1st Edition

Educational Assessment in a Time of Reform Standards and Standard Setting for Excellence in Education

By Coert Loock, Vanessa Scherman Copyright 2020
    156 Pages 16 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    156 Pages 16 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Educational Assessment in a Time of Reform provides background information on large-scale examination systems more generally and the South African examination specifically. It traces the reforms in the education system of South Africa since 1994 and provides a description of the advances in modern test theory that could be considered for future standard setting endeavours.



    At the heart of the book is the debate on whether the current standard of education in Africa is good enough . If not, then how can it be improved? The aim of this book is to provide a point of departure for discussions on standard-setting, quality assurance, equating of examinations and assessment approaches. From this point of departure recommendations for practices in general and the exit-level (Grade 12) examination results in particular can be made.



    This book is ideal reading for principals, teachers, academics and researchers in the fields of educational assessment, measurement, and evaluation.

    Chapter 1 Background and introduction

    Historical context

    Aim and objectives of the book

    Systems theory as a conceptual framework

    References

    Chapter 2 Background to large-scale examination systems

    Introduction

    Designing large-scale examination systems

    Examples of large-scale examination systems

    Conclusion

    References

    Chapter 3 Perspectives on education assessment reform

    Standards-based education reform (SBER)

    Education assessment reform versus the complexity of assessment standards and academic performance

    Conclusion

    References

    Chapter 4 Equating examinations and assessment standards in the South African context

    Introduction

    Equating high-stakes examinations and testing

    The history of equating Grade 12 examination marks in South Africa

    Norm-referenced assessment

    Transition from the Senior Certificate (SC) to the new National Curriculum Statement (NCS)

    Research related to the comparability of curriculum and assessment demands of the NCS

    Standardising the new NCS results

    References

    Chapter 5 The management and quality assurance of school-based assessment in South Africa

    Introduction

    Social moderation

    The low reliability of school-based assessment

    Statistical moderation of school-based assessment (SBA) marks

    Statistical moderation

    Calculation of the subject promotion mark

    Conclusion

    References

    Chapter 6 Using examination and assessment scores: Different ways of reporting performance

    Introduction

    Different ways of reporting performance

    Reporting performance is directly related to the type and purpose of the test

    Reporting standards on tests

    Measuring continuous school-based assessment

    Comparing results over time – how to measure improvement

    Strategies for interpreting data

    Working with examinations and assessment data

    Conclusion

    References

    Chapter 7 Rethinking standard setting: Drawing from advances in modern test theory

    Introduction

    Understanding classical test theory

    Introduction to item response theory (IRT)

    The one-parameter model

    The two-parameter model

    The three-parameter model

    Introduction to Rasch-measurement

    Standard setting methods Traditional methods and methods drawing on modern test theory

    Linking and equating in modern test theory: Possibilities for linking examinations across years

    Conclusion

    References

    Chapter 8 Item banking and computer adaptive testing

    Introduction

    Computer adaptive testing (CAT)

    System design and operations

    Item pool development and testing

    Item response theory and calibration

    Test equating

    Reliability and measurement precision

    Validity

    Advantages and disadvantages of computer adaptive testing

    Definition and development of item banks

    Procedure for preparing an item bank

    Advantages and disadvantages of item banks

    Validity and reliability considerations

    Conclusion

    References

    Chapter 9 Developing a computerised system for large scale computer adaptive testing (CAT)

    Introduction

    Performance benchmarks

    Design requirements and electronic platform

    Design logic of a cat-system for the NCS (Grade 12)

    System technology and functionality standards

    Conclusion

    References

    Chapter 10 Educational assessment in a time of reform: Where to from here?

    Introduction

    Thinking about examination systems within a 21st century skills framework

    Making use of modern psychometric theory

    Thinking about moving towards incorporating mixed methods approaches

    Concluding remarks

    References

    Biography

    Coert Loock is a professor at Department of Education Leadership and Management, University of Johannesburg, South Africa.





    Vanessa Scherman is a professor at Department of Psychology of Education, University of South Africa, South Africa.