Introduction to Standard Setting - a face to face training - an overview of standard setting and how it fits into the process of aligning tests to an external framework, such as the CEFR. It includes practical advice on setting up, running and validating standard setting in your institution.

How is this course delivered? This practical course is delivered in person. It consists of two 90-minute sessions, and a 30-minute break.

What knowledge and/or skills will I gain from this training?
The ALTE Standard Setting training covers the following:

• How standard setting relates to aligning your test to a language proficiency framework
• What terminology and concepts are essential to know
• Which standard setting methods best fit your context
• How to prepare for standard setting and run it effectively
• Collecting internal and external evidence to validate your standard setting 

Who is this training suitable for? 
No previous knowledge of standard setting is required, although it does assume a basic knowledge of whatever language proficiency framework your test is aligned to. For most ALTE members, this is usually the CEFR, and this is the framework which will be used to exemplify points during the workshop. The workshop is suitable for people who are new to standard setting, those who need a refresher, or those who are preparing for an audit.

Can I run standard setting for my institution after attending this training?
This course is introductory, so it depends on the level of expertise and resources available in your institution. The ALTE Services Unit offer a bespoke in-house standard setting consultancy service for institutions to enable them to set up and run standard setting. This could be through in-service training or a scaffolded mentoring and support service. Please contact the ALTE Services Unit for details.

Does this training require and specific software?
No, it doesn't, but it is a paper-free ‘green’ workshop, and all material will be delivered/shared online. You will need your own laptop.

How can I pay?
Full payment is required on registration. We strongly recommend that payment is made online using a Visa, MasterCard or American Express. However, if it is not possible to pay with a credit/debit card when registering, please contact the ALTE Services Unit (servicesunit@alte.org) to request an invoice with bank transfer payment instructions.

Course exact location
This course will take place at Escola Oficial de Idiomes Guinardó, Av. Mare de Déu de Montserrat, 78 (edifici de la dreta, planta baixa) 08024 Barcelona.

Who is the tutor? 
The course will be presented by Jane Lloyd (Cambridge University Press and Assessment). Jane is Senior Research Manager at Cambridge English. Her main responsibilities are leading on standard setting for Cambridge exams, working on large-scale educational reform projects with ministries and NGOs, and working for ALTE. Her work for ALTE is to support other national language test providers. This includes: statistical analysis of items, analysis of rater performance, research into exam and language use at regional and national level, courses and training in assessment, preparation for audits, and training for item writers, test designers and raters. Jane has a degree in Linguistics, a DELTA, an MA in Linguistics and TESOL, and an MA in Language Testing. She is currently studying for a PhD in Language Testing at CRELLA. 

Expression of Interest in ALTE Courses
If you would like to express your interest in this course, or any other ALTE course, please click here.

Responding to the CEFR Alignment Handbook

Sharing experience of alignment activities and reflecting on lessons learned - a conference organised by ALTE, British Council, EALTA and UKALTA.

Hosted by Blanquerna - Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, 18–19 October 2024.

The registration is now open! The registration fee is £50. 

For more information about the programme, please follow this link: http://cefralignconfbcn.blanquerna.edu/programme/

To register, please click here.

The ALTE Services Unit is organising a course in Barcelona on 17th October: Introduction to Standard Setting.
To register, please go to: https://alte.org/event-5833147

For more information about the conference, please see the event's website http://cefralignconfbcn.blanquerna.edu/ 

The next round of the Orientation to the ALTE Audit System training for auditees will take place on Monday 21^st October 2024 online, on the Microsoft Teams platform.

The Orientation Session,  is obligatory for representatives of Members and Associate Members wishing to be audited. The session will provide an introduction to the ALTE audit system and will cover the documentation, requirements, responsibilities and Minimum Standards.  The course will be online, through the Microsoft Teams platform.  

The Programme of the training session will be available in due course.

Please note that there is no charge for the Orientation to ALTE Audit System Training.

