Accountability in education was implemented to improve poor learning outcomes by documenting and monitoring learning achievement results. In this process, external standardized achievement tests have played a central role, being the mechanism most frequently used to measure learning outcomes. However, several decades after its initial…

The array of different philosophical positions underlying contemporary views on competence, assessment strategies and justification have led to advances in assessment science. Challenges may arise when these philosophical positions are not considered in assessment design. These can include (a) a logical incompatibility leading to varied or…

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by Section 3113 of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), requires state educational agencies (SEAs) to establish and implement standardized, statewide entrance and exit procedures for English learners (ELs). WIDA provides the English language proficiency placement and annual…

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), requires state education agencies to establish and implement standardized, statewide entrance and exit procedures for English learners (ELs). WIDA provides the English language proficiency placement and annual assessments administered in…

PISA [Programme for International Student Assessment] will be in the news again this year. The 2018 results are due to be released at the end of 2019 and they usually generate media interest. This Rangahau Whakarapopoto is a research brief which outlines things to watch out for as you think about what the results might mean.

In "How Is Testing Supposed to Improve Schooling?" Edward Haertel has proposed a framework for thinking about the mechanisms by which testing might improve the various educational processes undertaken in schools. The framework seems to the author to be quite general (he uses the word "general" here in its mathematical sense of including all cases)…

Since the passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the education system has seen immense shifts in its approach to schooling. Previously, students were taught using an extant curriculum with the instructional methods of the teachers at the school; there was little systematic modification to curriculum and methods; and the variable underlying…

The article challenges common practice in relation to resits of ignoring the main assessment results and making high-stakes decisions on the basis of resit results alone. Implications for institutions, students and educators are discussed. The proposal is that not all resits should be treated equally and that, in some circumstances, more robust…

The pressing need to improve achievement in American schools is widely recognized. In "Tests, Testing, and Genuine School Reform," Herbert J. Walberg draws on scientific studies of tests and their uses to inform citizens, educators, and policy makers about well-established principles of testing, current problems, and promising evidence-based…

Testing and data integrity on statewide assessments is defined as the establishment of a comprehensive set of policies and procedures for: (1) the proper preparation of students; (2) the management and administration of the test(s) that will lead to accurate and appropriate reporting of assessment results; and (3) maintaining the security of…

Many consider online courses to be an inferior alternative to traditional face-to-face (f2f) courses because exam cheating is thought to occur more often in online courses. This study examines how the assessment design in online courses contributes to this perception. Following a literature review, the assessment design in a sample of online…

This study demonstrates how administrative variables can alter the utility of a current MMPI test. Individual administration was significantly superior to group administration and special" administration was significantly superior to routine administration. (Author/CG)

Results of an examination given under two levels of anxiety are discussed in their assessment of relationships between trait anxiety, transitory anxiety, mood, and performance. (Author/KM)

A model is presented in which a test score is influenced by three factors: (1) the test itself, including the nature of the item tryout samples, the nature of the standardization group, the item scaling model and methods, the manner of item subset generation, logical strategies in test building, the format of questions, the test appearance, item…