An Empirical Evaluation Of The Hubei-characteristic NMET 2007

In 2004, the NMET reform took a significant step forward: nine provinces (including Hubei) were given the power to write NMET by themselves, but still under one unified guiding outline for testing formulated by the National Educational Examinations Authority (NEEA). Until 2007, there have been sixteen provinces participating in this practice altogether. This reform helps improve the overall management of education on the provincial level and facilitates the primary education reform (especially the new curriculum reform) and operation of quality-oriented education. The local characteristics can be better demonstrated in NMET and the talents can be better selected according to their attributes. What's more, the burden on the central government concerning test security is greatly lessened after the delivery of writing power.The quality of Hubei-characteristic NMET as a large-scale and high-stakes educational test becomes the primary concern after the transition of writing power from NEEA. This thesis tries to evaluate NMET 2007 from three levels (the whole test, the test components and the test items) with statistics computed from the database management system of the admission office in Hubei, in order to offer test developers insightful advice to improve writing skills.Every test has its washback effect on teaching and learning, especially for the high-stakes ones. This thesis also tries to deliver evaluation results to senior high schools and educational administrations in Hubei, for the purpose of exerting positive washback and helping them improve the teaching quality.