Registration is now open. The deadline to register is Thursday 17^th October 2024.

This innovative advanced course in Item Writing for language tests has been created to facilitate the needs of those item writers who need a more in-depth knowledge and solutions. 

The course also tackles the usage of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Item Writing and will demonstrate how AI can be used in the process. 

The course will be divided into two parts: Advanced Item Writing sessions, and elements of Artificial Intelligence in Item Writing. 

In the Item Writing part, you’ll look at the interplay between the language skills in assessment: reading, speaking, listening, and writing.  You’ll discuss choice of task type in relation to CEFR descriptors, in particular, communicative language competency descriptors.  Producing assessment criteria for speaking and writing as well as developing Test specifications and Item Writer Guidelines will also be covered.

For many organizations Language Test Item Writing has also become a digital process, with the use of digital resources, tools, and online applications. In the Advanced Elements of Artificial Intelligence in Item Writing sessions you will discuss the digital side of Item Writing: item types, configuring automatic or human correction, scores, using metadata, using on-the-fly test generation… 

You will also discuss questions such as:  

• How can AI help to generate materials for a test? 

• Can AI help to define the (CEFR) level of a question? 

• Can AI (help to) generate full items? 

• Should item writers think about automatic correction or grading when designing the items?

The course is divided into two parts across four full days and two half days.  Please see below how the course is structured, so you can plan your calendar accordingly. 

PART 1:    

Day 1: 28 October (Monday), 10 am* – 1 pm & 2 pm – 5 pm – Advanced Item Writing: Communicative language competences and testing   

Day 2: 29 October (Tuesday), 10 am – 1 pm (half a day) – Artificial Intelligence in Item Writing 

Day 3: 30 October (Wednesday), 10 am – 1 pm & 2 pm – 5 pm – Advanced Item Writing: Communicative language competences and testing    – cont. 

PART 2:

Day 1: 13 November (Wednesday), 10 am – 1 pm & 2 pm – 5 pm – Advanced Item Writing : Productive skills and assessment criteria

Day 2: 14 November (Thursday), 10 am – 1 pm (half a day) – Artificial Intelligence in Item Writing 

Day 3: 15 November (Friday), 10 am – 1 pm & 2 pm – 5 pm – Advanced Item Writing  Productive skills and assessment criteria – cont.   Developing test Specifications and Item Writer Guidelines.

*All times are in the CET zone. 

Although ALTE created the course mainly for those who have participated in the ALTE Item Writing Basic course, the course is open to anyone interested in deepening their knowledge of Item Writing. 

Please note that it is possible to join part 1 or part 2 of this course only. 
However,  we encourage you to participate in both parts as this will be more beneficial, both for you, the tutors and other participants, so the same group can be maintained.  If you would like to join only one part of this course, please contact servicesunit@alte.org .

CERTIFICATE OF ATTENDANCE

ALTE will issue a digital certificate of attendance for those who participated in at least 80% of the teaching hours (for the parts of the course they chose when signing up). 

The tutors are: Annie Broadhead and Bert Wylin, two world-class consultants to deliver this unique and state-of-art course. 

Annie Broadhead is an Assessment consultant, ESOL teacher trainer, test developer and ELT author based in Cambridge, UK. Annie has run online courses in the Principles of Testing and ALTE Item Writer courses in several countries. Annie has delivered various courses for ALTE across the years, such as ALTE Item Writing Course - Getting to know the basics; 

Bert Wylin has both an academic and a business profile. He has worked at the KU Leuven since 1993, leading the Education Innovation Centre (integrating EdTech in education). In 2001, he founded a KU Leuven university spin-off, now Televic Education, developing and servicing an e-assessment platform. Bert has delivered various courses for ALTE such as Developing Digital Assessments and Developing Digital Testing with Artificial Intelligence.  

Payment and Cancellation policy

Payment is in full when registering. Payment can only be made online using a Visa, MasterCard or American Express. 

