This article presents a historical and contemporary account of Lithuania's national public education assessment system and its transformation since the country's declaration of independence from the Soviet Union in 1990. We explore how the external examination system has developed in relation to ongoing curriculum reforms over the last 30 years,…

The purpose of this study is to describe, critically analyse and discuss the Swedish system of assessing ethics education in compulsory school through national tests. The publicly available tests from 2013 for grades six and nine have been studied as have the assessment instructions for teachers. Staff responsible for the test construction have…

All educational testing is intended to have consequences, which are assumed to be beneficial, but tests may also have unintended, negative consequences (Messick, 1989). The issue is particularly important in the case of large-scale standardized tests, such as Australia's "National Assessment Program--Literacy and Numeracy" (NAPLAN), the…

This article reviews recent studies on English language teaching (ELT) in South Korea, where a great deal of research has been produced in recent years in local journals. In this article we review 95 studies from a pool of some 1,200 published between 2009 and 2014 on English language teaching and learning, focusing on research within the public…

This article, which draws heavily on the Sutherland Inquiry report into the delivery of National Curriculum testing in 2008, outlines important aspects of the failure that year to report test-scores on time, considers the extent to which ministers might have been held more accountable and reviews the state of the long struggle to replace the…

A widespread perception about falling standards prompted Margaret Thatcher's government to pass 1988 legislation mandating a national curriculum and accompanying testing system. The worst-case scenario feared by many British teachers is coming to pass: a test-driven curriculum without significant attention to teachers' assessments of student…

A perusal of the national testing proposals discloses great variety as to testing purposes and methods, voluntariness testing age and grade, subject areas to be tested, responsible parties, and financing. Advantages and disadvantages of U.S. national testing proposals are discussed and contrasted with European approaches. (14 references) (MLH)

This paper comments that problems with Great Britain's Key Stage 1 standard assessment tasks (SATs) for pupils with special educational needs involve the SATs design and use. Issues discussed include activity-based assessments, adaptations, time demands, step size, future development of SATs, and disapplications of the National Curriculum. (JDD)

One way to manage marking error, in a large-scale educational testing context, is to establish a mechanism through which appeals can be lodged. While, at one level, this seems to offer a straightforward technical solution to the problem of marking error, it can also result in unintended consequences, with political, social or educational…

This paper explores the role of teachers in national assessment in England. The Education Reform Act of 1988 introduced a national curriculum for ages 5 to 16 together with a national assessment program for students at ages 7, 11, 14, and 16. The national assessment program is a crucial accompaniment to the national curriculum as the vehicle…

Examines the appropriateness of a cut-off score derived from the Angoff procedure for a reading test in the United Kingdom. Shows that the recommended cut-off score is too low. Suggests ways that standard setting might draw on a range of information to produce appropriate and rationally defensible cut-off scores. (DSK)

As the assessments mandated by the British National Curriculum have come into use, teachers have found the core concern to be how to manage the assessment of each student's progress within the framework of the statutory requirements. This book focuses on the assessment of students of ethnic minority backgrounds and presents a collection of…

Compulsory national testing for children at ages 7, 11, 14, and 16 years is part of the British National Curriculum. This development contributes to the fact that the issue of assessment is of increasing interest to parents, teachers, administrators, and employers. This book attempts to explain how assessment systems work and the uses that can be…

National curriculum assessment in England and Wales is explored, focusing on its troubled implementation. The work of the Task Group on Assessment and Testing and teacher resistance to the mandated testing are discussed. Experiences in England and Wales provide insight into what can be expected in a national assessment system. (SLD)

Student assessment in science in primary (elementary) schools in the United Kingdom is discussed in the context of the enactment of a National Curriculum. Sample science test items are included. Teachers must develop the skills required to assess students' learning in science and should not rely on external tests. (SLD)