Despite all the rhetoric about the new millennium, few assessment issues thus far belong exclusively to the 21st century. An issue spilling over from the 20th century is the demand for schools and teachers to use assessment information to improve student achievement and enhance educational systems more generally. Among the myriad possible mechanisms for improving student achievement through the efficient use of assessment information by schools and teachers is feedback to the student learning process along with enhancement of teachers’ pedagogical repertoires. When the assessment instrument is a standardised test, the product (student responses) gives information not only about what was learnt and how well it was learnt but also about what was not learnt and hints as to why this might be so.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
American Education Research Association, & American Psychological Association & National Council on Measurement of Education. (1985). Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Allen, J. R. (2007). Fair measures of school performance. Paper presented at the 2007 ACACA Annual Conference, Melbourne.
Bennett, R. E. (2006). Foreword. In G. N. Matters, Using data to support learning in schools: Students, teachers, systems. Camberwell: ACER Press.
Bialecki, I. (2008). Assessment measurement and evaluation of literacy levels and of basic competencies in Poland. Paper delivered at UNESCO Regional Conference (Europe) in Support of Global Literacy, Baku, Azerbaijan.
Biggs, J. B. (1993). From theory to practice: A cognitive systems approach. Higher Education Research and Development, 12, 73–86.
Biggs, J. B. (1999). Teaching for quality learning at university. Buckingham: SRHE & Open University Press.
Biggs, J. B., & Moore, P. J. (1993). The process of learning. (3rd ed.). New York: Prentice Hall.
Crocker, L., & Algina, J. (1986). Introduction to classical and modern test theory. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Cronbach, L. J. (1988). Five perspectives on validity argument. In H. Wainer (Ed.), Test validity. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Ericson, D. P., & Ellett, F. S. (2002). The question of the student in educational reform. Educational Policy Analysis Archives, 10(31), Retrieved June 19, 2008, from <http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v10n31/>.
Goldstein, H. (2001). Using pupil performance data for judging schools and teachers: Scope and limitations. British Educational Research Journal, 27((4), 433–442.
Hambleton, R. K., Swaminathan, H., & Rogers, H. J. (1991). Fundamentals of item response theory. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Hattie, J. A. C. (2005). What is the nature of evidence that makes a difference to learning? Paper delivered at the ACER Conference, Melbourne.
Holland, P. W., & Wainer, H. (Eds.). (1993). Differential item functioning. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Kingsbury, G. G., & Houser, R. (1997). Using data from a level testing system to change a school district. In J. O’Reilly (Ed.), The Rasch tiger ten years later: Using IRT techniques to measure achievement in schools. Chicago: National Association of Test Directors.
Linn, R. L. (Ed.). (1989). Educational measurement (3rd edn.). Washington, DC: The American Council on Education and the National Council on Measurement in Education.
Marsh, H. W. (1990). A multidimensional, hierarchical model of self-concept: Theoretical and empirical justification. Educational Psychology Review, 2(2), 77–172.
Matters, G. N. (1997). Are Australian boys underachieving? Paper presented at 23rd annual conference of the International Association for Assessment in Education. Durban, South Africa.
Matters, G. N. (2006). Using data to support learning in schools: Students, teachers, systems. Camberwell: ACER Press.
Matters, G. N., Allen, J. R., Gray, K. R., & Pitman, J. A. (1999). Can we tell the difference and does it matter? Differences in achievement between girls and boys in Australian senior secondary education. The Curriculum Journal, 10(2), 283–302.
Mislevy, R. J., Almond, R. G., & Lukas, J. F. (2003). A Brief Introduction to Evidence-Centered Design. Retrieved June 19, 2008, from <http://www.ets.org/Media/Research/pdf/RR-03-16.pdf>.
Moss, P. A. (1992). Shifting conceptions of validity in educational measurement: Implications for performance assessment. Review of Educational Research, 62(3), 229–258.
Moss, P. A. (1994). Can there be validity without reliability? Educational Researcher, 23(2), 5–12.
OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). (2001). Knowledge and skills for life: First results from PISA 2000. Paris: Author.
Rochex, J. Y. (2006). Social, methodological, and theoretical issues regarding assessment: lessons from a secondary analysis of PISA 2000 Literacy Tests. Review of Research in Education, 30(1), 163–212.
Rowe, K. J. (2006). Evidence for the kinds of feedback data that support both student and teacher learning. Paper delivered at the ACER Conference, Melbourne.
Sarason, I. G. (1984). Stress, anxiety, and cognitive interference: Reactions to tests. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46(4), 929–938.
Stage, C. (1994). Gender differences on the SweSAT: A review of studies since 1975. Department of Educational Measurement, Umeå University, EM No. 7.
Thomson, S., & De Bortoli, L. (2008). Exploring scientific literacy: How Australia measures up. The PISA 2006 survey of students’ scientific, reading and mathematical literacy skills. Camberwell: ACER Press.
Thomson, S., Cresswell, J., & De Bortoli, L. (2004). Facing the future: A focus on mathematical literacy among Australian 15-year-old students in PISA 2003. Camberwell: ACER Press.
Willingham, W. W., & Cole, N. S. (1997). Gender and fair assessment. Princeton, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Matters, G. (2009). A Problematic Leap in the Use of Test Data: From Performance to Inference. In: Wyatt-Smith, C., Cumming, J.J. (eds) Educational Assessment in the 21st Century. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9964-9_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9964-9_11
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-9963-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-9964-9
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)