English language education in Thailand is rated poorly internationally and needs improvement. Research identifying the reasons for the l highlights assessment as a key concern since assessment has washback effects on learning. However, little is known about the assessment practices teachers use. This paper has three goals: to identify the…

While traditionally the viva voce examination had a central role in student assessment it fell out of favour as higher education expanded. This paper describes the development of a digital video viva examination to promote a more authentic and lower stakes method of assessment for students in their final under-graduate module. The paper presents a…

This article sets the stage for the description of a variety of approaches to test reviewing worldwide. It describes the importance of test reviewing as a protection of the public and of society and also the benefits of this activity for test users, who must choose measures to use in particular situations with particular clients at a particular…

This paper is part of a series investigating the implementation of competency education. The purpose of the paper is to explore how districts and schools can redesign grading systems to best help students to excel in academics and to gain the skills that are needed to be successful in college, the community, and the workplace. In order to make the…

The article "Thinking About Linking" by Newton (2010) presents a novel philosophical perspective on the way that educational assessments should be linked. Newton starts by describing the linking framework as it was characterized in various publications and identifies a cross-cultural dimension in the definitions and uses of test…

Although the Angoff procedure is among the most widely used standard setting procedures for tests comprising multiple-choice items, research has shown that subject matter experts have considerable difficulty accurately making the required judgments in the absence of examinee performance data. Some authors have viewed the need to provide…

The 1969 Western Regional Conference on Testing Problems dealt with developments and assessments in educational centers and laboratories. The following speeches were presented: (1) "Behavioral Objective Specifications in Evaluation: Relevant or Irrelevant" by Marvin C. Alkin; (2) "Approaches to the Validation of Learning Hierarchies" by Margaret…

The twentieth Western Regional Conference on Testing Problems dealt with the issues of assessment/accountability and non-traditional programs. The following speeches were given: (1) "The New Approach of the California State Colleges" by Glenn S. Dumke; (2) "Toward Institutional Goal-Consciousness" by Richard E. Peterson; (3) "The Commission on…

The development of some psychometric indices of performance rating quality based in judgement is traced. The conceptual and analytical confusion that characterizes contemporary research in this area is described. The operational definitions of several criteria of rating quality, including leniency and severity of the rating effect, halo effect,…

Considers racial impact of using ability tests for employment decisions. Notes agreement that large differences exist in performance on general ability among races and that there is probable relation between general ability and job performance for most jobs; disagreement about whether racial differences in general ability are fixed and about size…

This commentary on the mismeasurement of language and reading comprehension abilities argues that quantitative measures of complex behaviors and subsequent ranking of individual performance often do not accurately reflect the abstract constructs they purport to measure, and inappropriate quantification and ranking create and perpetuate potentially…

Norm-referenced tests are inappropriate for evaluating health care practitioners; criterion referenced tests better describe what is not being measured. Reliable assessment of competency should focus on the valid testing of reasonable numbers of important skills. Available from: Sage Publications, Inc., 275 South Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills,…

Examines the inherent problems in evaluating writing skills, particularly as practiced by the General Education Development Testing Service. (RL)

Argues that "we are moving toward the notion that the national policy-oriented evaluation may not ask a useful question--useful neither to the national policy-maker nor to the educator. On the other hand, the research question which seeks to understand the teaching/learning process (rather than to evaluate a program) may ultimately be the most…