Collaborative Development of Assessment and Measurement Training in Oman

• In Event: Thinking Globally, Acting Globally: Research and Assessment Collaboration and Capacity-Building in International Settings

Abstract

The influence of international assessment programs such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) on the assessment practices of different countries cannot be understated. Oftentimes, these assessments require a level of technical expertise that the ministries of education of different countries need to develop in order to participate in them, and to apply similar approaches to their own national assessment programs.
In 2013, the Ministry of Education (MoE) in the Sultanate of Oman released a tender to invite international educational organizations to assist it in establishing a National Centre for Assessment and Examinations for the school education system in the Sultanate. The aim has been to develop an Assessment Centre that can deliver a robust assessment and qualifications system which is valued and respected both nationally and internationally. As a part of the tender, the MoE wished to establish an Analysis and Research Section in the Centre that will be responsible for statistics, psychometrics, data analysis, and research.
Pearson and the Educational Research Center (ERC) were chosen by the MoE to help develop the knowledge and skills needed by the Section’s staff to carry out their mission of supporting the work of the Centre. In order to provide the best training possible to meet these needs, this was to be done via the delivery of face-to-face professional development modules in Oman.
Prior to the development of the training, the Pearson/ERC team made a site visit to Oman to meet with the MoE and elicit from them information regarding the staff’s current level of technical expertise; the resources such as software and technical support that would be available to the staff to carry out their work; and the general educational and assessment context in which the staff would be working.
In this presentation, I examine the collaborative process used by the Pearson/ERC team and the MoE to review and the results of the site visit; modify the training topics that had been asked for in the tender; create and put into action the training; and evaluate the success of the training.

Author

• Michael J. Young, Michael J Young Consulting, LLC