Page 27 - ELG2410 October Issue 492

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE
The future of English assessment
The futur e of English assessment

Francesca Woodward reveals five key things about the future of

English assessment.

hen Andreas Schleicher
from the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation
Wand Development (OECD)
recently described working with our experts
in Cambridge as a ‘perfect partnership’ he
couldn’t have put it better.
He made the comments on an episode of
Teachers Talk Tech Podcast which looked
at the PISA Foreign Language Assessment
(FLA), and other significant milestones on the
horizon for English assessment.
I recently teamed up with Andreas to
discuss the future of assessment. Andreas
leads the Directorate of Education and Skills
at OECD. We’ve been working together since
2018 on the FLA, a large-scale survey which
will show how English is taught and learnt in
schools across the world.
Here’s five things we discussed:

1. The PISA FLA is coming!
What should countries focus on when teaching
English? Should it be teacher training? they can create fast personalised learning develop a new product, we begin to think
Curriculum development? Or encouraging experiences with content and practice materials about the intended impact we want it to have
students to start learning as early as possible? tailored to the individual. However, it’s essential on its users and wider society.
These are big questions for the future of that the teacher is involved throughout the As a foundation for this work, we’ve
English assessment, and many of the answers learning process, because teaching and learning developed an impact framework against which
will come to light in the upcoming PISA FLA. are all about people, and AI can’t replace the to measure the outcomes of our learning and
Cambridge’s role in the PISA FLA includes social and emotional aspect of learning. assessment products. And then when products
providing test content, undertaking the scoring I would encourage teachers to experiment are out in the market, we need to know
of speaking, advising on survey design, platform with AI tools and incorporate them into their whether they are performing as expected and
development, test administration, and reporting classrooms in a way that helps students to delivering the positive impacts intended for our
against CEFR levels. The PISA FLA will give the critically evaluate AI generated content. Our learners, bearing in mind relevant contextual
world a unique look into what makes effective goal is to increase access to quality education and socio-cultural aspects.
English language teaching and learning. through digital tools, while also maintaining It’s an exciting time to be involved in
the standards of pedagogical quality that English language learning and assessment,
2. Learning and assessment will become we are renowned for. So, we’re supporting but we’ll need data to help us all stay ahead.
more integrated teachers to help them embrace the change, That’s just one of the many reasons we’re
We also discussed the importance of learn from each other, and help them get the delighted to be working with Andreas and the
integrating learning and assessment and the best out of this technology. team at OECD on the PISA FLA, because
opportunities to do that even more effectively it will give us a glimpse into the future
in the future. Teachers use assessment tools 4. The role of assessment organisations and provide this essential data for English
every day to make judgments about what will change language learning and teaching”.
learners can do and to inform next steps. Assessment organisations will need to
This is an approach that’s known to be highly adapt rapidly to the changing landscape of
effective, and technology helps us to support education. This will mean more collaboration What is PISA?
teachers even further in this area. with tech partners and governments to PISA, the world’s largest comparison
I predict that future assessments might not develop new assessment models that are more of educational outcomes, is carried out
be taken in annual cycles, but at the right time personalised, flexible and adaptable. In the every four years. For the first time, the
for learners. Of course, there will continue to age of AI tutors and personalised learning, 2025 survey will include an assessment of
be a role for summative assessment, because our role is increasingly to ensure integrity, English, using tests developed through a
being able to prove your skills in line with reliability, fairness and validity. It will also unique OECD-Cambridge partnership.
internationally recognised standards will be important to make sure that assessments The PISA Foreign Language Assessment
remain essential. However, the data you gather reflect the evolving needs of society. (FLA), a large-scale survey which will
as you learn and the formative assessments show how English is taught and learnt in
you take along the way will help build a fuller 5. Measuring impact is key schools across the world.
picture of a learners’ skills. One area that will become more important
than ever is measuring educational impact.
3. AI is here, but we still need humans! We’ve always strived to measure and report Francesca Woodward is Global Managing
AI assisted technologies will continue to on our impact, using a model called ‘impact Director for English at Cambridge University
become commonplace in education because by design’. This means that whenever we Press & Assessment.
editorial@elgazette.com 27