E-testing

As part of the Council’s strategic intent to move to e-testing effecting in the January

2017 examinations cycle, a team of representatives from the Caribbean Examinations Council

participated in a study tour at the Educational Testing Service (ETS) Global Institute.

One of the primary deliverables of the study tour was the development of a blueprint for

the implementation of e-testing in CXC Participating Territories. The study tour provided an

opportunity for CXC staff to gain from the experience and expertise of the ETS that has been

involved in electronic testing for a number of years in different countries worldwide.

Additionally, the ETS Global Institute has been the forerunner in training in e-testing and was

therefore deemed the ideal host for the study tour. The intent was for CXC staff to leverage the

experience of ETS by identifying potential challenges that could arise in this new testing

environment and devising and implementing strategies to avoid these in it's own e-testing, as

well as to learn about those strategies that worked and to improve on them for the roll-out of

CXC’s e-testing.

During the ETS study tour, the CXC team was exposed to a number of areas that were

identified as critical to the successful implementation of e-testing by CXC. These included

managing the transition from paper and pencil to e-tests; security issues in the implantation of e-

testing; computer test delivery models; the administration of e-testing, which covered areas such

as supervision and security protocol/ requirements for e-testing centres; managing item pools for

e-testing; item banking from a test development perspective as well as Next Generation

Assessment; and technology-enhanced items (TEIs).

 CXC staff also participated in an IT clinic that looked in detail at a number of computer-

based testing delivery modes. Participants found this session particularly useful as it provided

very practical examples of the strengths and potential challenges of various delivery models as

well as cost implications for the implementation of e-testing. Participation in the IT clinic also

confirmed CXC’s own research on e-testing and decisions taken regarding the CXC approach to

e-testing.

Extract from THE CARIBBEAN EXAMINER

OCTOBER 2016