Students who are unable to complete an assessment due to circumstances beyond their control (e.g. illness) are often asked to submit a request for special consideration. However, few studies have looked at the reasons why these requests are made, or whether certain students are more likely to submit requests than others. The current study looked…

This study evaluated the forecasting accuracy of trend estimation methods applied to time-series data from computer adaptive tests (CATs). Data were collected roughly once a month over the course of a school year. We evaluated the forecasting accuracy of two regression-based growth estimation methods (ordinary least squares and Theil-Sen). The…

COVID-19 significantly contributed to increasing use of online assessment in education, including physical education. Teachers still need online assessments in face-to-face learning because they help them improve a practical, objective, and credible assessment process for students' learning performance. This research aimed at tracking the…

The first two decades of the twenty-first century witnessed the blossoming of frameworks to conceptualize "21st-century skills" both in school and career. However, there is still a lack of consensus about what we are talking about when using the term "21st-century skills," as the existing frameworks on "21st-century…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) -- often called "The Nation's Report Card" -- is the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what students in public and private schools in the United States know and can do in various subjects and has provided policy makers and the public with invaluable…

In its 40th year, "Language Testing" journal has served as the flagship journal for scholars, researchers, and practitioners in the field of language testing and assessment. This viewpoint piece, written from the perspective of an emerging scholar, discusses two possible future trends based on evidence going back to the very first issue…

The items that are suitable for everyone's own ability level with the support of computer programs instead of paper and pencil tests may help students to reach more accurate results. Computer adaptive tests (CAT), which are developed based on certain assumptions in this direction, are to create an optimum test for every person taking the exam. It…

Since its introduction in 2017, NFER has been contracted by Ofqual to develop, deliver and analyse the results of the National Reference Test (NRT) in English and maths. The NRT is administered annually and shows if student performance in English and maths at GCSE level has changed from year to year. The NRT results are based on analysis of data…

This study offers a bibliometric overview of the English language assessment research from 1992 to 2024. It aims to uncover the current state, research trends, and future directions of the field. A total of 927 articles published in Web of Science (WoS) were analyzed using the VOSviewer bibliometric software tool. Based on the sample of 927…

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) has been monitoring international trends in reading achievement among fourth-grade students for 25 years. As a critical point in a student's education, the fourth year of schooling establishes the foundations of literacy, with reading becoming increasingly central to learning across all…

One major aim of international large-scale assessments (ILSA) like PISA is to monitor changes in student performance over time. To accomplish this task, a set of common items (i.e., link items) is repeatedly administered in each assessment. Linking methods based on item response theory (IRT) models are used to align the results from the different…

This paper examines recent reforms in English-language testing in Japan using a policy distraction framework. We identify the term 'washback (effect)' and other related discourses as major distractors and investigate how 'washback' discourses have functioned as political slogans or catchphrases in policy deliberation processes and how they have…

Building on our 2024 AI Survey, we surveyed 1,041 full-time undergraduate students through Savanta about their use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools. In 2025, we find that the student use of AI has surged in the last year, with almost all students (92%) now using AI in some form, up from 66% in 2024, and some 88% having used…

This study reports on a review of 286 peer-reviewed articles from 2002-2018 to identify the mainstream assessment tools and strategies adopted for language proficiency assessment in computer-assisted language learning studies. Given the diversity of tools and strategies being adopted for assessment purposes, it was highly critical to trace the…

The current discussion about assessment in the language teaching context--involving topics such as immigration and citizenship, and university entrance--has brought with it the issue of justice in assessment. Although in Colombia such concerns are not generally discussed, it is important to consider fairness when it comes to classroom assessment.…