Senior secondary school assessment and standard-setting in Queensland,Australia: social context and paradigmatic change |
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Authors: | Professor J. Joy Cumming |
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Affiliation: | 1. Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education, Australian Catholic University, Brisbane, Australiajoy.cumming@acu.edu.auhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9221-7677 |
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Abstract: | ABSTRACTThis article draws on three assessment paradigms – psychometrics, outcomes-based and curriculum-based assessment – to discuss paradigmatic changes in senior school assessment and achievement standard-setting in Queensland, Australia, over the last 50 years. These include radical reforms in 1970 from university-controlled examinations to school-based assessments applying normative standard-setting, to subsequent reforms in 1978 introducing competence(curriculum)-based assessment and standards. From 2019, a new reform introduces a combination of school-based and external assessment with procedures for establishing standards still in progress.Changes to Queensland assessment and standard-setting are discussed in terms of three preconditions for paradigm change – dissatisfaction, an alternative acceptable paradigm, and majority acceptance of change. Influence of paradigmatic origins of reformers is discussed. The amalgam of curriculum-based assessment and psychometric paradigms in the new Queensland system is considered in terms of theoretical compatibility and potential impact on the new standards. |
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Keywords: | Assessment standards paradigm change dissatisfaction media |
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