Curriculum and Assessment Unit members and Assessment Specialist received a training entitled “Core Skills for Developing Fair and Effective Tests” between 9-11 April.  The training was delivered by Anna Whinnett of Nile, one of the biggest providers of professional development courses for EL teachers, trainers and other education professionals in Europe.

The training examined areas in testing and assessment applicable to our context. There was a practical and collaborative emphasis to the training and as participants we worked together to write and evaluate our own test items. By exploring the development of test items in the four skills and running statistical analysis on tests and items, we gained a deeper understanding of good practice in language assessment.

During the three-day training, the focus was generally on general principles in testing, testing the productive skills, testing the receptive skills, evaluating test items/tests/rating, and alternative assessment.

 

Overall, the training was beneficial regarding its focus on our own tests and needs. Here are some of the reflections of participants:

 

** I’ve found this training programme quite useful since it gave me the opportunity to realize that we’ve been experiencing the same problems and sharing the same concerns all around the world. Through our discussions, we’ve also understood that we’ve been doing many things right. Additionally, during these three days, we’ve had the chance to reflect on our current exams and we’ve formed new ideas to improve them in the near future.  Thanks for the opportunity…

 

** This 3-day training has been quite fruitful as it has given us the chance to look at other practices around the world as well as our own practices from different perspectives and question them at times. We have also got the opportunity to do hands-on practice along with brushing up our knowledge of the theories.