Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Education Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research

Selected Works

Ross Turner

Articles 1 - 30 of 32

Full-Text Articles in Education

Review Of The Piaac Numeracy Assessment Framework: Final Report, Dave Tout, Diana Coben, Vince Geiger, Lynda Ginsburg, Kees Hoogland, Terry Maguire, Sue Thomson, Ross Turner Apr 2019

Review Of The Piaac Numeracy Assessment Framework: Final Report, Dave Tout, Diana Coben, Vince Geiger, Lynda Ginsburg, Kees Hoogland, Terry Maguire, Sue Thomson, Ross Turner

Ross Turner

The Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) is an international assessment of the proficiency of adults (aged 16-65 years) in key information processing skills (reading, numeracy and Problem Solving in Technology-Rich Environments). The PIAAC Survey of Adult Skills has revealed that a considerable number of adults in OECD countries possess only limited literacy and numeracy skills. The OECD is currently reviewing the content of the frameworks and cognitive assessment instruments for the 2nd cycle of PIAAC ready for delivery in 2021-22. This report is the result of a review of the numeracy construct and assessment in PIAAC. …

Go to article

Next Steps: Measuring Reading Progress, Ross Turner Jan 2016

Next Steps: Measuring Reading Progress, Ross Turner

Ross Turner

Monitoring progress in literacy requires the international cooperation of the education community, as Ross Turner explains.

Go to article

Lessons From Pisa 2012 About Mathematical Literacy : An Illustrated Essay, Ross Turner Dec 2015

Lessons From Pisa 2012 About Mathematical Literacy : An Illustrated Essay, Ross Turner

Ross Turner

Mathematics is central in school curricula around the world, yet outcomes are mixed at best. This is true both in relation to attitudes expressed towards mathematics, and in relation to observed assessment outcomes, showing how poorly individuals are prepared to use mathematics in a world in which the ability to do so is of increasing importance. Why? This essay uses some mathematics outcomes from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 to seek explanations and possible ways forward. The main message is that negative outcomes of school mathematics arise for a variety of reasons, and they can be reversed …

Go to article

Assessing Maths Literacy: Learning From The Pisa Experience, Ross Turner Apr 2015

Assessing Maths Literacy: Learning From The Pisa Experience, Ross Turner

Ross Turner

A new book that draws on ACER’s work on one of the world’s largest international surveys is providing educators with important insights about how assessment can be used to improve learning outcomes.

Go to article

The 'Literacy' Idea, Ross Turner Mar 2015

The 'Literacy' Idea, Ross Turner

Ross Turner

A central reason why researchers and practitioners refer to domain literacy is to draw attention to the kinds of things students learn in the domain. In a traditional learning domain the focus might be on the acquisition of discrete facts, skills and procedures that have little obvious connection or utility. In a learning domain with a literacy orientation, the focus is on applying the domain’s facts, skills and procedures to support creativity and inventiveness, to solve novel problems and to deal with the kinds of challenges that life presents outside the classroom. In the case of mathematics, for example, a …

Go to article

The Development Of A Single Scale For Mapping Progress In Mathematical Competence, Ross Turner, Gayl O'Connor Mar 2015

The Development Of A Single Scale For Mapping Progress In Mathematical Competence, Ross Turner, Gayl O'Connor

Ross Turner

The authors’ intention is to develop a progress map that describes increasing mathematical competence. The main purpose of this chapter is to describe the means by which the research team has been able to use the data from a longitudinal testing program to build and refine a picture of growth in mathematical competence. In this chapter, conceptualisation of the underlying variable to be measured in developing a mathematical progress map is considered, and approaches to its development are discussed. The approach adopted is described and the results of the application of that methodology to the data generated through this research …

Go to article

Described Proficiency Scales And Learning Metrics, Ross Turner Mar 2015

Described Proficiency Scales And Learning Metrics, Ross Turner

Ross Turner

We see the process of educational measurement as one of defining dimensions of educational progression and locating learners on those dimensions. Such dimensions are variously referred to as proficiency scales or learning metrics. When we measure something using a scale we can express how much of a given attribute is possessed by that something. We use a scale of centimetres or inches to describe the length of an object. We use a scale of hours and minutes to describe an amount of time. This is also the case for educational measurement: when we measure proficiency in a subject area we …

Go to article

Class 6 Proficiency In Afghanistan 2013: Outcomes Of A Learning Assessment Of Mathematical, Reading And Writing Literacy, Tom Lumley, Juliette Mendelovits, Rachel Stanyon, Ross Turner, Maurice Walker Mar 2015

