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A Principled Approach to Language Assessment Considerations for the U.S. Foreign Service Institute (2020) / Chapter Skim
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7 Balancing Evaluation and the Implementation of New Approaches
Pages 79-84

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From page 79...
... Thus, in this concluding chapter the committee addresses the basic choice about the balance between evaluation and the implementation of new approaches that are relevant to FSI in determining how to proceed. Decisions about how to set this balance will influence all aspects of the development of FSI's assessment program.
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From page 80...
... The committee's discussion of some possible changes to the current test highlights a number of ways that the coverage of the language proficiency of Foreign Service officers may be limited in capturing all important aspects of their language-related tasks, but the committee has no information about the relative importance of these omitted aspects of Foreign Service tasks. One of the key issues for FSI to consider is whether it has sufficient information to draw firm conclusions about the degree of alignment between the aspects of language proficiency measured by the test and the aspects that affect the performance of key Foreign Service tasks.
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From page 81...
... In each case, there could be very limited information, suggesting the importance of evaluation to improve understanding, or there could already be sufficient information to suggest that the test should be strengthened in some particular way or that there are no clear weaknesses. One way to find a good balance between an evaluation of the current test and beginning implementation of new approaches to assessment is to consider the examples of validity evidence discussed in Chapter 6 and the best practices for testing programs recommended by the professional standards.
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From page 82...
... Both of these routes allow assessment programs to receive new ideas from experts who come to understand the testing program and can provide tailored, useful advice. It is likely that there are constraints related to privacy and international security issues that could limit sharing data and publishing research on FSI outcomes, but it is possible that these constraints can be addressed with techniques to a ­ nonymize and share limited data for research.
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From page 83...
... As detailed in Chapter 5, whatever assessment approaches may be developed can always be mapped to the ILR framework for the purposes of final scoring and the determination of language proficiency. The committee appreciates that FSI faces complicated choices about possible changes to its language proficiency testing, and the agency's interest in exploring the many aspects of modern language testing is commendable.
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Key Terms

  • language proficiency
  • current test
  • foreign service
  • testing program
  • assessment program

  • service officers
  • principled approach
  • current language
  • assessment programs
  • current program

  • service tasks
  • testing programs
  • target language
  • fsi testing
  • regular input

  • outside researchers
  • language testing
  • current assessment
  • evidence related
  • key foreign

  • sharing data
  • basic considerations
  • validity evidence
  • complicated choices
  • insufficient evidence

  • visiting researchers
  • final scoring
  • assessment appear
  • modern language
  • assessment practices


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