This paper is the first in a series from Educational Testing Service (ETS) concerning English language proficiency (ELP) assessments for K-12 English learners (ELs). The goal of this paper, and the series, is to present research-based ideas, principles, and recommendations for consideration by those who are conceptualizing, developing, and…

In recent years, the computerised adaptive test (CAT) has gained popularity over conventional exams in evaluating student capabilities with desired accuracy. However, the key limitation of CAT is that it requires a large pool of pre-calibrated questions. In the absence of such a pre-calibrated question bank, offline exams with uncalibrated…

Introduction: Under the influence of Vygotsky, dynamic assessment (DA) has recently crept into the realm of L2 testing to assess learners' cognitive modification through the concept of mediation and zone of proximal development (ZPD) (Ableeva, The Effects of Dynamic Assessment on L2 Listening Comprehension 2008; Lantolf, Sociocultural theory and…

As the American workforce and workplace become more diverse, the need for skilled leaders who are culturally intelligent and able to maximize diversity has become crucial. The purpose of this exploratory sequential mixed methods research study was to identify patterns of Self-Directed Learning (SDL) that were found in a sample also assessed on…

Divergent thinking (DT) tests are the most frequently used types of creativity assessment and have been administered in traditional paper and pencil format for more than a half century. With the prevalence of computer-based testing and increasing demands for large-scale, faster, and more flexible testing procedures, it is necessary to explore and…

The aim of this study was to explore automaticity of lexical access and executive functions of language learners and bilinguals while considering their language automaticity. Three groups of youths aged 14 to 18 were tested: Croatian-German early bilinguals, Croatian high school students who participated in a German immersion programme at school…

The work at hand is part of a wider study the aim of which was to determine what kind of factors influence failures in pragmatic items of an online adaptive placement test taken by a group of 34 Spanish students in their first year at university. A preceding analysis (Carrió & Martín, 2016) showed the type of personal factors, such as lack of…

This article investigates the relative effectiveness of online and paper-based formative assessment in the learning of English as a second language. For this study, 74 Japanese university second language (L2) students took online quizzes, while 71 were given paper-based quizzes to complete. The quiz content was drawn from learning material found…

Until 2014, the General Educational Development (GED®) test dominated the high school equivalency (HSE) test market throughout the United States, to the point that educational experts acknowledged the acronym "GED" had become synonymous with "high school equivalency." However, changes to the test, the way it is administered,…

The process of implementing intensive reading interventions using data-based decision-making (DBDM) becomes increasingly challenging as students move into the secondary grades and reading tasks correspondingly become more complex. This article provides teachers with guidelines to support effective implementation of DBDM for students with or at…

Different learning tools are available within virtual learning environments, including forums, quizzes, and ePortfolios. This article investigates perceptions of helpfulness and ease of use of these three tools, including how they are impacted by learner characteristics and what predicts frequency of use of each tool. Critically, the relationship…

Based on the articles written by mainland Chinese scholars published in the most influential Chinese and international journals, the present article analyzed the language testing research, compared the tendencies of seven categories between 2000-2009 and 2010-2019, and put forward future research directions by referring to international hot…

Research on linguistic variation suggests that usage patterns are deeply embedded in native and non-native speakers' knowledge of grammar. This study explores the transfer of these variable sociolinguistic patterns at the initial stages of third language acquisition. We elicited narratives in Portuguese from two mirror-image groups of sequential…

Based on a cognitive diagnostic model, an online individualised tutor program was developed in this study. An experiment was conducted in practical educational settings exploring the effectiveness of the online individualised tutor remedial program based on the diagnostic reports of the cognitive diagnostic model. The methodology of this study was…

The purpose of this study was to identify the potential factors that could predict college students' success in a large-size undergraduate hybrid learning course. Predictive values of students' demographic and academic background variables were examined to establish standardized models of contribution toward final grades. Next, patterns of student…