In case of cancellation up until one month before the start of the events, the full amount will be refunded minus a €50 administration fee. However, in the case of cancellation after this date, no refunds can be made.  

Use of Personal Data Disclaimer

I agree that by clicking 'Register', the personal data I include in the registration form may be used and held by ALTE staff and third parties, only for the purposes related to the organisation of the ALTE Item Writing - Getting to know the basics course.

ALTE's 61^st Meeting and Conference will be hosted by Yunus Emre Institute, and it will take place in Istanbul, Türkiye, from 6^th - 8^th November 2024.

The conference will be organised mainly as a face to face event and will include workshops, plenary presentations and also the Annual General Meeting (AGM) to which Members (Full Members/Associate Members and Individual Expert Members) are encouraged to attend.

Friday 8^th November 2024 will be an open conference day for all those with an interest in the field of language testing. The theme of the conference day is:  The Transformative Power of EDI in Language Assessment. 

The events during the conference day will be live streamed and video recorded, except for the workshops in the afternoon.

Contributions to the host organisers of the event (Yunus Emre Institute) should be paid by each representative from ALTE Members/Associate Members/Individual Expert Members, as follows:

• €50 for in-person attendance;
• *€15 for online attendance

Detailed information on how to send the payment to the host organisation can be found at page 3 of the practical information document. 

PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME

For more information about the practical arrangements of the event, please click on the practical information document. 

The deadline for the registration at the event is Friday 25^th October 2024.

*Online attendance has been arranged for the ALTE Annual General meeting (AGM), the MLTDE working group, on Thursday 7^th November, and for the plenary sessions of the ALTE Conference Day, Friday 8^th November. Please note, the workshops on Friday afternoon will not be live streamed or video recorded.

Cancellation policy: If you are not attending the event anymore, please inform the ALTE Secretariat as soon as possible. Refunds for the €50 contribution are possible, but the €15 contribution is non-refundable. Refunds may take 2 to 3 months to process, and bank charges may apply.

Developing Valid Assessments

This workshop provides an overview of how test development and the validity of an exam are related. It shows how designing your exam in line with following principles of good practice increases the validity of your test and your test development processes.

What knowledge and/or skills will I gain from this workshop?

The Developing Valid Assessments workshop covers the following:

• What does a test development cycle consist of?
• An overview of key concepts of validity
• The practicalities of designing valid tests
• Evaluating the validity of a test

Who is this workshop suitable for?

This workshop is an introductory level workshop. It is not particularly theoretical, or based around a specific test, but aims to give a general overview of concepts and assessment terms related to validity and test development, and to provide practical steps which test providers, and classroom teachers can implement. It is suitable for those with an interest in designing better tests, either at an institutional level, or for testing your learners in the classroom. No previous knowledge of this area is required.

How is this workshop delivered?

This practical workshop is delivered in person. It consists of two 90-minute sessions, and a 30-minute break in the morning, a lunch break, and further input in the afternoon for approximately two hours. It consists small breakout sessions, bite-size introductory input, individual study tasks, group discussions, and interactive Q&A. A pre-course questionnaire will be used to tailor the tasks to the level and preferences of those attending.

Does this workshop require and specific software?

This course does not require any specific software, but it is a paper-free ‘green’ workshop, and all material will be delivered/shared online. You will need your own laptop.

Who is the tutor?

The course will be presented by Jane Lloyd (Cambridge University Press and Assessment). Jane is Senior Research Manager at Cambridge English. Her main responsibilities are leading on standard setting for Cambridge exams, working on large-scale educational reform projects with ministries and NGOs, and working for ALTE. Her work for ALTE is to support other national language test providers. This includes: statistical analysis of items, analysis of rater performance, research into exam and language use at regional and national level, courses and training in assessment, preparation for audits, and training for item writers, test designers and raters. She has a degree in Linguistics, a DELTA, an MA in Linguistics and TESOL, and an MA in Language Testing. She is currently studying for a PhD in Language Testing at CRELLA. 

