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As part of GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) reforms in England, requirements for assessing application in science increased. Setting examination questions in context facilitates testing application as students need to apply what they know and understand to a particular situation. This research explored the nature of the contexts used in reformed GCSE combined science examinations and compared contexts used in a specification which specifically emphasises contextualised learning to those in other specifications. Eight combined science specimen examination papers were selected, including four from GCSE Twenty First Century Science (21C). A qualitative coding frame was used to code each contextualised item. Various strategies for testing in context were present. Contextual features that might risk introducing construct-irrelevant variance were infrequent but may suggest areas for attention in setter training. 21C papers included a higher proportion of items with detailed contexts and a higher proportion of items set in science-related adult/professional settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has become one of the key studies for evidence-based education policymaking across the globe. PISA has however received a lot of methodological criticism, including how the test scores are created. The aim of this paper is to investigate the so-called 'conditioning model', where background variables are used to derive student achievement scores, and the impact it has upon the PISA results. This includes varying the background variables used within the conditioning model and analysing its impact upon countries relatively positions in the PISA rankings. Our key finding is that the exact specification of the conditioning model matters; cross-country comparisons of PISA scores can change depending upon the statistical methodology used.

A substantial body of research suggests that young people's emotions -- both positive and negative -- are linked to a wide range of future outcomes. This paper contributes to this literature by investigating the link between young people's positive and negative emotions and their performance in high-stakes examinations. Using Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data from England linked to the National Pupil Database (NPD), I investigate how 15-year-olds positive affect, negative affect and fear of failure is associated with the grades they achieve in high-stakes examinations. I find that low levels of positive affect -- i.e. pupils rarely feeling happy, lively and cheerful -- is associated with a 0.10-0.15 standard deviation reduction in young people's examination grades. On the other hand, little evidence is found of a substantive link between negative affect or fear of failure and examination performance.

The more recent discussion in Ireland around post-primary teachers being responsible for assessing their own students' work continues. The new junior cycle reform (covering the first three years of post-primary education) is concerned with making fundamental changes in approaches to learning, teaching, curriculum and assessment, with school-based assessment as an important element of the reform. This paper sets out to map assessment policy in a changing and contested assessment environment in the Republic of Ireland. The paper tells the story of assessment in junior cycle from the first progress report in 1999 on a review of the curriculum that had been introduced for students in the junior cycle of post-primary schools in 1989 to the 2015 "Framework for Junior Cycle". We document the intention to move away from assessment as solely a means of making summative judgements towards assessment as a support of learning and teaching.

This paper contrasts the role and approach taken by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) with that of the OECD in the conduct of their respective large-scale assessment programmes. It is argued that the differences in the approaches taken in the conduct of the respective assessments are not merely technical in nature but rather reflect fundamental differences in the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of the two assessment strategies. This examination addresses the issues raised by McGaw in an earlier paper in which he challenges some aspects of the approach taken by the IEA in the Progress in Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS). It suggests that despite suggestions to the contrary that some aspects of the PISA indicators programmes are not inherently unproblematic. (Contains 1 figure and 4 tables.)

Ensuring equal access to a broad and balanced curriculum for all students is a key component of a socially just education system. Yet in England, the freedom that 16-year-old students have to choose the GCSE subjects they study has created divisions in the pathways taken by students from different backgrounds. In 2010, a new accountability measure, the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), was introduced to encourage more disadvantaged students to study the 'core academic' GCSE subjects. This paper investigates the success of this initiative by analysing the relationship between free school meal (FSM) eligibility, studying the EBacc subjects and GCSE attainment. The findings are used to illustrate the complexities of balancing equal access to academic subjects against fair access to future opportunities, which often depend on good grades, when trying to deliver social justice in an education system that has an entrenched attainment gap.

