This post explains what item analysis is, how we use it, and what you’ll find in a robust and reliable test.
Item analysis: How reliable is your test?
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Placement testing
General English
IELTS for teachers
Corporate training: Streamlining English language testing
English language testing is crucial in the petroleum industry. This is how one training organisation found the most suitable placement test.
The Critical Thinking conundrum
Faced with AI, social media, and ‘intercultural communicative competence’, students must engage with critical thinking. Here’s how to do it.
Why an adaptive test is the only answer
At the ELITE conference in Malang, Indonesia last week Dr Adrian Raper explained why a placement test must be adaptive. This is a summary of his talk.
Extended edition: All series
Sometimes we come across a topic that we can’t fit into one post. So we created blog series. Take a look at our first four series here.
A placement test gives HOPES to Syrian refugees
This case study describes the role of the Dynamic Placement Test in an international project to help young Syrian refugees enter higher education.
The CEFR and… cooking
Andrew Stokes presents an ingenious technique for demystifying the CEFR. The idea, devised by Sean MacDonald of telc, is to compare it to cooking.
Matching test items to the CEFR: The first two stages
In this post, Andrew Stokes looks at the first two stages of matching test items to the CEFR – with an accompanying webinar clip and report.
Digital assessment: Flexibility and the CEFR
Language ability in academic versus real life settings can differ greatly. That’s why the CEFR is the perfect tool to measure what students really ‘can do’.
How to assess a test
In this post, Andrew Stokes suggests ten questions you should ask yourself when selecting a placement test.
EdTech over time
Andrew Stokes and Samuel Sheinberg look back on how EdTech has changed over the last 30 years and what we can expect in the future.
Reading is the new Speaking
How can we best equip migrants with the language skills they need to integrate effectively into their communities? It starts with Reading.
Clarity at 30: Down memory lane
Some of our partners and customers have been with us since we started 30 years ago. Here are a few memories from the early days.
Bilingualism: Tools for success
Language learning opens doors to new worlds. But getting through the language barrier is tough. Here are five reminders for when motivation wanes.
Lessons from a digital publisher: 30 years on
This year marks ClarityEnglish’s 30th birthday. Over the coming months we will share messages and lessons from a few people who have helped us get to this point. This week, Martin Moore shares four lessons for success in digital publishing.
Helping your students get the IELTS score they need
Clarity is committed to supporting teachers preparing students for IELTS not just through Road to IELTS, but through a host of other support materials too.
British Council France: Providing IELTS support for universities
On a visit to British Council Paris, Clarity’s Andrew Stokes talked to Tanguy Perrichot on providing IELTS support to universities in France. They discussed a successful approach to guided self-access.
“I’m a busy teacher and we don’t run IELTS classes…”
Try this four-step process that will provide a structure for the students’ work, leaving you free to guide and advise.
Treating the untreatable: the Philippines nurses IELTS Writing Project
The requirement for a 7.0 in IELTS Writing is stopping nurses in the Philippines from travelling to the UK, and is proving a headache to the National Health Service. Dr Victoria Clark describes how her team is analysing the problem and coming up with solutions.
Speaking tests: dramatically changing the outcome
In the second most popular TED Talk of all time, Amy Cuddy comes to the intriguing, evidence-based conclusion that altering the way we stand for just two minutes before an evaluative situation — a presentation or an exam — really can lead to better outcomes. ‘We know...