CCET (Level A) Background
Testing has become an integral part of the work of a modern school. Since the Education Act was enacted in 1998, schools have been obliged to “regularly evaluate students and periodically report the results of the evaluation to the students and parents”. Schools therefore need to have assessment procedures that provide an accurate account of students’ progress and achievement and also need to be able to provide parents with accurate and accessible information about their children’s achievements.
The Education Act also requires schools to ensure that “the educational needs of all students, including those with a disability or other special educational needs, are identified and provided for”. This is further elaborated in the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act (2004) which requires schools to assess children who are judged not to be benefiting from the normal education programme in the school.
In addition, the Department of Education and Science now requires all primary schools to administer standardised tests in English and mathematics to their pupils during their primary school years.
There are thus clear legal and practical reasons for conducting assessment in schools. While there are many different forms of assessment, there is also widespread acceptance of the value of standardised testing as one of a range of modes of assessment that help teachers to make more informed decisions in relation to teaching and learning. The results of standardised tests can also be used to inform parents of pupils’ progress and to assist in the identification of pupils that may require support.
Why do we need a qualification in Educational Testing?
Because of their value, educational tests of ability, attainment and aptitude are probably the most widely used tests in Ireland and the UK. However, there is a danger that the demand for testing and their widespread use may result in them being used by those who have little or no training and who thus may use them in inappropriate ways.
Up to recently, there has been little attention paid to ensuring high standards in the use of tests. While many teachers have practical experience of administering such tests, not all will have confidence in their ability to score, interpret, and justify their findings. While professionals such as educational psychologists and speech and language therapists receive extensive training in testing, this is not necessarily the case for other professionals, such as teachers.
There have been attempts to regulate the use of tests and the International Test Commission has published a policy on the use of psychometric tests in Ireland but there has been no way for an individual to demonstrate competence. Now, the British Psychological Society has established the Certificate of Competence in Educational testing which is a system of certification for psychologists, teachers, speech and language therapists, careers officers, occupational therapists and the like, who wish to have an objective means of demonstrating their competence in educational testing.
Increasingly, teachers and other professionals in education are required to substantiate their professional opinions, and it is likely that this will increase with the increased use of appeals mechanisms. The appropriate use of tests can provide an evidence-base that permits comparison between a student/pupil/learner’s performance and that of his or her age-peers, which may be a key element in making the correct decisions in such cases and defending them against appeal. The interpretation of test findings may also be an important consideration in devising appropriate interventions and delivering accurate feedback to others including other teachers and parents.
There is much anecdotal evidence of the misuse of test and test publishers also report instances of bad practice:
- schools using the manual and norms from one test to administer and score different tests
- schools using actual test material as practice papers;
- schools using tests with no access to the interpretative data;
- the use of experimental tests with no supporting data to identify specific learning difficulties/dyslexia.
Such poor practice increases the risks of making inappropriate decisions affecting the future lives of students/pupils/learners, resulting in adverse publicity for the schools and the possibility of court cases with potentially damaging financial penalties.
However, training leading to the Certificate of Competence in Educational Testing provides teachers and others with a means of supplying evidence of a high level of competence in the selection, administration, scoring and interpretation of results from tests of ability, attainment and aptitude.
Further details of the Certificate can be found at the British Psychological Society’s website www.psychtesting.org.uk.
