The current article evaluates a national English language proficiency test known as the "MSRT test" which is used to determine the eligibility of candidates for admission to and completion of higher education programs in Iran. Students in all majors take this standardized, high-stake criterion-referenced test to determine if they have…

Both school and district administrators use the results of standardized, large-scale tests to inform decisions about the need for, or success of, educational programs and interventions. However, test results at the school level are subject to random fluctuations due to changes in cohort, test items, and other factors outside of the school's…

The study of the territorial difference in educational achievement is a widely debated topic, in particular in Italy for the presence of the well-known strong regional disparities. National and international large scale assessments confirmed that the main characteristic of the Italian school system is the geographical cleavage between North and…

This study investigates the relationship among working memory (WM), mathematics, and language, with the aim of understanding: (1) whether the functions and capacities of WM components can predict achievement in language and mathematics; and (2) whether competence in the first language (L1) and achievement in mathematics can predict success in…

The school closures owing to the 2020 COVID-19 crisis resulted in a significant disruption of education provision, leading to fears of learning losses and of an increase in educational inequality. This article evaluates the effects of school closures based on standardised tests in the last year of primary school in the Dutch-speaking Flemish…

The Question-Answer-Relationship (QAR) strategy has been suggested to improve EFL students' reading comprehension. Nonetheless, disappointing outcomes when using the QAR instruction were noted. The current study seeks to: (1) add the Review (R) component to the instruction; and (2) assess the effectiveness of the developed…

This study examined the integration of artificial intelligence-powered speech recognition technology within early reading assessments in Morocco's Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) program. The purpose was to evaluate the effectiveness of an automated speech recognition tool compared to traditional paper-based assessments in improving reading…

This study examined the relationships between reading assistant (RA) software usage, reading comprehension ability, and post-TOEIC reading scores among Thai EFL university students. Seventy-six students from a private international university in central Thailand participated. Data were collected from students' pre- and post-TOEIC reading scores…

Introduction: Reading comprehension is an important skill in the fast pace global society in which we now live. However, reading comprehension is a rather complex process that involves the dynamic interaction of cognitive and metacognitive skills. Method: In the present study, we investigated whether a newly-developed text inconsistency detection…

Large-scale standardized ESL tests such as the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) are widely used around the world to measure the language proficiency of test-takers and make different decisions based on their scores. Reading comprehension is an integral part of such tests which requires test-takers to read passages and answer a…

Purpose: The value of shared reading as an opportunity for learning word meanings, or semantics, is well established; it is less clear whether children learn about the orthography, or word spellings, in this context. We tested whether children can learn the spellings and meanings of new words at the same time during a tightly controlled shared…

Seeking evidence to support content validity is essential to test validation. This is especially the case in contexts where test scores are interpreted in relation to external proficiency standards and where new test content is constantly being produced to meet test administration and security demands. In this paper, we describe a modified…

Parent engagement is often promoted as a remedy for reducing achievement gaps between students from high socio-economic and low socio-economic backgrounds. However, researchers have found mixed results when examining parent engagement and student outcomes. Drawing on a study investigating the effectiveness of summer literacy camps offered by…

Oral language abilities have been reported to be related to reading development. This relationship seems to be determined by orthographic systems and reading development. Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) show reading difficulties, although most studies focus on reading comprehension. The present study has two main objectives: to…

Scientific reasoning is an important skill that encompasses hypothesizing, experimenting, inferencing, evaluating data and drawing conclusions. Previous research found consistent inter- and intra-individual differences in children's ability to perform these component skills, which are still largely unaccounted for. This study examined these…