Class 6 Proficiency In Afghanistan 2013: Outcomes Of A Learning Assessment Of Mathematical, Reading And Writing Literacy, Tom Lumley, Juliette Mendelovits, Rachel Stanyon, Ross Turner, Maurice Walker

Ross Turner

In 2012, the Ministry of Education, Afghanistan, engaged the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) as a partner to support the development of a national learning assessment program in Afghanistan. To achieve this goal, the Learning Assessment unit of the Ministry of Education and ACER have collaborated to design and implement the Monitoring Trends in Educational Growth (MTEG) program in Afghanistan. MTEG is designed as a long-term monitoring program with one focus on trends in achievement outcomes in single class levels over time, and another focus on the growth of achievement in cohorts throughout the school cycle, from Class 3 …

Go to article

Scale For Mapping Progress In Mathematical Competencies, Ross Turner, Gayl O'Connor, Thomas Romberg Mar 2015

Scale For Mapping Progress In Mathematical Competencies, Ross Turner, Gayl O'Connor, Thomas Romberg

Ross Turner

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Measuring Learning Growth In A World Of Universal Education, Ross Turner Dec 2014

Measuring Learning Growth In A World Of Universal Education, Ross Turner

Ross Turner

ACER is leading the development of new ‘learning metrics’ – tools for measuring learning growth – as Ross Turner explains.

Go to article

Using Competencies To Explain Mathematical Item Demand: A Work In Progress, Ross Turner, Werner Blum, Morgens Niss Aug 2014

Using Competencies To Explain Mathematical Item Demand: A Work In Progress, Ross Turner, Werner Blum, Morgens Niss

Ross Turner

This chapter describes theoretical and practical issues associated with the development and use of a rating scheme for the purpose of analysing mathematical problems—specifically, to assess the extent to which solving those problems calls for the activation of a particular set of mathematical competencies. The competencies targeted through the scheme are based on the mathematical competencies that have underpinned each of the PISA Mathematics Frameworks. The scheme consists of operational definitions of the six competencies (labelled as communication; devising strategies; mathematisation; representation; using symbols, operations and formal language; and reasoning and argument), descriptions of four levels of activation of …

Go to article

Does It All Add Up? What’S The Story With Mathematical Literacy And Numeracy? Where To Next?, Ross Turner, Dave Tout Apr 2014

Does It All Add Up? What’S The Story With Mathematical Literacy And Numeracy? Where To Next?, Ross Turner, Dave Tout

Ross Turner

This presentation focuses on the mathematical components of the results from PISA and PIAAC. Do the two assessments of mathematical skills assess similar or related skills or are they assessing different skills and abilities? What do the two surveys show regarding the mathematical abilities of young people and adults across Australia?  What can young people and adults do in maths? What can’t they do? What insights do PISA and PIAAC provide about the teaching and learning of mathematics? What are the implications for both policy and practice in schools and vocational, adult and workplace education? What are the challenges Australia …

Go to article

Lessons From Pisa For Mathematical Literacy, Ross Turner Apr 2014

Lessons From Pisa For Mathematical Literacy, Ross Turner

Ross Turner

Drawing on results from Australia's performance in PISA, the author asks: "How do we encourage our students to see their world through mathematical lenses?"

Go to article

Using Mathematical Competencies To Predict Item Difficulty In Pisa, Ross Turner, J Dossey, W Blum, M Niss Dec 2012

Using Mathematical Competencies To Predict Item Difficulty In Pisa, Ross Turner, J Dossey, W Blum, M Niss

Ross Turner

This paper reports an analysis of features of mathematics assessment items developed for the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment survey (PISA) in relation to a set of six mathematical competencies. These competencies have underpinned the PISA mathematics framework since the inception of the PISA survey; they have been used to drive mathematics curriculum and assessment review and reform in several countries; and the results of the study are therefore likely to be of interest to the broad mathematics education community. We present a scheme used to describe this set of mathematical competencies, to quantify the extent to which solution …

Go to article

Some Drivers Of Test Item Difficulty In Mathematics, Ross Turner Aug 2012

Some Drivers Of Test Item Difficulty In Mathematics, Ross Turner

Ross Turner

This paper is one of four contributions to the symposium session at the AERA’s 2012 Annual Meeting titled Exploring Reading and Mathematics Item Difficulty: Teaching and Learning Implications of PISA Survey Data. The author presents a rubric used to analyse mathematics test items developed for use in the OECD’s PISA survey. The rubric focuses on a set of mathematical competencies that are components of mathematical literacy. The work on which this report is based suggests that demand for activation of these competencies functions as a significant driver of item difficulty, which potentially has implications for the teaching and learning of …

Go to article

Exploring Mathematical Competencies, Ross Turner Jan 2012

Exploring Mathematical Competencies, Ross Turner

Ross Turner

The author describes a set of competencies that are fundamental to the development of ‘mathematical literacy’, or a person’s ability to apply their mathematical knowledge to practical situations.

