Quality Assurance

Quality assurance measures cover all aspects from test development to database production as John Cresswell explains in this chapter. To ensure comparability of the results across students and across countries and schools, much work has gone into standardising cross-national assessments. The term ‘standardised’, in this context, not only refers to the scaling and scoring of the tests but also to the consistency in the design, content and administration of the tests (deLandshere, 1997). This extent of standardisation is illustrated by the PISA technical standards which for the administration in 2012 (NPM(1003)9a) covered three broad standards, one concerning data, the second regarding management and the third regarding national involvement. Data standards covered target population and sampling, language of testing, field trial participation, adaptation and translation of tests, implementation of national options, quality monitoring, printing, response coding and data submission. Management standards covered communication, notification of international and national options, schedule for material submission, drawing of samples, data management and archiving of materials. National standards covered feedback regarding appropriate mechanisms for promoting school participation and dissemination of results among all national stakeholders.