Fall 2010 Info

1. At the AERA 2011 conference we will have an International Committee organized session:

Formative Assessment: International Perspectives and Applications

Presenters:
Dylan Wiliam, Ph.D. -- Institute of Education, University of London
Chris Davison, Ph.D. -- University of New South Wales, Australia
Denny Way, Ph.D. -- Pearson, U.S.A.
Michael Flicek - Natrona County School District, Wyoming, U.S.A.
Discussant:
Lorrie Shepard -- University of Colorado at Boulder, CO

2. The international Committee offered help in language barriers and provided a "representative presentation" upon presenters’ request

3. We have a Division H - International Committee blog and a Google groups account that will be made known to all international members by advertising it more at the AERA 2011 conference:

http://aera-divh-international.blogspot.com


Future plans:

• Organize an international paper session from regular submissions for the 2011 program
• Organize an international themed poster series from accepted proposals
• Organize a meeting for international members early during the AERA convention
• Submit short articles to Reality Test on items of interest to international members
• Develop an award for "Best International paper" presented at the Div H Breakfast
• Construct a longer list of descriptors for research type appropriate for submission to Division H
• Place a handout with International Committee news at the Division H booth at each AERA conference that presents the International Committee news and gives more information of type of activities and also proposal submission topics appropriate for Division H
• Make a small video with VP talking and pictures across years at sessions, meetings, breakfast, etc., and burn on DVD and post at booth (free give away)
• Find a way to contact with international students – possibly through international faculty at their universities and encourage more submissions

AERA 2010 -- April 30- May 4, 2010

International Perspectives on Assessment for Educational Accountability


Sponsor:

Division H - Research, Evaluation and Assessment in Schools
International Committee

Schedule Information:

Scheduled Time:
Tue, May 4 - 10:35am - 12:05pm

Building/Room:
Sheraton / Plaza Ballroom D



Session Participants:

Holding Accountability Assessment Systems Educationally Accountable

*Michael Michell (University of New South Wales)


The Role of Accountability Systems in Driving School Improvement: A Case Study

*Michael J. Flicek (Natrona County School District - Wyoming)

Educational Accountability in Ireland

*Eugene Wall (Mary Immaculate College)


Diagnostic Assessment and Education Accountability

*Diane Hui (University of Hong Kong )


Chair: Zsuzsanna R. Szabo (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)
Discussant:
Joseph M. O'Reilly (Mesa Public Schools)
Stephan Henry (REASolutions)


Abstract:

Worldwide assessment is used to measure academic achievement, and currently more often for education accountability purposes. The present symposium presents four international perspectives concerning education accountability: Europe (Ireland), Australia, Asia, and the United States. The Asian presentation revolves around an educational framework for development of a diagnostic assessment tool used for educational accountability purposes. A case study from U.S.A. will describe the benefit of using a judgment panel, versus a mathematical algorithm, concerning school accountability. The European perspective will present the effect of nationally high stakes assessment on educational accountability. The session concludes with the Australian paper which examines the problematic amalgam of three different forms of ‘external’ accountability and highlights the flawed assumptions and internal contradictions of accountability policy.

Session Summary


This session has as main objective to offer an international perspective on how assessment in education is used for educational accountability. The blend of case study and theoretical presentations about large national assessment measures and their use for educational accountability will provide a world-wide perspective on accountability.

Four international perspectives concerning education accountability will be presented in this session: Asia, the United States, Europe (Ireland), and Australia. The Asian presentation revolves around an educational framework for development of a diagnostic assessment tool used for educational accountability purposes. A case study from U.S.A. will describe the benefit of using a judgment panel, versus a mathematical algorithm, concerning school accountability. The European perspective will present the effect of nationally high stakes assessment on educational accountability. The session concludes with the Australian paper which examines the problematic amalgam of three different forms of ‘external’ accountability and highlights the flawed assumptions and internal contradictions of accountability policy.

The international perspective offered by this session will allow the audience to compare, contrast, and better understand the implications of assessment for educational accountability from the different perspectives across the world. Each paper presents implications for student learning and instruction, as well as use of assessment.


