学生学业成绩分析、反馈与指导系统:基于课程标准的中学生英语学习诊断性评价

改革课程评价是基础教育新一轮课程改革的重要组成部分,而且急需一个能够帮助人们形成以评价促学习理念的模式。本文介绍的“学生学业成绩分析、反馈与指导系统(SAAE)”的构建契合这一重要需求。SAAE以国家课程标准为参照标准,采用诊断性评价方法,检测初中八年级学生学业成绩发展过程。项目任务是根据检测成绩以及相关因素问卷调查数据的分析结果,给参测地区提供有益于教育教学管理、课堂教学改进和教师发展的反馈信息。这个评价系统还对提高各级教研员的教学评价能力有所帮助。本评价指标体系的建立能够为保障中学英语课程教育质量做出贡献。同时,它也是诊断性语言测试理论的有益实践。     

Challenges associated with curriculum alignment,change and assessment reforms in Namibia

Aligning curriculum change and assessment reforms has been a topic of great concern in Namibia for over the past 23 years. This is because during the pre-colonial period and continuing in post-independence Namibia, national examinations have been used mainly for the certification and selection of learners at Junior and Senior secondary school phases. Despite this, there is great need to align curriculum changes, standards and assessment in Namibia, since this is viewed as critical for the effectiveness of any education system. Hence, this paper attempts to cross-examine the challenges associated with curriculum alignment issues, changes and assessment reforms in Namibia. This was done by reviewing and analysing relevant documents such as curriculum, policies and examination results among others. Particular attention is paid to the Junior and Senior secondary school levels due to the fact that at these phases there are two major national terminal examinations.     

Formative assessment and teaching practice: the point of view of Italian teachers

Over the years the debate on the aims, approaches, and impacts of formative assessment has never stopped to grow. Parallel to this growth is the awareness that it is crucial to understand what conceptions teachers have of assessment in order to guarantee more effective teacher education. This paper tries to connect these two fields of research: formative assessment and teacher education through an analysis of teachers’ conceptions: What do teachers think about assessment? What aims do they pursue through it? Do teachers really distinguish between formative and summative assessment? On the backdrop of the formative assessment literature, the article reports on an exploratory research study. Limitations and issues are analysed in order to shed light on teacher education implication and on future educational research paths in the educational assessment field.     

Portfolio Assessment: More Than ABCs and 123s

Demands for educational accountability are being called for at all levels: preschool through graduate school. Standardized tests are being widely utilized, but this measurement is not appropriate for young children. Portfolio assessment is a more promising approach to measure children's growth, development, and achievement. This paper outlines criteria that portfolios must have in order to be effective assessment tools. Methods of gathering information and tips for portfolio development are shared and several examples of children's work samples are included     

Educational assessment policy and practice: a matter of ethics

Long-standing concerns within the field of educational assessment consider the impact of assessment policy and practice as matters of equity, inequality and social justice. Yet educational assessment policy and practice continues to have powerful social consequences for key users such as children and young people. This paper re-positions these consequences as a matter of ethics. It uses the work of Messick to frame how ethical matters extend beyond test instruments into the realm of uses and impact. A case study of the 11+ school transfer system in Northern Ireland is presented to illustrate ethical dilemmas emerging as a consequence of actions and decisions of using assessment systems for particular purposes. In looking forward to how we might attend to ethical matters in assessment policy and practice, a consideration of a children’s rights approach is outlined that may provide a moral and legal framework for action.     

Educational Assessment Knowledge and Skills for Teachers

The 1990 Standards for Teacher Competence in Educational Assessment of Students ( AFT, NCME, & NEA, 1990 ) made a documentable contribution to the field. However, the Standards have become a bit dated, most notably in two ways: (1) the Standards do not consider current conceptions of formative assessment knowledge and skills, and (2) the Standards do not consider teacher knowledge and skills required to successfully work in the current accountability and “standards‐based reform” context. This article briefly reviews the 1990 Standards and their influence, describes some other lists of assessment knowledge and skills that might be considered in updating them, and then proposes educational assessment knowledge and skills for teachers that reflect current teacher assessment needs. This set of competencies should help focus the work of teachers, teacher supervisors, professional developers, teacher educators, and others responsible for teachers’ assessment knowledge and skills.     

