Educational assessments, from kindergarden to 12th grade (K-12) to licensure, have a long, well-documented history of oppression and marginalization. In this paper, we (the authors) ask the field of educational assessment/measurement to actively disrupt the White supremacist and racist logics that fuel this marginalization and re-orient itself…

The remarkable strides in artificial intelligence (AI), exemplified by ChatGPT, have unveiled a wealth of opportunities and challenges in assessment. Applying cutting-edge large language models (LLMs) and generative AI to assessment holds great promise in boosting efficiency, mitigating bias, and facilitating customized evaluations. Conversely,…

In this article, we propose a justice-oriented, antiracist validity framework designed to disrupt assessment practices that continue to (re)produce racism through the uncritical promotion of white supremist hegemonic practices. Using anti-Blackness as illustration, we highlight the ways in which racism is introduced, or ignored, in current…

This paper highlights as issues of concern the rapid changes in technology and the tendency to report on partial validation efforts where the work is not identified as forming part of a larger validation project. With close human supervision emerging technologies can have a significant and positive impact on language testing. While technology…

Assessment makes visible what we value and reciprocally what is assessed tends to become what is taken to be of value. Building on this, it can be argued that assessment does more than measure what is present rather it 'makes up' people. This piece offers a reflective commentary some of the insights to be gained from the Research Analysis and…

We propose a new instructional theory, the Domain of Validity (DoV) Framework, which offers a new way forward for designing teaching for conceptual change, while also resolving conflicts between existing theories related to common, difficult-to-change conceptions students have about particular scientific topics. We propose that knowledge consists…

The most recent review of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in Australia titled Action Now: Classroom Ready Teachers (Craven et al. 2014) heralded the introduction of Teacher Performance Assessments (TPAs) as summative assessments of graduate profession 'readiness'. The conceptualization, research-informed design and implementation of authentic…

Teacher candidate performance assessments represent a promising source of data for evidence-based program improvement. However, teacher preparation programs (TPPs) interested in reform face a crucial question: how to identify actionable evidence in performance-assessment data. To address this concern, we propose a two-pronged empirical framework…

This article describes the development and validation of a six-scale survey to assess school climate in terms of students' perceptions of the degree to which they feel welcome and connected, together with a scale to assess students' perceptions of bullying. The development of each survey involved a multi-stage approach, including: 1) an extensive…

This election factsheet highlights the following points: (1) While the GCSE pass rate has increased since its introduction, this doesn't tell us very much about how standards have changed. Evidence from international surveys suggests that education standards have remained stable. Stopping the use of modules and limiting resits is likely to reduce…

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted education across the globe leading countries to adapt how they administer and manage high-stakes examinations and large-scale learning assessments. This thematic review describes the measures that countries have taken, in terms of policies and practices, when learning assessments are disrupted by emergencies and…

"Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education" outlined five core concepts intended to guide undergraduate biology education: 1) evolution; 2) structure and function; 3) information flow, exchange, and storage; 4) pathways and transformations of energy and matter; and 5) systems. We have taken these general recommendations and…

The inevitable responses to high stakes testing, wherein students' test scores are highly consequential for teachers and administrators, include cheating, excessive test preparation, changes in test scoring and other forms of gaming to ensure that test scores appear high. Over the last decade this has been demonstrated convincingly in the USA, but…

This symposium article, to which three authors contribute distinct parts, presents the rationale for standards-based language assessment and examines both the uses and misuses of language assessments in English-speaking countries that are engaged in standards-based education reform. Specifically, they focus on the assessment of emergent bilinguals…

America was made by and for big ideas. Insofar as big ideas have shaped it, it is ever on the verge of hyperbole and dream. Today's big ideas come with an air of celebrity and accessibility; they glitter with glamour but demand little of the Americans. While they have many manifestations, people see them epitomized in TEDTalks. TED (which stands…