Date:16/01/2010

The Fourth International Conference on Testing Methodologies and Technologies was held in Beijing on January 14, 2010. This has been the fourth consecutive year that ATA being the host of such event since 2006.
Each year, the conference focuses on different themes and invites industry leaders from within China and abroad to share their insights and experiences with the Chinese testing community. The conference has become the industry event of the year with participants from governments, industry associations, enterprises and professionals in testing and assessment.

With test validity as its main theme, this year’s conference attracted an unprecedented size of over 700 participants from various sectors in the industry including sponsors, score users, test service providers and trainers. The conference started with a short film produced by ATA to introduce to the audience the history and development of testing in China, followed by an opening speech by Mr. Walter Wang, President of ATA, who highlighted the complementary roles of test sponsors, score users, test service providers, training providers and test takers. “We feel honored to have this congregation of the industry chain at the beginning of the new year”, he said, “ATA will continue with our commitment to the advancement and innovation of testing and assessment in China”.

Mr. Yu Min Hong, Founder and Chairman of New Oriental Education and Technology Group was the keynote speaker for the conference. Based on his personal experience, he stressed the importance of testing and assessment in one’s life, especially in an ever increasingly competitive market. Placing China into a global perspective, Mr. Yu suggested two actions China should take in today’s fast developing testing market: the first is to ensure compliance of local tests with international standards. “We have seen foreign certifications in China but rarely vice versa because many of our tests don’t have standards accepted internationally”.  Secondly, is to be open-minded, to be brave in introducing foreign certifications and tests into China. “We should put ourselves into global perspectives in order to maintain long term development”, he said.

Dr. Donald E. Powers, Principal Research Scientist of ETS gave a presentation on Ensuring Test Validity: Design, Scoring, Administration & Special Studies. Mr. Andrew Geak, Managing Consultant with SHL and Chartered Occupational Psychologist emphasized the importance of validity in personality assessment in the workplace. Ms. Liu Ying, psychometrician and Director of ATA Assessment and Testing Center spoke about test validity through data analysis.