If you're employed by a Turkish organisation, please fill in the form: https://forms.gle/je3zMNpkQwPzW7ey7 and we will then proceed with the payment.

The ALTE 61^st Conference Day will take place on Friday 8^th November 2024, Istanbul, Türkiye, hosted by our ALTE Member, Yunus Emre Institute.

 Friday 8^th November 2024 will be an open conference day for all those with an interest in the field of language testing. The theme of the conference day is: The Transformative Power of EDI in Language Assessment.

The sessions during the conference day will be live streamed and video recorded, except for the workshops in the afternoon. 

The registration fee to attend this event for Non-Members is:

• €50 for in-person attendance;
• €15 for online attendance.

Detailed information on how to send the payment to the host organisation can be found at page 3 of the practical information document. 

PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME

For more information about the practical arrangements of the event, please click on the practical information document. 

The deadline for the registration at the event is Friday 25^th October 2024.

Cancellation policy: If you are not attending the event anymore, please inform the ALTE Secretariat as soon as possible.  Refunds for the €50 contribution are possible, but the €15 contribution is non-refundable. Refunds may take 2 to 3 months to process, and bank charges may apply.

The ALTE course in Developing Digital Assessments is aimed at everyone who would like to learn how to move from paper-based tests to digital tests.
In this 2-day online workshop, ALTE will guide you through the different steps of the transition to digital language testing. From the authoring process over the balanced composition of tests, user management and planning to the actual computer-based administration and processing of results and reports. In four sessions of 3 hours each, the basic concepts of digital language testing, including machine learning, large language models (LLM) and AI, are introduced and applied to your concrete situation and needs. The workshop format is specifically designed to ensure that you seek applications for your own use case.

About the course tutor:

Bert Wylin has both an academic and a business profile. He has been working at the KU Leuven since 1993, leading the Education Innovation Centre (integrating EdTech in education). In 2001, he founded a KU Leuven university spin-off, now Televic Education, developing and servicing an e-assessment platform. Today, Bert is interested in how technology serves the didactic and pedagogical needs of content and skills measurement. 

Payment and Cancellation policy

For group bookings, ALTE advises to book maximum three places per institution.  If you would like more people to attend from your institution, please contact: servicesunit@alte.org .
   
Payment is in full when registering. Payment can only be made online using a Visa, MasterCard or American Express. 

If you cannot pay with a credit/debit card please contact the ALTE Services Unit: servicesunit@alte.org. In such a case we issue an invoice first, and only then a bank transfer will be possible.
In case of cancellation up until one month before the start of the events, the full amount will be refunded minus a €50 administration fee. However, in the case of cancellation after this date, no refunds can be made.  

Use of Personal Data Disclaimer

I agree that by clicking 'Register', the personal data I include in the registration form may be used and held by ALTE staff and third parties, only for the purposes related to the organisation of the ALTE course in Developing Digital Assessments.

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Please note that ALTE will never ask you to pay via a third party website.
Please avoid clicking on any links that direct you to a payment website other than WildApricot.

ALTE's 62^nd Meeting and Conference will be hosted by CBAC WJEC and it will take place in Cardiff, United Kingdom, from 2^nd - 4^th April 2025.

The first 2 days (Wednesday and Thursday) of the event are open only to representatives of ALTE Full Members/Associate Members and Individual Expert Members.

Friday 4^th April 2025 will be an open conference day for all those with an interest in the field of language testing. 

More information about this event will be available in due course. 

ALTE's 63^rd Meeting and Conference will be hosted by The Foreign Language Centre at the University of Pécs and it will take place in Pécs, Hungary, from 5^th  - 7^th November 2025.

The first 2 days (Wednesday and Thursday) of the event are open only to representatives of ALTE Full Members/Associate Members and Individual Expert Members.

Friday 7^th November 2025 will be an open conference day for all those with an interest in the field of language testing. 

More information about this event will be available in due course.