Go to article

Identifying Cognitive Processes Important To Mathematics Learning But Often Overlooked, Ross Turner Jan 2012

Identifying Cognitive Processes Important To Mathematics Learning But Often Overlooked, Ross Turner

Ross Turner

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Pisa And The ‘Latest Model’: Can An International Survey Have Anything Useful To Say To Canberra’S Mathematics Teachers?, Ross Turner Jul 2011

Pisa And The ‘Latest Model’: Can An International Survey Have Anything Useful To Say To Canberra’S Mathematics Teachers?, Ross Turner

Ross Turner

The OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment is the world’s biggest comparative survey of educational outcomes, targeted at 15-year-olds and currently operating in almost 70 countries around the world. In this presentation the author introduces the PISA project, and some of the things we can learn from such a survey. He outlines the elements of the mathematics framework that will underpin the next round of the PISA survey in 2012, which will have mathematics as the major survey domain. The author's main goal, however, will be to give you a feel for some research findings acquired through his work in …

Go to article

Identifying Cognitive Processes Important To Mathematics Learning But Often Overlooked, Ross Turner Dec 2010

Identifying Cognitive Processes Important To Mathematics Learning But Often Overlooked, Ross Turner

Ross Turner

This article is based on the author's presentation to ACER's Research Conference 2010 that introduced a set of mathematical competencies that deserve to be given more attention in our mathematics classrooms, on the grounds that the possession of these competencies relates strongly to increased levels of mathematical literacy. These competencies are: communication; mathematising; representation; reasoning and argument; strategic thinking; and using symbolic, formal and technical language and operations. The author argues that widespread under-representation of these competencies among the general populace contributes to unacceptably large measures on the mathematics terror index. The argument in support of these competencies comes out …

Go to article

Pisa Mathematics - An Insider's View, Ross Turner Jul 2009

Pisa Mathematics - An Insider's View, Ross Turner

Ross Turner

In this paper the author describes what it is that the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) mathematics assessment aims to measure, and presents a case regarding the potential benefits that could flow from a pedagogy that takes the PISA mathematics challenges seriously. Other potential uses of PISA data are also briefly canvassed.

Go to article

Pisa: An Introduction And Overview, Ross Turner Dec 2008

Pisa: An Introduction And Overview, Ross Turner

Ross Turner

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) provides such information  about 15-year-olds that can be both insightful and useful for science teachers.  PISA is a collaborative effort undertaken by member countries (and many nonmember  countries) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),  which has its headquarters in Paris, France.  PISA measures 15-year-olds’ capabilities in reading literacy, mathematical literacy,  and scientific literacy every three years. PISA was first implemented in 2000, and the  most recent results are for the 2006 assessment. Each survey assesses one subject  area in depth. The other two subjects also are assessed at the same …

Go to article

Learning About Students' Mathematical Literacy From Pisa 2003, S Mccrone, J Dossey, Ross Turner, M Lindquist Jul 2008

Learning About Students' Mathematical Literacy From Pisa 2003, S Mccrone, J Dossey, Ross Turner, M Lindquist

Ross Turner

The need for mathematical literacy in our world today and shares results from the 2003 PISA assessment of mathematical literacy. Includes ideas for incorporating similar problems in the classroom. Several examples of PISA problems are included, as well an internet address where other released PISA test items can be found.

