exceptions. Our findings suggest that a midi anchor test would be preferred to a mini anchor test if equating accuracy at the top and at the bottom of the score scale is not a primary concern.

Background and Purpose The BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT) is designed to measure aptitude for demanding science-based study and its results are used by a number of UK and international institutions to select students to medicine, biomedical sciences and veterinary science, alongside criteria such as examination results and interviews. It is important that BMAT preparation should have positive impact on candidates’ school studies and not impose a financial barrier on accessing the test. This study aimed to investigate how students prepare for BMAT and whether differences exist by gender or school background. Methodology A questionnaire investigating BMAT preparation, including self-study and external sources of help was distributed to all 1st year undergraduates at BMAT institutions and 535 responses received (41% return rate; 56% female, 6% over age 21). UK state school students comprised almost 55% of the sample, with 35% from independent schools. Results Over 60% reported feeling quite or very well prepared for BMAT. A higher proportion of males gave this rating but no school type difference was observed. The amount of preparation provided by the school varied by school type, but not the amount or types of self-study completed. The majority of respondents used the BMAT website, specimen papers, or official preparation book. While a proportion attended commercial general preparation courses for medical entry, very few paid for specific BMAT preparation. Candidates who attended a commercial course reported doing significantly more self-study on average than those who did not. There was a positive correlation between students’ ratings of preparedness for BMAT and time spent in self-study, school preparation time, and the number of different aspects of BMAT preparation they received on commercial courses and from school. Linear regression showed that only self-study time and the number of aspects of BMAT preparation received from school significantly predicted respondents’ ratings of preparedness, suggesting that the correlation between commercial preparation and preparedness ratings is explained by its association with self-study time. Discussion and Conclusions Students’ choice of how to prepare for BMAT varies, perhaps on the basis of other characteristics related to test performance for which we cannot control. Thus, causal relationships should not be inferred from this correlational study.These findings suggest that school help and commercial courses did not replace self-study for respondents. Commercial coaching gains, while difficult to estimate in a correlational design, were not apparent. This survey showed that there are simple, low-cost, ways to prepare for BMAT that support candidates’ sense of test-readiness.

Abstract: This study responds to the Test of English as a Foreign Language [TM](TOEFL [R]) research agenda concerning the need to understand the processes and knowledge that test-takers utilize. Specifically, it investigates the strategic behaviors test-takers reported using ...

It has been argued that in the knowledge economy, a graduate degree will become the new bachelor's degree, the minimal education credential that high-skills employers require. If that is so, then the United States is in peril of losing its competitive edge, with long-term ...

The Slovak teaching profession is in a difficult situation. There are signs that the country is facing a teaching staff shortage and that the demand for new teachers will continue to grow. The data indicate that some subjects are being taught by unqualified teachers on a fairly wide scale. Finding quick, simple solutions to these problems is a challenge because teaching is not considered an attractive profession, mainly because of teachers' low salaries and social status. We will illustrate related uncertainties and complications in the teaching profession by looking at two extremes of these trends in the teaching profession. On the one side, we have Teach for Slovakia, which has opened potential for new teaching qualification models. It is an example of inclusive education in the sense that it only works when differences among teachers are accepted and the focus is on teachers' strong points and professional characteristics. On the other side, the introduction of national testing has made teachers accountable for student educational outcomes. Our qualitative interviews reveal that, in the (sometimes critical) views of teachers, accountability is now part of professionalism in Slovakia and is producing various tensions.

This mixed methods study critically reviews how the Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Ordinary-Level Chinese Language Examination (GCE 1162) examines second language reading. The main research question asks, ‘To what degree have the intended measurement objectives of the GCE 1162 reading examination been achieved?’ Four sub research questions address issues of specifications and administration, test-taker characteristics, cognitive parameters and contextual parameters.

Resources drawn on include Singapore Ministry of Education and Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board documents, specifically, examination information booklets, syllabuses, committee reports and annual reviews. Subject matter experts were appointed to analyse the reading comprehension passages and test items from 22 sets of GCE 1162 reading examination papers from 2006 to 2016. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 22 stakeholders involved in coordination, test design, item construction, marking and reviewing. The interviewees included members of an elite policy group with privileged access to test specifications and procedures. Further interviews were carried out with secondary school Chinese language teachers and students, whose perspectives are seldom considered in validation processes. Opinions were also sought from experts in the field of Chinese as a second language, reading and assessment.

The study begins with an account of the concepts of validity and reading constructs. Chapter 2 discusses the Singapore education and examination system, foregrounding the history of Chinese language education and the bilingual policy introduced in 1966. A methodology chapter follows. Chapters 4 to 8 address separately each of the four sub research questions in which claims, assumptions, supporting evidence and rebuttals are presented. The final chapter, Chapter 9, addresses a posteriori inferences, including scoring, criterion-related components, and washback and impact. A cautious conclusion is then drawn about the measurement quality of the GCE 1162 reading examination.