This short article notes the disruption to public examinations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and resultant lockdowns. This provides a context to examine the way normreferencing controls the distribution of grades in England's test and examination system. This is viewed as 'the elephant in the exam room', something accepted, normalisedand hidden…

Teaching traditional art forms in schools and the community has proven an effective way of ensuring the transmission of traditional culture. But due to the lack of valid and normative assessment guidance, the assessments of Cantonese operatic singing are still developing, impairing the instructiveness in its teaching and learning and restraining…

There are two major myths concerning A level exam standards in England. First, the Ancient Myth, which insists that standards were norm-referenced until the 1980s, when they transitioned to being criterion-referenced. Second, the Modern Myth, which insists that standards transitioned again, during the 2010s, to being based upon the comparable…

The purpose of this study was to critically examine the absolute grading system applied to the English section of South Korea's College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), in a departure from a relative grading system, for the first time in 2017. English language instructors as well as English education researchers have somewhat differing…

The assessment of physical literacy is vital and challenging for researchers and practitioners. Passport for Life is a Canadian global practitioner-based, formative, criterion-referenced assessment of physical literacy that is recorded in an online program. Students complete eight assessments divided across four broad categories of physical…

This paper recapitulates the aims of the CEFR and highlights three aspects of good practice in exploiting it: firstly, taking as a starting point the real-world language ability that is the aim of all modern language learners; secondly, the exploitation of good descriptors as transparent learning objectives in order to involve and empower the…

This study examined the relationship between ninth-grade students' use of connectives (temporal, causal, adversative, and additive) in functional writing and performance on standards-based/criterion-referenced measures of reading and writing. Specifically, structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques were used to examine the relationship between…

The commentary and overview explored how curriculum and assessment reforms are being used by a small university and small country to improve the quality of education and gain international recognition. Although the reforms are potentially beneficial to the students, university, and country, there are dilemmatic factors that may either enhance or…

Knowing what students should be able to accomplish academically is the first step in knowing how to write accurate Individual Education Plan (IEP) goals. By giving students short Curriculum-Based Measurements (CBM) in areas such as reading, writing, and mathematics, teachers are able to determine current level of performance, or baseline. Teachers…

This paper reports the outcomes of a School of Law project undertaken in response to issues arising during the implementation of an institutional criterion-referenced assessment policy. The project involved the development of a set of generic assessment criteria and standards, or rubric, which could be customized to the requirements of individual…

Standards-based assessment, or at least the concept of standards-based assessment, will provide a key strategy for the implementation of the New Zealand National Qualifications Framework. This paper considers the meaning of standards-based assessment and its role in New Zealand's assessment for nationally recognized qualifications. Standards-based…

Between July and November 1993, a cross-section of Australia's school- and workplace-based vocational education and training programs was studied to identify programs using innovative assessment strategies and materials. As innovative strategies/materials were identified, the study methodology was revised and a case study approach was adopted. The…

These proceedings contain 17 papers from plenary sessions, workshops, and other presentations at a conference to consider and clarify major issues in assessment and standards in vocational education and training, including identification of problems and suggested solutions. A summary of discussions follows most presentations. Plenary session…

The New Zealand Qualifications Authority was established to develop a consistent approach to the recognition of academic and vocational qualifications. The National Qualifications Framework was designed following surveys of a number of sectors: universities, colleges of education, polytechnics, private training firms, schools, businesses, unions,…

Standards-based assessment is the student evaluation method favored by the National Qualifications Framework developed by the New Zealand National Qualifications Authority. Before determining an assessment method, definitions of key terms and concepts such as assessment, validity, and reliability must be determined. Good assessments are developed…