Traditionally there has been a tension between evaluation research and so-called pure research which has resulted in evaluation research seldom being recognized by the UK Research Assessment Exercises. The newly configured Research Excellence Framework (REF) will use similar criteria to judge research, notwithstanding the introduction of…

Peer grading affords a scalable and sustainable way of providing assessment and feedback to a massive student population, and has been used in massive open online courses (MOOCs) on the Coursera platform. However, currently there is little empirical evidence to support the credentials of peer grading as a learning assessment method in the MOOC…

Although there are tools to assess student's readiness in an "online learning context," little is known about the "psychometric" properties of the tools used or not. A systematic review of 5107 published and unpublished papers identified in a literature search on student online readiness assessment tools between 1990 and…

This article discusses a range of current issues and future research possibilities in Communicative Language Testing (CLT) using, as its departure point, the key questions which emerged during the CLT symposium at the 2010 Language Testing Forum. The article begins with a summary of the 2010 symposium discussion in which three main issues related…

Looking back to the language testing world of the 1980s in the United Kingdom, we need to be aware that how we perceive or remember ourselves to have been then--whether as individual language testing academics or as corporate language testing organisations--will be shaped by multiple influences. Although we may have been present at and shared in…

In 1980 the first meeting of the UK-based Language Testing Forum was held in Lancaster. In 2010, 30 years later, the annual meeting celebrated that first meeting, basing the discussions, as in 1980, on three seminal papers: on the structure of language ability, on communicative language testing, and on testing Languages for Specific Purposes.…

Professor J. Charles Alderson grew up in the town of Burnley, in the North-West of England, and is still based in the North West but in the ancient city of Lancaster. From Burnley to Lancaster, however, lies a journey and a career that took him all around the world to share his knowledge, skills, and experience in language testing and to learn…

In this response to Burdick et al. (2013), the author describes two possible and perhaps even common reactions to the article by Burdick et al. (2013). Advocates such as Way, Davis, and Strain- Seymour (2008) will likely applaud the development of the Writing Ability Developmental Scale and the possible widespread use of computer-based writing…

Inspired by Whitehead and McNiff's "living theory" approach and the "Thinking Schools International" programme, this paper focuses on issues surrounding self-evaluation practices in schools and research aimed at school improvement, with specific consideration given to grounded theory and action research. Specifically, the…

Three local observed-score kernel equating methods that integrate methods from the local equating and kernel equating frameworks are proposed. The new methods were compared with their earlier counterparts with respect to such measures as bias--as defined by Lord's criterion of equity--and percent relative error. The local kernel item response…

This article illustrates how organizational theory can be used to support the development of authentic assessment practice among community college faculty, as well as guide research on implementation of assessment efforts. While many factors make implementing assessment difficult, the link between accreditation and assessment is a key element in…

The primary focus of this article is ''advocating for the results of a specific evaluation.'' To some extent, all evaluators are advocates, however the author notes, "there is no great mystery in how to use evaluations for advocacy, especially with respect to influencing policy making within federal and state…

This issue of "American Journal of Evaluation" presents commentaries by evaluation leaders, George Grob and Rakesh Mohan, which draw upon their wealth of practical experience to address questions about evaluator advocacy, including What is meant by the word "advocacy"? Should evaluators ever advocate? If so, when and how? What…

Despite the recent technical and theoretical advances in the investigation of children's social relations, the inherent complexity of these methods may prevent their easy integration into the classroom. A simple and effective tool can be valuable for teachers who wish to investigate students' social realities in the classroom. Therefore,…

In this commentary, Rebecca Kopriva examines the articles in this special issue by drawing on her experience from three series of investigations examining how English language learners (ELLs) and other students perceive what test items ask and how they can successfully represent what they know. The first series examined the effect of different…