Digital divide? Has the introduction of computer-based testing skewed the results of PISA’s assessments?

Digital divide? Has the introduction of computer-based testing skewed the results of PISA’s assessments?

Speakers: Dr John Jerrim, Professor of Education and Social Statistics, University College London Institute of Education
Date: 13 Feb 2018 Venue: 23 Great Smith St Westminster London SW1P 3DJ
Time: 15:00 - 18:00
Type: Roundtable Fee: Free

Cambridge Assessment is sponsoring the Centre for Education Economics (CfEE) roundtable forum on Tuesday, 13 February 2018.

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a major cross-national study of 15-year-olds’ academic skills, which has increasingly come to dominate education-policy discussions worldwide since it was first carried out in 2000. In recent years, policymakers have come to benchmark the success or otherwise of their policies by the changes in PISA performance over time. Yet there are many challenges to measuring trends using large-scale international assessments such as PISA. For example, administration and analysis procedures can change between survey rounds, which could potentially contaminate the results and make them difficult to interpret.

In a new paper, Dr John Jerrim, Professor of Education and Social Statistics, University College London Institute of Education considers a major change to the administration of PISA 2015 and the move, from paper-based assessment to computer-based assessment. The use of computers in large-scale educational studies has several attractions, including the introduction of more interactive questions, efficiencies in processing and marking, and enabling greater insights into test-taking behaviour. Yet, in the short-term, the change poses challenges, including the potential for so-called ‘mode effects’ to influence the comparability of PISA scores over time.

At this roundtable, John presents his findings on the impact of the introduction of computer-based testing as a stimulus for discussion and debate about its implications for the PISA enterprise. Read his report here.

This event is exclusive to CfEE members. If you would like to join the forum and be involved with CfEE’s initiatives, contact Karen Wespieser, Director on kwespieser@cfee.org.uk.

Related Materials

Cambridge Assessment and its Principal Research Officer Dr Tom Benton have carried out a lot of research into PISA, includingAttitudes to learning – questioning the PISA data and A re-evaluation of the link between autonomy, accountability and achievement in PISA 2009.

23 Great Smith St Westminster London SW1P 3DJ