Abstract:

Introduction:
The Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM), a division of Cambridge University Press and Assessment based in the North of England, has for many years provided schools all over the world with online assessments. Recently they were asked to develop an assessment for use by schools in India. The assessment was for children in their second year of EY education. CEM staff have extensive experience of developing assessments such as these, and similar assessments, PIPS and BASE, have been used in schools all over the world since the early 2000s.

Assessment Development:
Typical assessment development activities include looking to the relevant literature, curricula and other sources, building a prototype, trialling the prototype with selected schools, analysis of the data and then refining the model to find an appropriate range of questions and method of delivery to suit the target group.
However, although the project started well, it soon ran into a very big problem. Covid-19 restrictions meant that schools in India were closed and, in England, the majority of people were working from home. Instead of piloting the assessments in schools under standard conditions, the CEM team, in concert with their colleagues in India, were faced with finding ways to assess children in their own homes using unfamiliar technology. It also meant that the subsequent analysis of the resulting data needed to take into account the circumstances under which the trials were carried out.

Summary:
This paper details the processes of developing an assessment for a given audience and highlights some of the academic and cultural issues that arose. It then describes the methods of carrying out trials remotely, not only in another country, but with pupils working at home. Finally, it details the analysis of the resulting data, how that was examined and the changes made on the basis of those results.

Keywords:

Early years, Covid-19, International project, e-assessment.