PISA presents a new image for academic achievement, which has prompted Japanese education reforms over the past decade to innovate teaching and learning for 'PISA-style literacy'. Supported by theoretical foundations, particularly with regard to the concept of 'PISA literacy' and 'authentic assessment', these reforms have accomplished progress in the focus on higher order competencies, such as application and the development of new assessment strategies. However, more recently, various critical discussions of 'PISA literacy' are underway in the Japanese academy. They interrogate it more critically and reveal the narrow emphasis on functional application and technical operation. Current assessment practices, which tend to fall into 'criteria compliance', are in urgent need of review. There is a need to extend the critical discussions in progress to the new assessment strategies. This paper responds to this, by considering the Japanese acceptance of 'PISA literacy' and its assessment, discussing the features and limitations.

In their reactions to my paper, the four authors provide comments that are illuminating and helpful for continuing discussions of the nature and utility of quantitative, comparative, international studies of educational achievement. In this response, I comment further on the issues of test characteristics, sample design, culture and causation.

Research evidence that well-executed formative assessment raises achievement and enhances motivation and autonomy has influenced policy and practice in schools and universities in the United Kingdom. Formative assessment is also built into the aims and assessment activities of outcome-based qualifications in post-compulsory education. Behind these apparently positive developments are important questions about the nature of motivation, autonomy and achievement that formative assessment fosters. This paper draws on empirical studies of assessment practices in advanced level vocational qualifications for 16-19-year-olds in the UK. It argues that a socio cultural understanding of assessment illuminates the ways in which political concerns about engagement and participation, rather than goals of subject-based knowledge, encourage formative assessment practices that improve rates of achievement whilst encouraging instrumental and limiting forms of motivation and autonomy. This raises questions about the acceptable trade-off between achievement and education for students whose learning careers already put them at a disadvantage.

In England accountability measures have often been used to steer school behaviour in pursuit of policy goals. In 2010, the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) was introduced to increase uptake of traditional academic subjects at GCSE. These subjects, it was argued, would enhance students' future prospects, in part because they are favoured at A-level by high-ranking universities. However, such prospects are only likely to be accessible for students who achieve at least a grade C in these subjects since it is good grades that act as the primary gatekeepers for entry into higher education and employment. Hence, this paper seeks to problematise this claim using multilevel regression models to investigate the relationship between EBacc uptake and attainment. The findings are used to frame a discussion about the merits of encouraging more students to take the EBacc given the growing tension between the need to achieve good grades and the government-held view that all students should be studying this academic core.

A number of trends are converging to drive the need for more informed teacher data use. These include advocacy for formative assessment and the need for teachers to account for student learning. In this context, assessment literacy and data literacy have emerged as a focus in research and professional development. Problematically, research signals that developing assessment/data literacy is challenging with evidence that teachers may not have mastered relevant aspects of mathematics and statistics. This paper reports lecturer, student teacher and school leader views of the role and requirements of data literacy using data from a larger study into how to foster student teacher mathematical thinking for the breadth of teacher professional work. Data were generated via interviews, surveys and document analysis. Findings suggest a concern and opportunity to develop assessment/data literacy as this calls on mathematical and statistical understanding.

Proposals for a technical baccalaureate have received cross-party support in England. The technical baccalaureate is intended to deliver the necessary training to enable young people to fill the UK's skills gap in intermediate-level occupations in STEM and other sectors. This paper explores how to design and implement a high-quality technical baccalaureate and identifies some of the challenges that are likely to be encountered. We argue that the curriculum of the technical baccalaureate should aim to strike a balance between providing young people with skills needed to enter specific sectors whilst also providing a component of general academic education to help keep options open. We argue that the assessment needs to be both reliable and valid. We also suggest that hurdles--additional criteria that students must meet (e.g. must pass a maths exam)--to gain the Tech Bacc should be avoided, as should aggregating qualifications together to grade the technical baccalaureate. We conclude by discussing the challenges of implementing the technical baccalaureate, including obtaining the necessary employer engagement and provision of information advice and guidance.