Structure of the session

Presenters:
1. Michael Michell - University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia



2. Michael Flicek - Natrona County School District, Wyoming, U.S.A.



3. Eugene Wall - Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, UK




4. Diane Hui - The University of Hong Kong, China



Chair:
Zsuzsanna Szabo, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY



Discussants:
Joe O’Reilly - Mesa Public Schools, Mesa, AZ
Stephan Henry -- REASolutions

AERA 2010 at Denver, Colorado

AERA
2010 Annual Meeting
Friday, April 30 – Tuesday, May 4
Denver, Colorado

The submissions deadline is approaching: July 15th, 2009.

Division H - International Comittee Invited Session

American Educational Research Association Conference 2009

Division H - Research, Evaluation, and Assessment in Schools

International Committee --- invited session

Title:
International Perspectives: The Impact of Assessment on School Curriculum, Classroom Teaching, and Student Learning

Session Participants:

A Decade of Evolution of Assessment Policy and Practice in Irish Education
*Eugene Wall (Mary Immaculate College - Ireland)

School-Based Assessment Reform in Hong Kong on English Language Education: The Impact on Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning
*Christine Davison (University NSW, Sydney, Australia)

How the United States Is Narrowing Curriculum and Creating the Possibility of Economic Suicide
*David C. Berliner (Arizona State University - USA)


Chair & Session organizer: Zsuzsanna R. Szabo (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY)
Chair: James G. Deegan (Mary Immaculate College - Ireland)
Discussant: Michael J. Flicek (Natrona County School District - WY)

Abstract:
Large scale assessments are used around the world for a variety of purposes including sorting and selecting students, school accountability, and to inform school improvement efforts. These large scale assessments typically have one primary purpose but they are often used to serve more than one purpose. The papers presented in this session will address the issue of the intended and unintended impacts of large scale assessments on school curriculum, classroom teaching, and student learning from the perspectives of educational scholars in a European country, Asia, and the United States. The papers will consider the positive and negative, intended and unintended impacts associated with varying purposes of the assessments in the different international contexts on curriculum, classroom teaching, and student learning.

Perspective from Ireland-- Prof. Eugene Wall

Dr Eugene Wall is Vice-President Academic Affairs in Mary Immaculate College (University of Limerick) where he also teaches classes in educational psychology and educational policy. He was a member of the Council of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment for 21 years and was a member of the NCCA committee which had responsibility for overseeing the development of the current Irish primary school curriculum. He also chaired the Council’s advisory group on assessment in primary schools. He is author of the MICRA-T and SIGMA-T, the two most widely used standardized achievement tests in Ireland. He is a former president of the Irish Federation of University Teachers, having served in that role for three years.

Perspective from Asia -- Prof. Christine Davison

Chris Davison is Professor of Education and Head of School, University of NSW, Sydney, Australia and an Honorary Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong where she worked for nine years, most recently as Associate Dean (Research). She has had many years' experience as an English language teacher and teacher educator in primary, post-primary and adult settings in the Asian-Pacific area. She has researched and published extensively on the interface between English as a mother tongue and ESL development, integrating language and content curriculum, and English language assessment. Her latest books include a two volume handbook of teaching English internationally (Springer, with Jim Cummins) and a co-authored book on English language teaching innovation in China (HKU Press, with Xinmin Zheng). With colleagues at the University of Hong Kong, she has been developing and researching a range of oral school-based assessment initiatives for the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority and the Hong Kong Education Bureau, and has also been working with the Ministry of Education, Singapore, on integrating assessment for learning into their new English language syllabus.

The U.S.A. perspective -- Professor David Berliner

DAVID C. BERLINER is Regents’ Professor of Education at Arizona State University and on the summer faculty of Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. He has also taught at the Universities of Arizona and Massachusetts, at Teachers College and Stanford University, and at universities in Australia, The Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, and Switzerland. He is a member of the National Academy of Education, and a past president of both the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the Division of Educational Psychology of the American Psychological Association (APA).

He is the winner of numerous awards, most notably the Brock award and the AERA award for distinguished contributions to education, the E. L. Thorndike award from the APA for lifetime achievements, and the NEA “Friend of Education” award for his work on behalf of the education profession.

He is co-author (with B. J. Biddle) of the best seller The manufactured crisis, co-author (with Ursula Casanova) of Putting research to work, and co-author (with N. L. Gage) of the textbook Educational psychology, now in its 6th edition. He is co-editor of the first Handbook of educational psychology and the books Talks to teachers, and Perspectives on instructional time. His newest co-authored book, with Sharon Nichols, is Collateral damage: How high-stakes testing corrupts American education. Professor Berliner has authored more than 200 published articles, technical reports, and book chapters.