According to the IELTS official website, IELTS candidates usually score lower in the IELTS Writing test than in the other language skills. This is disappointing for the many IELTS candidates who fail to get the overall band score they need. Surprisingly enough, few studies have addressed this issue. The present study, then, is aimed at shedding…

This qualitative study investigated the washback of performance-based assessment used by three English language teachers in Hokkaido, Japan, each of whom implemented their own course-specific assessments. The study employed qualitative research of an in-depth interview with 15 students and a self-reflective method from 3 teachers. Teachers…

The transcript of a six-part National Public Radio broadcast on standardized testing is presented. The first part focuses on the reasons tests are administered; these reasons are discussed by proponents and opponents of testing. Part Two contains a discussion of the possible bias of tests, and their validity. The third part discusses the…

In 1990, a study was conducted at Rio Hondo College (Whittier, California) to determine if readers exhibited any bias in scoring test papers that were composed on a word processor as opposed to being written by hand. The study began with the formulation of tentative pilot study questions and the development of procedures to address them. Three…

Standardized test scores are used to determine outcomes at national, state, and local school district levels; and teachers feel pressure to raise their students' scores on high stakes tests. This study evaluated score enhancing strategies most likely used by student teachers and their perceptions about the degree of appropriateness of these…

Computerized adaptive testing (CAT) has become increasingly common in large-scale testing programs. This paper considers relevant practical issues that are likely to be faced by the developers and managers of a CAT program. The first cluster of issues is that of item pool development and maintenance. It includes such considerations as item pool…