In the United States, students have historically taken large-scale assessments for many different purposes. One purpose that is shared with many other countries is a desire to monitor aggregate trends in educational attainment in core subject domains such as literacy, mathematics, and science. In this commentary, the author examines testing, assessment, and educational accountability in the United States over the 14-year period from 2002 to 2016. He argues that the need for large-scale assessment designs directly informed by theories of learning have increased over this period. The reason for this is a shift in the purpose and use of educational assessments. In the past, assessments in the U.S. had been used primarily to monitor what students have learned; however in the present there is a greater desire to use them to monitor and evaluate what students are learning. This shift in emphasis, the author argues, has opened a space for learning theory to play a bigger role in not only assessment design, but in psychometric theory and practice. [This article is a commentary on Jo-Anne Baird, et al.'s "Assessment and Learning: Fields Apart" (EJ1149539).]

This paper investigates the validity of a national, standards-based teacher evaluation programme by examining the relationship between teachers' evaluation results and their students' learning progress. We used census achievement data that assessed the same cohort of students at the end of 8th and 10th grade. We applied multilevel modelling and calculated correlations between teachers' value-added estimates and their results based on the evaluation system's multiple measures of teaching quality, which include a portfolio of classroom teaching artefacts and a video-taped lesson, a peer interview, supervisor assessments and a self-assessment. Our study finds a medium-size positive relationship between value-added estimates in mathematics and teachers' portfolio results, while relationships with the other instruments are weaker. Correlations are lower for Spanish, but showing a similar pattern across instruments. We also find significant yet weak relationships between value-added estimates and three of six emerging factors of teaching practice based on the evaluation's portfolio data.

Norway has seen major changes in the field of educational assessment over the past decade, following the 2001 '"PISA shock" that stimulated reform of the entire primary and secondary education systems: new outcome-based curricula with cross-disciplinary basic skills were accompanied by major revision of assessment regulations, comprehensive government projects promoting formative assessment, national tests as a main component in a new national quality assessment system and new regulations for examinations and teacher reporting of overall achievement marks. The paper provides a historical context to the country's prohibition of formal marking in primary education and the recent tensions determining how assessment criteria should be stated and used for formative and summative purposes. It is argued that Norwegian primary and secondary education is riddled with unresolved tensions as to the role of assessment criteria and national tests, sparked by incremental implementation of assessment policies and principles accompanying the new outcomes-based curricula.

This paper describes convergent validity evidence regarding the mandatory, standards-based Chilean national teacher evaluation system (NTES). The study examined whether NTES identifies--and thereby rewards or punishes--the "right" teachers as high- or low-performing. We collected in-depth teaching performance data on a sample of 58 teachers who were evaluated by NTES as either "outstanding" (group 1) or "unsatisfactory" (group 2). The collected evidence included gains in student achievement scores, observation log data, expert ratings of a teaching materials binder, and teachers' scores on a subject and pedagogical knowledge test. The results support the validity of NTES' performance categorisations of the two extreme groups. The groups differed significantly on half of the performance indicators, and showed differences in the expected direction on the remaining indicators. We found especially strong and practically significant differences related to time on task during lessons, lesson structure, student behaviour, and student evaluation materials. We also found significant correlations between our results and the sample scores on three out of four NTES instruments. (Contains 4 notes and 2 tables.)

Summative assessments that are integrated within the daily pedagogy of teachers are problematic. Some argue that they cannot both be helpful to pedagogy and yield results that are comparable across and between schools. Others claim that there is enough evidence to show that these targets can be achieved. The project described in this paper explored how teachers might enhance their competence in summative assessment in ways which might also have a positive effect on their teaching and learning. A strategy was developed based on five key features of summative assessment practices. The findings, from a longitudinal study with 18 teachers, are based on the teachers' opinions, both about the quality of the results which they achieved, and about the positive impacts on the involvement of pupils, on collaboration between teachers, and on interaction with parents. The project involved teachers of English and mathematics in three schools, working with the authors, over two-and-a-half years. (Contains 6 notes.)

