ProfessorJames Tognolini

My specialist research and educational evaluation work focuses primarily on educational assessment and the application and appropriateness of measurement models and theoretical perspectives to education and learning in both local and international contexts.

Much of my inquiry and professional work has pursued five major themes: (1) the refinement and application of Rasch Models to the assessment of social outcomes of education; (2) developing quality assurance measures in systems that require the collation of different forms of evidence; (3) equating stability in educational measurement; (4) standards referencing, using measurement to establish and validate standards (5) developing innovative assessments and measures for monitoring growth, teacher effectiveness and system level performance against pre-determined developmental continua.

Most recently, my research activity has been focussed upon developing models and procedures to support the international monitoring of educational outcomes through system-wide, school-level programs. System-wide testing has become an important feature of most education systems around the world and there is an increasing demand for comparative analysis and psychometric research which balances the situational and cultural factors with measurement theory and protocols.

In parallel with system-wide assessment, I have been increasingly involved in designing ways to help educational leaders of school systems, schools and parents understand and interpret data in ways that are meaningful, fair and sensible. The models and theoretical perspectives of psychometrics have increasingly been relied on for these purposes.

Against this background, a significant amount of my time has been spent in researching and advising senior educationalists and policy makers around the world on these issues. For example, I have been responsible for developing a Centre for Assessment, Evaluation and Research (CAER) for the Government of India under a PPP between the Pearson Foundation and the Human Resource and Development Ministry of the Government of India.

I have also been the Project Director for the Review of the National Testing Strategy and Assessment System for Basic and Secondary Education for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; Special Advisor for the National Assessment of Student Achievement Project (NASAP), United Arab Emirates Ministry of Education; Project Director for the United Arab Emirates National Aptitude Testing Project for University Entrance, United Arab Emirates Ministry of Education; Senior Advisor for establishing standards for national testing in China, National Education and Examiners Authority of China; Senior Researcher for developing banks of calibrated test items for the Ministry of Education in Indonesia; and Project Director for a project to examine the variability of standards reference assessment for the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.

In addition, I have conducted a policy review for the Curriculum Council in Western Australia and produced a report entitled ?Meeting the Challenge of Assessing in a Standards Based System?

Over the years, I have been the senior advisor on educational measurement issues for every State and Territory Education Department and Examination Board in Australia and New Zealand.

An area of particular interest is developing teachers? assessment skills to enable them to deliver the assessment reforms that are being mandated in countries around the world.