Rating scales for writing assessment are critical in that they determine directly the quality and fairness of such performance tests. However, in many EFL contexts, rating scales are made, to certain extent, based on the intuition of teachers who strongly need a feasible and scientific route to guide their construction of rating scales. This study…

This dissertation explored whether unnecessary linguistic complexity (LC) in mathematics and biology assessment items changes the direction and significance of differential item functioning (DIF) between subgroups emergent bilinguals (EBs) and English proficient students (EPs). Due to inconsistencies in measuring LC in items, Study One adapted a…

In this research report, we describe the design and empirical findings for a large-scale study of essay writing ability with approximately 2,500 high school students in Germany and Switzerland on the basis of 2 tasks with 2 associated prompts, each from a standardized writing assessment whose scoring involved both human and automated components.…

This research aimed to develop an appropriate module based on the writing needs of the learners. The author took the fourth-semester learners of the English Department at the State Islamic Institute of Palopo in the academic year 2018/2019. The author involved 40 learners as her participants. The method of the research was Research and…

In this study, we examined whether interpreters and interpreting trainees are better predisposed to respeaking than people with no interpreting skills. We tested 57 participants (22 interpreters, 23 translators and 12 controls) while respeaking 5-minute videos with two parameters: speech rate (fast/slow) and number of speakers (one/many). Having…

Rhode Island is committed to ensuring that all educators receive fair, accurate, and meaningful educator evaluations that provide information that can help all support professionals improve and refine their practice. Currently, local education agencies (LEAs) in Rhode Island may submit a district-designed model for approval that complies with the…

Rhode Island is committed to ensuring that all educators receive fair, accurate, and meaningful educator evaluations that provide information that can help all support professionals improve and refine their practice. This document describes the process and basic requirements for the Rhode Island Model Support Professional Evaluation and Support…

The "indigenous assessment practices" (Jacoby & McNamara, 1999) in selected health professions were investigated to inform a review of the scope of assessment in the speaking sub-test of a specific-purpose English language test for health professionals, the Occupational English Test (OET). The assessment criteria in current use on…

Rhode Island educators believe that implementing a fair, accurate, and meaningful evaluation and support system for support professionals will help improve student outcomes. The primary purpose of the Rhode Island Model Support Professional Evaluation and Support System (Rhode Island Model) is to help all support professionals do their best work…

In this research, we investigated the suitability of implementing "e-rater"® automated essay scoring in a high-stakes large-scale English language testing program. We examined the effectiveness of generic scoring and 2 variants of prompt-based scoring approaches. Effectiveness was evaluated on a number of dimensions, including agreement…