At the heart of most assessments lies a set of questions, and those who write them must achieve "two" things. Not only must they ensure that each question elicits the kind of performance that shows how "good" pupils are at the subject, but they must also ensure that each mark scheme gives more marks to those who are "better" at it. We outline a general taxonomy of mark schemes applicable across different subjects and question types, with the aim of improving the quality of marking in many different national contexts. We begin by arguing for the acceptance by all concerned of an "Importance Statement" which expresses what matters most in teaching, learning and assessing a particular subject. Based on extensive studies of exam papers in the UK, and utilising the experience of many examiners, we have developed three specific taxonomies for the kinds of mark scheme that are used with different kinds of questions. The taxonomies show how existing mark schemes vary in their effectiveness, and how they can be improved so that better performances get more marks. (Contains 7 figures.)

The OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has become one of the key studies for evidence-based education policymaking across the globe. PISA has however received a lot of methodological criticism, including how the test scores are created. The aim of this paper is to investigate the so-called 'conditioning model', where background variables are used to derive student achievement scores, and the impact it has upon the PISA results. This includes varying the background variables used within the conditioning model and analysing its impact upon countries relatively positions in the PISA rankings. Our key finding is that the exact specification of the conditioning model matters; cross-country comparisons of PISA scores can change depending upon the statistical methodology used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines a procedure measuring student competencies in numeracy using school-based assessments, and demonstrates how the procedure informs the school system on quality improvement. The sample consisted of 7648 students, attending three different types of urban schools including government, formal private and low cost private in poor informal settlements in Kenya. The numeracy tool measures six curriculum outcome areas. Each outcome area is defined by 2–11 measured items based on the emphasis given to an area in the curriculum. Within each of the outcome areas, items are also hypothesised to measure categories of the cognitive domain of learning. Using the Rasch, we examine the item difficulties, person location and differential item functioning. The paper provides important implications to provision of evidence to inform teaching in poor urban informal settlements in Kenya and this can also be replicated in other sub-Saharan African countries. Abbreviations: APHRC: African Population and Health Research Center; CTT: Classical Test Theory; DIF: Differential Item Functioning; ICC: Item Characteristics Curve; INMS: Infit Mean Square; IRT: Item Response Theory; PASEC: Programme d'Analyse des Systèmes Educatifs de la Confemen/ The Programme for the Analysis of Education Systems; QUEST: The interactive test analysis system (software); RUMM: Rasch Unidimensional Measurement Models (software); SACMEQ: Southern and Eastern African Consortium for Monitoring Education Quality; SSA: Sub-Saharan Africa [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how a standards-based form of assessment in operation in New Zealand has impacted upon the knowledge taught to secondary history students. The segmentation of history into assessable components along with assessment mechanisms which encourage the reduction in the number of standards being attempted has impacted upon both the breadth and range of historical content in history programmes. The reduction in knowledge is problematic as it diminishes learners' opportunities to draw connections between inter-related historical concepts from a wider knowledge base. Social realists have raised concerns about the reduced focus on knowledge in education and its effects in restricting students' development of conceptual knowledge which enables higher order, more abstract thinking. Experiences of standards-based assessment for history in New Zealand are indicative of this reductive phenomenon. In a culture of accountability, standards-based assessment, as enacted in New Zealand, may impede delivery of critical knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on how assessment practices are used by teachers to develop and maintain their own professional standing - how assessment works for them as professionals and the work they must do with it to be successful. Reporting on an empirical study involving interviews with 12 primary Key Stage 2 (7-11 years) teachers and using an analysis focused on teachers’ accumulation of capital through their work, the paper examines how teachers construct assessment data in particular, often carefully managed, ways. This, in turn, subjectifies both pupils and the teachers themselves in ways which create tensions in practice. The paper argues that high-stakes accountability through assessment is unlikely to be helpful in two ways: firstly, it does not actually do what teachers claim in accurately measuring pupils’ progress; secondly, that it is likely to lead to pedagogy that has negative effects on them as learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This issue of Assessment in Education follows an earlier issue on international studies of educational achievement. It concentrates on the PISA studies and brings together a number of distinguished researchers to comment on a position paper by Barry McGaw. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses various reports published within the issue including one by on the role of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in international comparative studies of achievement and another on an Anglophone perspective on cultural biases.

