Staff Profiles
Mr Ross Turner
Principal Research Fellow
MSc (Stats), DipEd Melb, DipEd Psych Monash
Mr Ross Turner is a Principal Research Fellow at the Australian Council for Educational Research in the National and International Surveys research program.
Mr Turner’s major role in this position has been carrying out management and coordination activities in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a large international research project funded by the OECD. In the PISA project, he manages a substantial test development process across three different knowledge domains, with test development teams in several countries. He leads the development of mathematics test items, is responsible for development of a suitable methodology for reporting student achievement, and contributes to the management of other aspects of the project.
As well as management skills, his technical expertise in the areas of mathematics curriculum and assessment, statistical analysis of performance data, and educational measurement in general are called on regularly as part of the ongoing work of the project.
Before joining ACER in early 2000, Mr Turner led the development of the mathematics curriculum for the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE). As Manager Research and Evaluation at the Victorian Board of Studies, he contributed significantly to the development of assessment procedures in the VCE, to monitoring and evaluating all aspects of VCE implementation, and was responsible for provision of technical advice and development of statistical procedures. His other research interests included comparability of teacher assessments, provision of student achievement feedback data, and the development of statistical moderation procedures for the VCE.
Mr Turner was extensively involved in mathematics education as a secondary teacher for 12 years, and in teacher education programs at tertiary level.