Standardised tests help measure student's progress at school and can inform education policy about existing shortfalls. However, too much testing could lead to much pressure on students and teachers to learn and teach for a test, something that would take the joy out of the learning process. Many parents and educators are all too familiar with…

The author examines discourses of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) and World Englishes (WEs) in the commercials for 2 standardized English tests: the International English Language Testing System for study abroad in English-dominant countries and the Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program for Canadian permanent residency and…

The study examines the role that perceptions or impressions of learning environments and assessments play in students' performance on a large-scale standardized test. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used to test aspects of the Learning Errors and Formative Feedback model to determine how much variation in students' performance was explained…

This Data-to-Go brief summarizes five year GMAT testing trends for US and Canadian residents, and race/ethnicity breakdowns for US citizens. It includes: (1) GMAT exams taken by US region, US state of residence, and race/ethnicity of examinees (US citizens only), (2) GMAT exams taken by Canadian residents, by Canadian province, (3) GMAT exams…

America's fragmented, decentralized, politicized, and bureaucratic system of education governance is a major impediment to school reform. In this important new book, a number of leading education scholars, analysts, and practitioners show that understanding the impact of specific policy changes in areas such as standards, testing, teachers, or…

Background/Context: Two key uses of international assessments of achievement have been (a) comparing country performances for identifying the countries with the best education systems and (2) generating insights about effective policy and practice strategies that are associated with higher learning outcomes. Do country rankings really reflect the…

"PISA 2012 Data Tables, Figures, and Exhibits" is a companion publication to the report entitled: "Performance of U.S. 15-Year-Old Students in Mathematics, Science, and Reading Literacy in an International Context. First Look at PISA 2012. NCES 2014-024". PISA 2012 assessed students' mathematics, reading, and science literacy.…

Preliminary efficacy data are reported for a research-based reading intervention designed for struggling readers in high school. PHAST PACES teaches (a) word identification strategies, (b) knowledge of text structures, and (c) reading comprehension strategies. In a quasi-experimental design, 268 intervention and 83 waiting list control students…

This article analyzes three decades of educational reform strategies pertaining to ethnocultural diversity in the United States and Canada and how they affect the efforts of four secondary schools, two in each context, to respond to increasing student diversity. Data include 186 teacher interviews drawn from a large ethnographic study. The article…

This report has a simple aim: to present results from international assessments so readers can judge for themselves how American students stack up globally. It's intended to be a stand-alone supplement to the "Education Olympics" web event held between August 8th and August 22nd, 2008 (see edolympics.net). It shows how the U.S. has…

Today, many classroom teachers are busy preparing for standardized tests. The No Child Left Behind Act encourages such behavior. Little time is left to devote to subjects that previously were considered a vital part of the curriculum, such as social studies, physical education, art, and music. Needless to say, if these subjects have taken a back…

Discussion of the development of distance education programs in the United States, Australia, Canada, and Great Britain focuses primarily on six programs in the United States. External degree programs are discussed, standard examinations that assess prior learning are described, and credit policies for extra-institutional learning are examined.…

Accountability has become synonymous with standardized testing in many Western countries such as Canada, the United States, Great Britain and New Zealand. Schools and districts are increasingly ranked based on their students' performance on standardized tests. Unfortunately, standardized testing measures possess a number of limitations that…

The Dental Aptitude Test (DAT) in Canada and the Dental Admission Test (DAT) in the United States are discussed. A history of the DAT, its composition, underlying concepts, and the problems of validation and guidelines for its uses are presented. A review of the literature is provided. (Author/MLW)

A study of the dental school applicant pool, measured by the number of individuals taking one of two standardized dental school entrance examinations, found substantial changes in the last 15 years. Applicant pool differences in Canada and the United States and probable reasons for those differences were also analyzed. (MSE)