国际大规模学业测评项目对学生家庭因素的测查与启示

国际大规模学业测评对家庭因素影响学生学业成就发展的关注度逐年上升。综合分析影响力较大且相对成熟的6个国际大规模学业测评项目中家庭因素指标的选取原则,梳理测评结果在学生个体、学校教学和教育改革中的应用实例,为我国紧扣学生的关键家庭因素,整体考虑涵盖学生、班级和学校层面嵌套结构的家庭因素测评体系,并有效使用测评结果提供参考与借鉴。     

Faculty perspectives on programme curricular assessment: individual and institutional characteristics that influence participation engagement

Driven by issues of accountability, the assessment movement in higher education has gained significant momentum in recent years. However, successful implementation of assessment processes varies radically across institutions. A key issue is faculty engagement. This qualitative inquiry explored factors that impact faculty participation in a professional school assessment initiative in North America. Findings indicate that faculty knowledge, beliefs and attitudes toward assessment, and their perception of leadership, resources and work environment, interact with their decision to engage. Moreover, goal congruence between faculty and educational organisation affects behaviour regarding degree of engagement in programme and curricular assessment. Recommendations for creating a culture of assessment are highlighted.     

美国学校增值性评价模式研究

增值性评价是目前较为科学准确的衡量学校效能的方法。美国是世界范围内增值性评价开展最早、模式较为完善的国家。本文以俄亥俄州的增值性评价模式为代表,从数据来源、模型使用、控制变量、增值网上系统、增值分数的应用五个角度对美国的学校增值性评价模式进行分析,并指出美国学校增值性评价模式对于建立我国学校增值性评价模式的借鉴意义。     

中招考试制度改革若干政策问题分析

中招考试制度改革涉及贯彻落实国家教育政策要求、开发人力资源、保障个人教育选择权和维护教育公平等重大问题,其核心是如何处理教育质量、效率与公平的关系。本文从教育评价学角度分析了中招考试制度改革涉及的上述政策因素,提出了以质量和效率为导向统筹考虑初中毕业考试和中招考试制度改革,建立以学业成就评价、职业性向测验和学生发展潜力评价为基础的中招考试制度,在基础教育过程中解决个人选择和教育公平问题的改革思路。     

Convergence of Monastic and Modern Education in Bhutan?

In the 1960s, the Royal Government of Bhutan began developing its modern educational system. Over time, a strategic plan was formulated to meet Education for All and Millennium Development Goals. In 2003, the Royal University of Bhutan, the country’s first university, opened its doors. This paper uses comparative analysis to describe and explore the impact on the development of The Royal University of Bhutan of the national consciousness termed ‹Gross National Happiness’. It is proposed that the university is likely to become a catalyst for development, and an influential representative of and for a cultural identity. Will it become an elite institution? Will the institution offer formal degrees for all who qualify? It is suggested that the issues considered in Bhutan may be of significance for other new universities attempting to establish themselves in the developing world.     

Standardized Testing + High-Stakes Decisions = Educational Inequity

Changes in assessment policy have increased standardized testing at provincial, national, and international levels, introduced testing at more grade levels, increased the reporting of test results, and attached more significance to those results. Advocates claim that testing will result in greater accountability in education. The research demonstrates that standardized testing has a negative impact on students, perpetuating and intensifying educational inequity through test bias and the misuse of test scores. Test results are increasingly being used to analyse policy, program, school, and teacher success, and they are being inappropriately used as "educational gatekeepers" to make important decisions about students, teachers, schools, and school systems. This paper focuses on how standardized testing is becoming the mechanism that facilitates many questionable education practices that contribute to educational inequity.     

Reconsidering Reliability in Classroom Assessment and Grading

It is argued that classroom assessment evolves from a different set of issues and demands from more traditional measurement concerns and that approaches to reliability developed from traditional concerns are not appropriate for most classroom settings. The assessment and grading issues for high school instruction are examined from the perspective of reliability. An alternative conceptualization of reliability, sufficiency of information, is proposed and explored. This conceptualization is based on the argument that at a rudimentary level, reliability theory is based on the notion of having enough information to make decisions or draw inferences.     

