The guiding principles and procedures for pupil assessment in Portuguese compulsory education were established by the Implementing Order No. 1/2005, 5th January, with amendments introduced by the Implementing Orders No. 18/2006, 14th March and No. 5/2007, 10th January, and apply to the learning objectives and competencies defined for the various…

British educators wish to replace the dual arrangement of 16+ examinations with a single system, but desire further preparation and training before changes are implemented. (CK)

The Swedish school system comprises: (1) Pre-primary school (Forskola), typical age 1-5; (2) Preschool class in the compulsory school (Grundskola) typical age 6 (participation voluntary); (3) Compulsory school, typical age 7-16, grades 1-9, and (4) Upper secondary school, 17 programmes (4 mainly academic, 13 vocational), typical age 16-19, grades…

Materials to be used in workshops to teach language teacher trainees the communicative approach to language testing are presented. The materials were developed from a 1985 Council of Europe workshop held in York, England. They include preliminary notes for workshop organizers, an introductory "ice-breaker" activity, and six content…

The Polish school education system makes a distinction between two types of assessment: (1) Intra-school or internal assessment; and (2) External assessment. The idea of introducing external examinations into the Polish school education system emerged in 1992. This was directly inspired by study visits to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands…

Dutch secondary schools offer educational programs on four tracks, vocational and nonvocational. At the end of each program, a final examination is administered, with the test content areas determined by law, by the schools, and by the student's individual program. Assessment is by means of a written, nationally administered exam and…

The evolution of a British communicative language teaching project at the University of Leicester is chronicled. The project brought together local education agencies, examination boards, advisors, teachers, and researchers to develop three levels of graded instructional objectives across the ability range in grades 7-9 and a standardized test,…

The National Assessment Summit was designed to bring together users and producers of assessments and engage them in a discussion of unmet assessment needs and untapped assessment capacities. The meeting was truly a summit in that national foreign language organizations and associations were asked to nominate representatives to bring their…