Comparative judgment is gaining popularity as an assessment tool, including for high-stakes testing purposes, despite relatively little research on the use of the technique. Advocates claim two main rationales for its use: that comparative judgment is valid because humans are better at comparative than absolute judgment, and because it distils the aggregate view of expert judges. We explore these contentions. We argue that the psychological underpinnings used to justify the method are superficially treated in the literature. We conceptualise and critique the notion that comparative judgment is 'intrinsically valid' due to its use of expert judges. We conclude that the rationales as presented by the comparative judgment literature are incomplete and inconsistent. We recommend that future work should clarify its position regarding the psychological underpinnings of comparative judgment, and if necessary present a more compelling case; for example, by integrating the comparative judgment literature with evidence from other fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is important for educational assessment bodies to demonstrate how they are seeking to meet the demands of validity. The approach to validity taken here assumes a ‘consequentialist’ view where the appropriacy of the inferences made on the basis of assessment results is seen as central. This paper describes the development of a systematic approach to the collection of evidence that can support claims about validity for general qualifications. An operational framework was developed drawing on Kane (2006). The framework involves a list of inferences to be justified as indicated by a number of linked validation questions. For each question various data would be gathered to provide ‘evidence for validity’ and to identify any ‘threats to validity’. The structure is designed to be accessible for operational users. This paper describes the development of the proposed framework and the types of methods to be used to gather relevant evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper analyses aspects of a Hong Kong school curriculum reform, which recommends amongst other things, a greater focus on assessment for learning. It outlines the principles of the reform as it pertains to assessment and discusses how structural changes are being employed to lend support to changes in the assessment culture in Hong Kong. The paper draws on a previous problematic attempt to introduce formative assessment through the Target-Oriented Curriculum initiative. Two examples of assessment for learning practice of 'early adopters' are used to illustrate both the potential and some of the challenges of implementation in the Hong Kong primary school context. From these cases, are drawn out some of the facilitating and inhibiting factors impinging on the implementation of assessment for learning in schools, building on a model of professional growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whilst there is evidence of significant investment in policy-led initiatives to raise attainment in schools, there is rather less evidence of the positive impact of such initiatives. In this paper we explore stakeholder views of recent initiatives in assessment in Scotland in an attempt to discern the relationships between assessment policy, research and practice in schools. Against a background of major assessment initiatives and by drawing on data from two national consultations, the paper illustrates the complexities inherent in following advice for policy developments to begin from where people are now. Finally, the paper explores the possibility of a new assessment journey for researchers, teachers and policy-makers, one which acknowledges the complex process of community-based transformational change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer-based simulations can give a more nuanced understanding of what students know and can do than traditional testing methods. These extended, integrated tasks, however, introduce particular problems, including producing an overwhelming amount of data, multidimensionality, and local dependence. In this paper, we describe an approach to understanding the data from complex performances based on Evidence-Centred Design (ECD), a methodology for devising assessments and for using the evidence observed in complex student performances to make inferences about proficiency. We use as an illustration the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Problem Solving in Technology-Rich Environments Study, which is being conducted to exemplify how non-traditional skills might be assessed in a sample-based national survey. The paper focuses on the inferential uses of Evidence-Centred Design, especially how features are extracted from student performance, how these extractions are evaluated, and how the evaluations are accumulated to make evaluative judgements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can the quality of students' work be improved through training in self- assessment practices? This paper considers the impact of training high school students on their performance in external examinations. Teachers were selected from a sample of high schools and trained in how to develop students' self-assessment skills. Ten high schools representative of the top, middle and bottom levels of academic achievement in national examinations were chosen and students trained in self-assessment by their normal class teachers as part of their final year curriculum. An experimental group comprising 256 participants received formal training in self-assessment skills for the entire three terms of the academic year. A control group was selected from matched classes not receiving such training. A significant difference favouring those trained in self-assessment was found overall and in each curriculum area. While it is demonstrated that self-assessment training can have an impact on student performance the paper considers the circumstances of the study and whether similar outcomes might be possible in less favourable conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PISA presents a new image for academic achievement, which has prompted Japanese education reforms over the past decade to innovate teaching and learning for 'PISA-style literacy'. Supported by theoretical foundations, particularly with regard to the