This research examines how public school principals in seven U.S. states perceive the proficiency exam they must take and pass in order to evaluate their teachers. The test is centered on the states' primary teaching evaluation system, which is based on Charlotte Danielson's Framework for Teaching. An online survey was developed and 832 out of…

It is common practice for assessment programs to organize qualifying sessions during which the raters (often known as "markers" or "judges") demonstrate their consistency before operational rating commences. Because of the high-stakes nature of many rating activities, the research community tends to continuously explore new…

This study investigates prosodic modulation in the spontaneous canonical babble of congenitally deaf infants with cochlear implants (CI) and normally hearing (NH) infants. Research has shown that the acoustic cues to prominence are less modulated in CI babble. However acoustic measurements of individual cues to prominence give incomplete…

Assessment lies at the centre of PhD degree quality standards, with quality assurance relying on independent external examiners. This study investigates the role of the viva and the selection of external examiners from within the accounting and finance discipline across UK institutions. A questionnaire survey and follow-up interviews with…

To date, rater accuracy when using Direct Behavior Rating (DBR) has been evaluated by comparing DBR-derived data to scores yielded through systematic direct observation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate an alternative method for establishing comparison scores using expert-completed DBR alongside best practices in consensus building…

For several decades members of the American Evaluation Association have discussed and disputed the issue of evaluator certification. Our past inability to agree on a certification solution may have been partially caused by the weaknesses of traditional certification systems, which rely on candidates obtaining a degree and completing a…

Bullying, often considered an interpersonal or intergroup behaviour, has not been explored as an unintended artefact of organisational structure. Institutional review boards (IRBs), the 'human research ethics committees' at US universities, help oversee the protection of human research subjects, particularly in the social sciences within…

Through Many-Facet Rasch analysis, this study explores the rating differences between 1 computer automatic rater and 5 expert teacher raters on scoring 119 students in a computerized English listening-speaking test. Results indicate that both automatic and the teacher raters demonstrate good inter-rater reliability, though the automatic rater…

This paper reports findings from a project called "The National Panel of Raters" (NPR) that took place within a writing test programme in Norway (2010-2016). A recent research project found individual differences between the raters in the NPR. This paper reports results from an explorative follow up-study where 63 NPR members were…

In this paper we report on a project in which we developed tools to support the classroom assessment of learners' interactional competence (IC) and provided learning oriented feedback in the context of preparation for a high-stakes face-to-face speaking test. Six trained examiners provided stimulated verbal reports (n = 72) on 12 paired…

This article investigates the perceived and actual predictability of teacher educators working as assessors in entrance examinations for the Finnish Primary School Teacher Education (PSTE) programme. The section examining perceived predictability was conducted as a survey. The data for actual predictability, containing student teachers' entrance…

Early intervention (EI) teams can use Implementation Science to choose, implement, and sustain the use of evidence-based strategies and programs. Smith et al. (2014) described Implementation Science as "the study of the processes needed to bring new practices into widespread use" (p. 4). Programs work through four stages: exploration,…

This study examined the role of visual cues (facial expressions and hand gestures) in second language (L2) speech assessment. University students (N = 60) at English-medium universities assessed 2-minute video clips of 20 L2 English speakers (10 Chinese and 10 Spanish speakers) narrating a personal story. They rated the speakers'…

Recent investigations into language assessment literacy (LAL) suggest that stakeholder groups might differ in interests, needs, and expectations in assessment practice, resulting in different LAL profiles. This qualitative study furthers this line of research by examining the effect of contextual and experiential factors on the LAL profiles and…

Interactive oral assessments demonstrate potential to develop graduate attributes such as critical thinking, professional communication and collaborative skills in students through authentic simulation of workplace scenarios. This study captured the design, delivery and evaluation of interactive oral assessments across three programmes --…