2013 Conference Theme

Discussions on educational testing can become heated in both academic and public circles today. But, how many remember the historical rationales, conceptualizations, and drivers of the educational testing movement in its early days, framed around the core teaching and learning goals of schools and traceable to Teachers College (TC), Columbia University in the 1900s? As a part of TC’s 125th anniversary, the conference, Testing Then and Now aimed to examine the history and the future of educational measurement, assessment and evaluation at home and abroad, searching for deeper understandings of contemporary issues as a means to pave the way forward.

The conference program was divided into three sessions, each of which examined aspects of theme:

• Session I – Testing, Assessment and the Scientific Movement in Education: From the Thorndikes to the Present
• Session II – The Gordon Commission’s Perspectives: Moving towards Assessment for Learning
• Session III – Backlash against Testing