concept of 'PISA literacy' and 'authentic assessment', these reforms have accomplished progress in the focus on higher order competencies, such as application and the development of new assessment strategies. However, more recently, various critical discussions of 'PISA literacy' are underway in the Japanese academy. They interrogate it more critically and reveal the narrow emphasis on functional application and technical operation. Current assessment practices, which tend to fall into 'criteria compliance', are in urgent need of review. There is a need to extend the critical discussions in progress to the new assessment strategies. This paper responds to this, by considering the Japanese acceptance of 'PISA literacy' and its assessment, discussing the features and limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While formative assessment is popular, it is difficult to evaluate and improve. In some settings, it may actually reduce disciplinary learning by competing with other more productive activities, making those activities less engaging, and narrowing curricular goals. Situative approaches to educational assessment offer a solution by (a) blurring the distinction between instruction and assessment, (b) moving beyond the intendedpurposesof assessment to focus on actualfunctionsand (c) using the same assessment to accomplish multiple functions. Framing instruction, assessment and testing as primarily social practices and placing them on a continuum of assessment formality offers a coherent framework for aligning learning across different assessments and balancing functions within particular assessments. This paper introduces an approach calledParticipatory Assessmentthat has been used successfully to enhance (a) communal engagement, (b) individual knowledge and (c) aggregated achievement of standards, while (d) providing valid evidence of those refinements. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper contrasts the role and approach taken by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) with that of the OECD in the conduct of their respective large-scale assessment programmes. It is argued that the differences in the approaches taken in the conduct of the respective assessments are not merely technical in nature but rather reflect fundamental differences in the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of the two assessment strategies. This examination addresses the issues raised by McGaw in an earlier paper in which he challenges some aspects of the approach taken by the IEA in the Progress in Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS). It suggests that despite suggestions to the contrary that some aspects of the PISA indicators programmes are not inherently unproblematic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of an experimental evaluation of a change in assessment practice in one comprehensive secondary school. The school divided 104 Year 7 pupils into four mixed-ability teaching groups. One of these was given enhanced formative feedback on their work for one year, but no marks or grades. The other three groups were given marks and grades with minimal comments, which was the usual prior practice in this school (and many others). Using data derived from assessment, prior attainment, pupil attitudes and background information, we conducted a contextualized analysis of progress in the four teaching groups for all subjects. This showed that progress in the treatment group (formative feedback only) was substantially inferior to that of the other three groups. In this paper, we also use data from observation of the process and from group interviews with the students involved, to help explain these results. Our findings are relevant to a consideration of the often lessened impact of research findings when 'rolled' out into wider practice, and what may be done about this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated two research questions: which students are more likely to respond inconsistently to mixed-worded questionnaire scales, and which country samples have larger shares of inconsistent respondents? We defined an inconsistent response as strongly agreeing or disagreeing with both positively and negatively worded items of the same scale. Since we assumed that inconsistent responding occurs due to a lack of carefulness, reading, or cognitive skills, we expected to find that inconsistent responding was associated with lower achievement, younger age, being a nonnative speaker, and being a boy. We used data from all 38 countries that participated in the fourth- and eighth-grade assessments of TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) 2019. Using the mean absolute difference method, we identified shares of 1‒21% inconsistent respondents across samples. The results generally supported our hypotheses, especially the hypothesis that inconsistent responding is more common among students and countries with lower mathematics achievement levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-assessment is a widely explored topic in educational research. However, more research is needed on some of the self-assessment practices and their relationship with academic performance. This study aims to fill the research gap by analysing students' self-assessment training, what type of self-assessment processes they report, and how they use feedback when self-assessing. These were explored through interviews with 65 secondary education and 122 university students. Participants reported (1) to self-assess frequently, (2) to prefer different feedback sources with secondary education participants preferring learning materials over agents, (3) to use different self-assessment processes with higher education participants using more advanced strategies and a wider variety of criteria, (4) to enact different self-assessment processes depending on the task characteristics, and (5) there were differences between reported vs. performed self-assessment processes. Our results lead to more insight into the self-assessment experiences and emphasise the need to strengthen self-assessment practices in the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Editorial. Focuses on assessment issues in education in Great Britain. Challenges about educational assessment; Role of cultural context in academic achievement; Problems in higher education.

