ACER conducts research into the assessment and reporting of a wide range of educational outcomes (academic and social). This work, undertaken for clients nationally and internationally and in support of ACER's own tests and assessment programs, includes the refinement of test constructs; studies of test validity and reliability; assessment methods and formats; psychometric analyses of test data; and methods for item banking, online test delivery and reporting.
There are two Assessment and Reporting research programs: Humanities and Social Sciences and Mathematics and Science. The Mathematics and Science program focuses on cross-curricular skills such as numeracy and abstract, scientific and quantitative reasoning as well as mathematics and science subject-based disciplines. The Humanities and Social Sciences program focuses on cross-curricular skills such as literacy, critical thinking, interpersonal development and verbal reasoning; and subject-based disciplines such as English and Studies of Society and Environment.
Many of the research activities span both areas; others are unique to one or the other.
| Project Name | Funding | Director |
|---|---|---|
| ACT Scaling Test ( AST) | Doug McCurry | |
| Development and Delivery of Assessment Items for WAMSE Program | Western Australian Department of Education | Ron Martin |
| PAT Maths Plus | ACER Press | Andrew Stephanou John Lindsey |
| Australian Science Innovations - Science Competition | Rio Tinto and Australian Science Innovations | Ron Martin |
| Evaluation of literacy and numeracy diagnostic tools currently in use in Australian schools | DEEWR | Margaret Forster |
| Adult Literacy and Numeracy Assessment -NZ | Tertiary Education Commission, New Zealand | Juliette Mendelovits |
| Brunei Consultancy NSSCME 2008 and 2010 | Ministry of Education, Brunei Darussalam | Andrew Stephanou Prue Anderson |
| PATScience | ACER Press | Ron Martin |
| MathOnline Interview | DEECD | Ray Peck |
| Assessment Items for the WA Monitoring Standards in Education | DET WA | Ron Martin |
| Car Driver Learner Permit Knowledge Test | VicRoads | Mark Butler |

Higher education research and assessment
Recent publications
Monitoring Australian Year 8 student achievement internationally: TIMSS 2011
TIMSS & PIRLS
· December 2012
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