Empiricism versus connoisseurship: establishing the appropriacy of texts in tests of academic reading

This paper explores the potential of using information technology for the empirical measurement of contextual parameters identified in the socio-cognitive framework (the framework developed by CRELLA for test validation). Previously the level of difficulty represented by reading texts used in English Language tests has been estimated through expert judgement. The study, in contrast, employs computational tools for automated text analyses, demonstrating how relevant contextual features have been opened to empirical measurement by new technology. The techniques showcased in this paper allow for a more rigorous approach to reading test specification

The assessment of practical work in school science

This article reviews how practical work, including practical skills, is currently summatively assessed in school science in a number of countries and makes comparisons with how other subjects, such as music and modern foreign languages, summatively assess skills. Whilst practical skills in school science are clearly valued as being of importance, there is a lack of clarity as to what these skills actually are and how they might, most effectively, be validly assessed. Countries vary greatly in the extent to which they employ what we term ‘Direct Assessment of Practical Skills’ (DAPS) or ‘Indirect Assessment of Practical Skills’ (IAPS). Each of these approaches has advantages and disadvantages but we conclude that too great a reliance on IAPS reduces the likelihood that practical work will be taught and learnt as well as it might be