This paper is the third in a series of Analytical Insights papers, which provide accessible, up-to-date analysis of educational datasets. The insights in this paper are drawn from the latest National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) and Longitudinal Literacy and Numeracy in Australia (LLANIA) data to discuss student participation…

This paper is the first in a series of Analytical Insights papers, which provide accessible, up-to-date analysis of educational datasets. This insights paper draws on the latest National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) data to discuss student participation and engagement with the tests -- factors which impact the quality and…

This study investigated the effects of imposing task- or process-oriented reading behaviors on reading comprehension assessment performance. Students in grades 5-8 (N = 275) were randomly assigned to hear multiple-choice items read aloud before or after reading a test passage and when they were and were not allowed access to the passage while…

This article employs Rittel and Webber's "wicked" problem as a heuristic device for enhancing understanding about National Assessment Program--Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) testing in the Australian education context. Using a research project with seven independent schools in New South Wales, Australia, which analysed NAPLAN data from…

The Phonics Screening Check (PSC) was introduced in England in 2012 for Year 1 children (aged 5 and 6). There have been criticisms of the check in relation to its reliability and appropriateness as an assessment for early reading, although advocates of the check see it as a valuable tool in securing progress in early reading. This mixed methods…

This article critiques the current arrangements for the assessment and testing of English in early-years settings and primary schools in England. It is broadly supportive of the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile. It is highly critical of the Year 1 phonics check, and of the tests of reading and of grammar, punctuation and spelling at the end of…

This case study of Al-Aqsa School attempts to show that Cambridge Young Learners English Tests (YLE) may hurt learners' motivation and teaching process. The paper aims to highlight the adoption of Cambridge YLE proficiency tests and explore learners and teachers' perception of those tests. Also, providing alternative yardstick measures learners'…

Assessing the achievement of students in elementary and secondary schools and the nation's educational progress is fundamental to informing education policy approaches. Congressional interest in this area includes and extends beyond the annual assessments administered by states to comply with the educational accountability requirements of Title…

Taking commercial English language tests is becoming common practice among young English learners in Japan. With a specific focus on the "Jido Eiken" test, this study examines English language test-taking activity by analyzing textual data retrieved from three data sources. "Jido Eiken" is found to represent a complex…

This study focuses, from a bilingual perspective, on how a Swedish national test is intended to promote critical literacy and language development in line with related aims in syllabuses for Swedish and Swedish as a second language. The material consists of reading and writing assignments and prescribed classroom preparations (including…

Recent studies indicate that examiners make a number of intentional and unintentional errors when administering reading assessments to students. Because these errors introduce construct-irrelevant variance in scores, the fidelity of test administrations could influence the results of evaluation studies. To determine how assessment fidelity is…

The purpose of this classroom-based study was to discover the kinds of skill integration tasks that were employed by English teachers in Kuwait and to measure their attitudes toward implementing the skill integration technique in their classrooms. Data collection involved recording 25 hours of classroom-based observations, conducting interviews…

This paper presents a framework for conceptualizing the different ways in which instructions in experimental tasks may be misunderstood. Five possible types of misunderstandings are identified and discussed: (1) misunderstanding of a particular term in the instructions; (2) misinterpretation of a task because the instructions are difficult to…

Two studies attempted to clarify the Intellectual Tasks test assessment of number conservation by testing for two possible artifacts due to procedure: (1) Effects of preceding questions on the following test questions, and (2) operations or manipulations of the test materials by the examiner. Forty Mexican-American first and second graders were…