Go to article

Pisa 2003—Mathematical Literacy And Learning In The Americas, John Dossey, Sharon Mccrone, Ross Turner, Mary Lindquist Dec 2007

Pisa 2003—Mathematical Literacy And Learning In The Americas, John Dossey, Sharon Mccrone, Ross Turner, Mary Lindquist

Ross Turner

The article provides an overview of the mathematics assessment program of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Developments’ (OECD) Program for Student Assessment (PISA). As such, it provides a comparative view of the PISA results for Canada, Mexico, and the United States. It outlines the program, its frameworks, and competencies PISA uses to describe the achievement of 15-year-olds in over 40 countries participating in the PISA assessments. Particular attention is given to the PISA conception of mathematical literacy and cross-disciplinary problem-solving. These two areas were a focus of the 2003 assessment. In addition to a discussion of general results, two …

Go to article

Developing Mathematical Literacy, Ross Turner, L Steen, H Burkhardt Dec 2006

Developing Mathematical Literacy, Ross Turner, L Steen, H Burkhardt

Ross Turner

Mathematical literacy has received increasing attention in many countries over the last few years. This is partly driven by concerns of employers that too many students leave school unable to function mathematically at the level needed in the modern world of work. Further, it is increasingly recognised that people can only tackle many of the challenges of modern life effectively if they are mathematically literate in key areas. Planning in personal finance, assessment of risk, design in the home or on the computer screen, and critical appraisal of the flood of statistical information from advertising, politicians and the press — …

Go to article

The Roles Of Modelling In Learning Mathematics, Malcolm Swann, Ross Turner, Caroline Yoon, E Muller Dec 2006

The Roles Of Modelling In Learning Mathematics, Malcolm Swann, Ross Turner, Caroline Yoon, E Muller

Ross Turner

This chapter illustrates how Applications and Modelling promote the learning of mathematics by developing the student’s mathematical language and her use of tools, and by developing the learner’s capacity to ask and answer questions in, with, and about mathematics.

Go to article

Modelling And Applications In Pisa, Ross Turner Dec 2006

Modelling And Applications In Pisa, Ross Turner

Ross Turner

Several test items from the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) are now in the public domain. Some of these incorporate elements of modelling. This paper highlights a selection of those items, shows some interesting student outcomes such as gender differences and item difficulty, and poses some questions about the implications of these items for school mathematics.

Go to article

The Programme For International Student Assessment: An Overview, Ross Turner, Ray Adams Dec 2006

The Programme For International Student Assessment: An Overview, Ross Turner, Ray Adams

Ross Turner

This paper provides an overview of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), an on-going international comparative survey study of educational outcomes at age 15. PISA is sponsored by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and for the period 1998-2010 has been designed and implemented by a consortium led by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER).

Go to article

Pisa – The Programme For International Student Assessment – An Overview, Ross Turner Nov 2006

Pisa – The Programme For International Student Assessment – An Overview, Ross Turner

Ross Turner

An overview of the PISA project is given in order to set a context for a consideration of the ways in which this large international assessment programme uses scientific measurement principles and techniques. The overview describes the goals of the project, its major organisational features (its participants, its procedures and organisational structure, its main implementation steps) and its major technical components (test design, test development, sampling, assessment operations, data scaling and analysis, and reporting). The ways in which measurement principles are used are interwoven with the discussion of the relevant technical components. The paper concludes with a detailed discussion of …

Go to article

El Programa Internacional Para La Evaluación De Los Alumnos (Pisa). Una Perspectiva General, Ross Turner Feb 2006

El Programa Internacional Para La Evaluación De Los Alumnos (Pisa). Una Perspectiva General, Ross Turner

Ross Turner

This article provides a general overview of the PISA project with the aim of setting up an appropriate context for debating on some specific outcomes of the 2003 assessment survey. This general perspective focuses on the goals of the project, its participants, proce­dures and organisation, its major components and methodologies as well as on the precise ch­aracteristics of Mathematics in PISA, which was the main assessment subject in 2003. Similarly, a very brief summary on certain key outcomes of PISA 2003 assessment in Spain is also provided.

Go to article

Performance Feedback To Schools Of Students’ Year 12 Assessments : The Vce Data Project, Ross Turner, Ken Rowe, K Lane Dec 2001

Performance Feedback To Schools Of Students’ Year 12 Assessments : The Vce Data Project, Ross Turner, Ken Rowe, K Lane

Ross Turner

This chapter describes a current project conducted in Victoria, Australia, to engender within-school improvements in teaching, learning and student achievement via the provision of performance feedback data from the Year 12 Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) assessment program. With a key focus on improvement, the purpose of the VCE Data Project aims to assist schools to monitor the effectiveness of their within-school teaching and learning programs for students on up to 53 subjects in a given year, and over time. Within the context of a discussion of issues related to the responsible feedback of student performance data to schools for …

Go to article

Next Last