The theme of the 2019 NCME conference is “Communicating with the Public about Educational Measurement.” In the context of this theme, the “public” is meant to include many possible audiences– voters, parents, educators, policymakers, journalists, and students of all ages. Ways of communicating directly with students are of particular interest. The “communications” theme encompasses two strands. One is technical in nature: We need to continue to work on developing creative and effective ways to communicate test results in a comprehensible way. This includes communicating clearly about measurement error—an ongoing challenge. Improvements in both verbal and visual means of communication, possibly including dynamic displays, are included here. Another facet of communicating with the public involves engaging in a straightforward and honest way about the role of testing in society, recognizing that it has not always been a positive one. Acknowledging the pluses and minuses of testing can lead us to produce better, fairer tests, while increasing our credibility in the eyes of the public.

In recognition of this theme, the program committee will seek a broad range of proposals for inclusion on the 2019 conference program, in particular those concerned with:

• Innovative approaches for communicating test results verbally or visually
• Dynamic displays for communicating test results
• Communicating about the pros and cons of testing
• Communicating test results directly to students

Multiple subthemes can be derived from this year’s theme that connect with the research interests and agendas of many AERA members and others participating in our Annual Meeting. A few examples include:

1) The relationship between a “post-truth” politics and the exacerbation of racial, class, and gender inequality in education policy and practice from pre-K through higher education.

2) Strategies to address the marginalization of the empirical research and knowledge of our field to ensure that it informs the development of professionals and their practice.

3) The relationship between the measures used to evaluate students, educators, schools, universities and workforce development in a standardized-test-driven system and the evidence on developmental psychology, culturally relevant ways of knowing, and the racial hierarchy that too often defines our field.

The 4th Annual CLIC Conference focuses on the analysis of the social and ethical consequences of assessment practices in second language education, ranging from macro-level perspectives, such as language ideology, to micro-level perspectives, such as classroom interaction.

Second language tests are often designed with the expressed purpose of eliminating the influence of contextual factors to generalize findings about test takers beyond the specificity of the testing situation. By limiting the effect of contextual factors, however, we may create mismatches between test outcomes and actual language use and between test purposes and test uses.

Second language assessment is a dynamic field that has undergone a number of changes and transitions resulting from a range of factors. These include the emergence of different models of language competence, developments in the design, construction and delivery of tests, and approaches to the measurement of language proficiency. Research insights into the quality and use of language assessments, advances in technology-based language assessment, and the influence of a variety of societal and political factors have also played an important role. Recent changes include an increased need for language assessment for migration, employment or academic purposes.

The conference theme allows for expositions on a wide variety of topics including, but not limited to, the following sub themes:

•Assessment literacy following changes in assessment approaches
•Assessment for transition points in education
•Transitions to technology-based language assessment
•The use of corpora and corpus linguistics methods for language testing and assessment
•Trends and challenges in developing context-specific language assessments
•Trends and challenges in classroom-based language assessment
•Developments in the assessment of lesser-taught languages
•Developments towards increased authenticity in language assessment
•Transition from assessing standard varieties to lingua franca usage

Second language assessment is a dynamic field that has undergone a number of changes and transitions resulting from a range of factors. These include the emergence of different models of language competence, developments in the design, construction and delivery of tests, and approaches to the measurement of language proficiency. Research insights into the quality and use of language assessments, advances in technology-based language assessment, and the influence of a variety of societal and political factors have also played an important role. Recent changes include an increased need for language assessment for migration, employment or academic purposes.

The conference theme allows for expositions on a wide variety of topics including, but not limited to, the following sub themes:

•Assessment literacy following changes in assessment approaches
•Assessment for transition points in education
•Transitions to technology-based language assessment
•The use of corpora and corpus linguistics methods for language testing and assessment
•Trends and challenges in developing context-specific language assessments
•Trends and challenges in classroom-based language assessment
•Developments in the assessment of lesser-taught languages
•Developments towards increased authenticity in language assessment
•Transition from assessing standard varieties to lingua franca usage

The AALHE annual conference provides professional development for assessment practitioners in higher education and is one of the best resources for advanced assessment practitioners. AALHE is consistently heralded as the best opportunity for assessment networking. No matter their institution type – small, large, public, or private – attendees always leave the conference with many new assessment colleagues.

The AALHE assessment conference

• Provides professional development opportunities for the advanced assessment practitioner;
• Provides professional development for those in the next generation of assessment professionals;
• Connects assessment professionals with others in the field; and
• Leads and advocates best practices in assessment

This event will be the seventh international Assessment in Higher Education conference. This research and academic development conference is a forum for critical debate of research and innovation focused on assessment and feedback practice and policy. The themes for our 2019 conference will invite a wide range of papers, practice exchanges and posters. Themed poster presentations, accompanied by a short pitch from the authors, have been a particular strength of the conference and have encouraged networking by delegates.

FACULTY:
Dr. Christine Fox (University of Toledo)
Dr. Svetlana Beltyukova (University of Toledo)
Dr. Theodore Walls (University of Rhode Island)
Dr. Gary Cook (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Dr. Gavin Brown (University of Auckland)

School tracks will be taught in English
Admissions close on May 30, 2019

For more information: visit the Summerschool Webpage