This paper describes convergent validity evidence regarding the mandatory, standards-based Chilean national teacher evaluation system (NTES). The study examined whether NTES identifies - and thereby rewards or punishes - the 'right' teachers as high- or low-performing. We collected in-depth teaching performance data on a sample of 58 teachers who were evaluated by NTES as either 'outstanding' (group 1) or 'unsatisfactory' (group 2). The collected evidence included gains in student achievement scores, observation log data, expert ratings of a teaching materials binder, and teachers' scores on a subject and pedagogical knowledge test. The results support the validity of NTES' performance categorisations of the two extreme groups. The groups differed significantly on half of the performance indicators, and showed differences in the expected direction on the remaining indicators. We found especially strong and practically significant differences related to time on task during lessons, lesson structure, student behaviour, and student evaluation materials. We also found significant correlations between our results and the sample scores on three out of four NTES instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to critically evaluate value-added accountability measures currently enacted in the United States at the federal and state levels to assess teacher preparation programme (TPP) effectiveness. We draw on Newton and Shaw’s framework for the evaluation of testing policy to evaluate the technical quality and social acceptability of using K-12 student test scores to assess TPP effectiveness. Through six guiding questions, we examine the assumptions and arguments that support value-added assessment, culminating in overall judgments about the acceptability of implementing (or continuing to implement) the testing policy. Findings suggest policy-makers may have more pragmatic concerns about the efficiency of value-added assessment, while TPPs may have more theoretical concerns about the validity of value-added assessment. The relevance of this evaluation approach to improving policy-related decision-making will also be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of standardised English Language Proficiency (ELP) tests as a tool for assessing students' English competence for graduation is becoming more and more common in higher education in Taiwan. This paper focuses on university undergraduate students and uses data from a questionnaire survey to investigate their views of the application of standardised ELP tests as the graduation benchmark. The results of this study show that standardised ELP tests are viewed as insufficient to reflect what is learnt and taught in a foreign language classroom and likely to make English instruction become test-driven. The researchers conclude that the adoption of standardised ELP tests as an assessment tool should be determined on the basis of students' English competence and learning situations, and implemented in the context of overall curriculum planning and needs analysis. While finding that standardised ELP tests may place much pressure on students' English learning, the researchers also conclude that motivation rather than pressure is the key to determining whether the new assessment policy of the graduation benchmark requirement can succeed in promoting the quality of foreign language education in the institutions of higher education in Taiwan. The researchers suggest that standardised ELP tests should become an optional assessment tool to encourage more and more students to take them voluntarily for graduation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores gender differential performance in 'gifted and talented' 9- and 13-year-olds in a mathematics assessment in England. Boys' and girls' attitudes to mathematics and their views about which gender is better at mathematics are also considered. The study employs the use of a matched sample of boys and girls so that school, age and previous achievement in mathematics can be controlled whilst exploring performance on World Class Test items. The main result of this research was that there was no significant gender difference in performance for the 9- or the 13-year-olds. However, attitudinal differences were found, including a seemingly commonly held stereotypical view of mathematics as a boys' subject. These results are important since the uptake of higher level mathematically-based courses by girls is poor. Further findings reveal that where 'gifted' girls perform as well as 'gifted' boys, their confidence in the subject is lower than their performance might suggest. This work is also discussed in the light of related research findings and in relation to stereotype threat theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the background and findings of a research project on school effectiveness and evaluation in one regional education authority in China. The study was the outcome of a China/UK academic link aiming to improve research capacity and the evaluation of educational quality in China, funded by the British Council in Beijing, on behalf of the UK Department for International Development (DFID). With reference to the Chinese context, the paper also provides an overview and critique of relevant school effectiveness and school evaluation research, as well as approaches to assessing pupils’ educational outcomes in China. In line with previous research in other country