Session Information
09 SES 14 A, Research And Practice On A-Level Examinations – A European Perspective On Student Assessment through High-Stakes Testing
Symposium
Contribution
Statewide exit exams as a special form of high-stakes testing are used by governments worldwide to guide instructional processes (e.g., Klein & van Ackeren, 2011). This symposium spreads light on current research and practice on A-level examinations in schools in five European countries (Finland, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, and Turkey). It examines the relevance of high-stakes testing through A-level exams to assess students’ competencies (Amrein & Berliner, 2002). The research presented in this symposium applies a set of different quantitative and qualitative methods to examine A-level exams as an important form of student assessment in schools. The overall theoretical framework for research towards A-level exams for all papers refers to the holistic concept of educational governance (e.g., Kussau & Brüsemeister, 2007) and school accountability (Wößmann, 2003).
The contribution by Kalender examines the applicability of computerized adaptive testing procedures (cf. Weiss, 1983) to administer upper secondary exit exams in Turkey. With the second presentation of the symposium Klein provides insights into different European educational systems by analyzing and comparing teachers’ attitudes in preparing for exams in three different countries (Finland, Ireland, and The Netherlands) on the basis of a mixed-method approach using qualitative and quantitative data for an exploratory international comparison (e.g., Phillips & Schweisfurth, 2007). The presentation by Kahnert, Endberg, Drossel, and Eickelmann considers the student perspective and examines students’ characteristics and their relationship with students’ achievement by applying structural equation modeling on the basis of student questionnaires and their achievement scores in written A-level exams in Germany. Kupiainen, Marjanen, and Hautamäki examine the relations between students’ exam choices and their course selection and achievement in Finnish upper secondary schools. Eickelmann, Lorenz, Kahnert, and Bos apply DIF-analysis (Angoff, 1993) combined with an experts‘ survey in order to research the gap between boys’ and girls’ performance in mathematics with regard to A-level exams’ items.
References
Amrein, A.L; Berliner, D.C (2002): High-Stake-Testing, Uncertainty, and Student Learning. In: Education Policy Analysis Archive 10 (18), S. 1–74.
Angoff, W. H. (1993). Perspectives on differential item functioning methodology. In P. W. Holland & H. Wainer (Eds.), Differential Item Functioning (pp. 3–23). Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Klein, E. D., & Ackeren, I. van. (2011). Challenges and Problems for Research in the Field of Statewide Exams: A Stock Taking of Differing Procedures and Standardization Levels. Studies In Educational Evaluation, 37(4), 180–188.
Kussau, J., & Brüsemeister, T. (Eds.). (2007). Governance, Schule und Politik: Zwischen Antagonismus und Kooperation [Governance, School, and Policy: Between Antagonism and Cooperation]. Wiesbaden, Germany: VS.
Phillips, D., & Schweisfurth, M. (2007). Comparative and International Education: An Introduction to Theory, Method, and Practice. London, UK: Continuum.
Weiss, D. J. (1983). Latent trait theory and adaptive testing. In D. J. Weiss (Ed.). New horizons in testing (pp. 5-7). New York: Academic Press.
Wößmann, L. (2003): Central Exit Exams and Student Achievement: International Evidence. In: Paul E. Peterson und Martin R. West (Hg.): No child left behind? The politics and practice of school accountability. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, S. 292–323.
Search the ECER Programme
- Search for keywords and phrases in "Text Search"
- Restrict in which part of the abstracts to search in "Where to search"
- Search for authors and in the respective field.
- For planning your conference attendance you may want to use the conference app, which will be issued some weeks before the conference
- If you are a session chair, best look up your chairing duties in the conference system (Conftool) or the app.