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University of Oxford launches new centre for research in educational assessment

23 June 2008 

The University of Oxford will officially launch the Oxford University Centre for Educational Assessment. The centre was established by a grant from Pearson plc. The collaboration brings together research expertise in the University’s highly acclaimed Department of Education with Pearson’s international expertise in educational assessment.

In an initial 10-year relationship Pearson is funding and supporting the new centre and a Pearson Professor of Educational Assessment. Gordon Stanley is the inaugural director of the centre and Pearson Professor of Educational Assessment, taking up the appointment in April 2008. Professor Stanley was President of the Board of Studies in New South Wales in Australia from 1998-2008. In 2007 he chaired the National Numeracy Review for the Council of Australian governments. He was also a member of the NSW Vocational Education and Training Accreditation Board from 1998-2008 and an overseas member of the Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation (now HKCAAVQ). 

As well as having a full-time director, the centre will have post-doctorate scholars and DPhil students, and research staff associated with the research programme as it evolves. It is located within the Oxford University Department of Education where a number of academic staff have research interests in aspects of educational assessment, so many projects will involve them as collaborators or consultants. There will be a formal association with the Psychometric research group of the Faculty of Education at the University of Western Australia.

The launch of the centre will be marked with a round-table in Oxford, which will bring together researchers and assessment experts in the UK to look at the priorities for research in educational assessment. This will be followed by a workshop involving professionals from a number of countries to discuss emerging issues associated with assessment programmes.

Gordon Stanley, Pearson Professor of Educational Assessment and Director of the Oxford University Centre for Educational Assessment, said: ‘We look forward to working collaboratively with other researchers and agencies on the challenges confronting education systems in the quest for global qualifications and standards. The research will look at new approaches to educational assessment to help improve the understanding of different types of learning processes and outcomes. It will examine the opportunities offered by recent advances in learning and assessment technologies, and the challenges presented by the increasing requirement for global qualifications and standards.’

Dr John Hood, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, said: ‘ As education becomes increasingly global, Oxford is pleased to be leading the way in launching a research centre that will help improve learning and assessment systems in the UK and around the world.’

Professor John Furlong, Director of the Department of Education, said: ‘This is a very important new development for Oxford and for education systems around the world. Assessment is a key part of learning at every level of the education system; it is vitally important to parents, teachers, governments, as well as to learners themselves.  This new centre will help to ensure that our assessment systems in the UK and internationally are underpinned by the highest quality research.’

For further information, please contact the University of Oxford Press Office on 01865 280534 or press.office@admin.ox.ac.uk

Notes for the Editor:

* For more information on the Oxford University Centre for Educational Assessment, go to www.education.ox.ac.uk/assessment 

* Profile of Professor Gordon Stanley 

* Oxford’s Department of Education has a leading reputation for its work in child learning, comparative and international education, professional education, teacher education, and e-learning.  The staffing of the Department and its number of graduate students is expanding: last year it appointed five new professors, established five new lecture-ships and attracted funding for four post-doctoral positions. For more, go to www.edstud.ox.ac.uk 

* Pearson is a world-leading education and information company. From pre-school to college, early learning to professional certification, Pearson textbooks, multimedia learning tools and assessment programmes help educate more than 100 million people worldwide - more than any other private enterprise. It is a global leader in electronic testing services, providing testing services for academic admissions, certification and licensure programmes, with a network of over 4,000 test centres in 145 countries. It is the leading provider of educational testing services in the US to schools, districts, states and the Federal Dept of Education, and through its Student Information Systems, provides assessment, reporting and business solutions to over 25m students in over 29,000 schools. In the UK, it offers academic and vocational qualifications and testing to more than 25,000 schools, colleges and employers in over 100 countries worldwide, and delivers 9.4m exam scripts each year, with 3.8m marked on-screen in 2006.

* Pearson’s international development work in the area of educational assessment and standards for general, vocational and professional learning is led by Professor Jim Tognolini, Director, Pearson Research and Assessment based in Sydney.

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