contexts, the findings of the study showed that significant differences in ‘value added’ measures of school effectiveness appear to exist between senior secondary schools in China, and also that some schools are differentially effective (i.e., more effective in one academic subject than another). Recommendations are outlined in terms of how the results could be used to enhance school self‐evaluation and the findings are also discussed in relation to the future quality in education research agenda in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers alternative assessment, feedback and cybernetics. For more than 30 years, debates about the bi-polarity of formative and summative assessment have served as surrogates for discussions about the workings of the mind, the social implications of assessment and, as important, the role of instruction in the advancement of learning. Currently, alternative assessment lives uneasily with its classical counterpart. Classical test theory—and its conception of the summative value of the true score—came from behaviourist learning theories developed in the first three decades of the twentieth century. Formative assessment, with its conceptions of feedback and development, had a different origin. It arose from cognitive and constructivist theories of learning that emerged in the 1930s and 1940s. This paper identifies the tensions that underpin this uneasy coexistence. It suggests that different conceptions of mind lie behind these tensions and, to mark the autonomy and integrity of formative assessment, it offers an alternative, univalent descriptor: 'constructivist assessment'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While it is generally acknowledged that increased use of formative assessment (or assessment for learning) leads to higher quality learning, it is often claimed that the pressure in schools to improve the results achieved by students in externally-set tests and examinations precludes its use. This paper reports on the achievement of secondary school students who worked in classrooms where teachers made time to develop formative assessment strategies. A total of 24 teachers (2 science and 2 mathematics teachers, in each of six schools in two LEAs) were supported over a six-month period in exploring and planning their approach to formative assessment, and then, beginning in September 1999, the teachers put these plans into action with selected classes. In order to compute effect sizes, a measure of prior attainment and at least one comparison group was established for each class (typically either an equivalent class taught in the previous year by the same teacher, or a parallel class taught by another teacher). The mean effect size in favour of the intervention was 0.32. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the considerable increase in the 1990s in the number of countries involved in national and international assessments of the achievements of pupils in their education systems. While participation in international comparative studies is largely confined to industrialised countries, many developing countries have carried out national assessments in the last 10 years. Growth in the use of assessment at the system level in the context of factors associated with globalisation (e.g. a utilitarian view of education, the need to develop human capital, concern for performance/results and the use of standard procedures and advanced technology) is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the existence of a gender gap between two methods of grading student achievement in Spain, namely teachers' assessment which measures cognitive outcomes and standardised test scores, which are consistent across Spanish schools. We use rich census information of Andalusian students attending secondary schools. Our results indicate that overall teachers' assessment favours girls compared to the result of standardised test scores in reading and maths. On average, girls obtain 0.35 points more than boys in teacher's assessment on a 1 to 10 scale (0.15 SD), conditional on both having the same competencies. Additionally, we have found that the gender gap is stable across different levels of students' own ability and peers' ability. These results are robust to a set of census social characteristics. The presence of grading disparities suggests that test scores could complement teachers' assessment; specifically, they could be used to inform about the gender gap in assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, large-scale testing in Japan faces conflicting requirements derived from principles of education on the one hand, and measurement, on the other. Issues of affective ambivalence towards tests (i.e. test aversion and dependence) are also observed. The seemingly conflicting government discussions regarding the national assessment of academic achievement at primary and middle schools, and reforms to university entrance examinations, are discussed here in terms of these issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented on the future of educational assessment, discussing topics such as self-assessment, perseverance, grit, and academic achievement. Topics include research studies examining the role of academic self-concept, social contagion of formative assessment practices; and the emergence of AI language models like ChatGPT and the ethical considerations surrounding their use in education and research.