The identification of special educational needs and the month of birth: differential effects of category of need and level of assessment

The processes around the identification of special educational needs (SEN) should mean that those pupils who need most help receive it. However, there are concerns that this process is not working and there is an over-identification of pupils with SEN. Previous international research has shown that summer-born children are more likely to be identified as having SEN. However, these studies tend to treat SEN as a homogenous group. In this paper, we explore the extent to which the month-of-birth effect can be seen in subgroups of SEN. A survey of 450 schools in England was undertaken to explore the levels of provision and categories of SEN for 15,640 pupils. This led to differential month-of-birth effects being noted in category of SEN, with moderate learning difficulties being most susceptible. We hypothesise that teachers may be labelling younger children within the year group on the basis of political aspirations of attainments to be reached by the end of the academic year. When more thorough, multiprofessional assessments are undertaken, the month-of-birth effect is no longer evident. This has clear implications for assessment; identification; allocation of scarce educational resources; for educational policy on monitoring school performance and initial teacher training.     

A Phenomenological Exploration of Bhutanese Counselors’ Experiences with Western Counseling

Bhutan has recently invited the profession of counseling to aid in responding to growing mental health problems, social and family issues, and school and career guidance needs. This study is a phenomenological investigation of the experiences of Bhutanese counselors with Western counseling in order to understand the cultural fit between Bhutan and Western counseling orientations. Eleven participants were interviewed and four themes identified: conceptualization of counseling, Bhutanese culture, Bhutanese counseling, and the relationship between Western counseling and Bhutan. Suggestions are made for a potential model of Bhutanese counseling, counselor training, ongoing Western contributions, and the further development of the counseling profession.     

Alternative perspectives on learning outcomes: challenges for assessment

In discussing the relationship between curriculum and assessment it is commonly argued that assessment should be aligned to curriculum or, alternatively, that they should be congruent with each other. This article explores that relationship in five educational contexts in the UK and in Europe, ranging across school education, workplace learning, vocational education and higher education. Four main themes are highlighted: construct definition, progression, assessment procedures, and system-level accountability. What emerges from the five case studies under review is a multi-layered process of knowledge being constructed in diverse ways at different levels in each context. The article concludes that, rather than thinking in terms of either alignment or congruence, these relationships are better understood in terms of non-linear systems embracing curriculum, pedagogy and assessment.     

A statewide writing assessment model: Student proficiency and future implications

This paper is an examination of statewide district writing achievement gain data from the Nebraska Statewide Writing Assessment system and implications for statewide assessment writing models. The writing assessment program is used to gain compliance with the United States No Child Left Behind Law (NCLB), a federal effort to influence school district assessment and accountability. While the research literature is mixed with some viewing statewide writing assessment as narrowing writing curriculum and “standardizing” writing, others point out that it facilitates sharing between teachers to improve writing and teachers are empowered by their participation in the process.Nebraska's Statewide Writing Assessment, based on the six-trait model, has strong support from teachers regarding their perception of the assessment in supporting teaching practices and student success. Examination of achievement gain data revealed gains in 4th, 8th, and 11th grades in the average number of students rated proficient from one administration of the assessment to the next.Implications for educational practice, recommendations for future research, and relevant related issues (NCLB concerns and measurement issues) are discussed.     

Seeking Redemption for Our Psychometric Sins

Many American children are currently receiving a reduced quality education because of the increasingly widespread misuse of educational tests. Employing a religious metaphor, the author argues that members of the educational measurement community are culpable, at least in part, for this calamity. During recent decades, our nation's assessment personnel have failed to speak out vigorously against the increasingly prevalent improper use of traditionally constructed achievement tests to appraise school quality. This absence of action, it is claimed, constitutes a nontrivial sin of omission. To secure absolution for that sin, it is contended that measurement specialists must promote widespread assessment literacy.