Strategic Plan

Commitment to Research

NTA will have the highest level of research commitment in the field of scientific testing, and it will allocate and invest in human resources towards research. NTA will be a pioneer in India in psychometric based scientific research of tests, development of assessments and their computer based delivery. NTA will also conduct policy studies and lead discussions in the areas of:

• educational achievement across States and achievement gap
• teacher quality and certification
• student and teacher training needs
• educational reform

A New Generation of Tests

Given the vast scale of the country and the sheer diversity of numbers, it is no wonder that the traditional testing method is on its way out as redundant and collosal waste of resources while being replaced with the computer based test which is more transparent, hassle free and scalable.

The increased penetrations of computers and internet access has created an environment conducive to CBT and its scalable character adds to its convenience.

NTA researchers will pioneer, in Indian context, computer-based testing, which will permit innovative test items, more than once testing for JEE, NEET, etc examinations, convenient scheduling and faster marking and score reporting for students. CBT is the need of the hour as it grapples and overcomes the key challenges of a paper pen test: paper leakage, impersonation and logistics.

NTA will also introduce research based and advanced versions of computer-based tests, including multimedia questions and simulations, thereby will move beyond the boundaries of traditional paper-and-pencil tests.

Innovative Technologies for Learning

NTA researchers will use advanced technologies and advances in cognitive science to

• explore new approaches to understanding and measuring intellectual and emotional abilities, and
• better integrate assessment and instruction.

Based on research in the area of natural language processing, NTA will also develop its own web-based application that will evaluate a student's writing skills and provide instant score reporting and diagnostic feedback to both the instructor and student

Research Capabilities and Services

NTA will have distinguished research scientists, psychometricians and assessment experts as research staff. They will be hired on contract/ secondment basis from leading educational institutions. It is also planned to call faculties of leading institutes to join the NTA during their holidays to train the young professionals. The research staff will work on:

• creating fair, accurate and useful tests
• promote innovation to improve assessments, and thereby teaching and learning
• improve methods and processes for writing tests
• enhance use of IT for educational testing
• provides input for education policy

The research will focus on the following three core areas:

• i) Assessment Development and Analysis

  NTA will develop and analyze all the tests assigned to it in a standardised scientific manner. These tests will be of the highest quality and will be fair, valid, and reliable and can be equated across forms (various administrations) and years. For this the following capabilities will be developed:

  Developing Content for Fair, Valid and Reliable Tests

  NTA will develop, analyze and validate all content according to each testing program’s objectives and specifications and according to guidelines that are based on recognized standards in the field of educational measurement.

  Using Evidence-centered Design

  NTA will design tests by starting from the requirements / claims of the user institutions and the knowledge and skills of the candidates. The tests items will then be designed to yield evidence supporting those requirements/ claims. This approach will also help in creating assessments that are accessible for students with special needs

  Equating, Scaling and Scoring Tests Accurately and Reliably

  NTA will use, common psychometric methods, such as Item Response Theory (IRT) for improving the reliability of test results. NTA will create in-house highly-qualified psychometricians and research scientists with vast experience for not only conducting the foundational work to develop methodologies, but also in implementing them in equating, scaling and scoring tests. Such assessments will include selected response items (traditional multiple-choice tests) as well as constructed-response questions ― (items that elicit open-ended responses, such as short written answers, long writing tasks and samples/speech). NTA will develop expertise in scoring these questions using both human evaluators and automated scoring capabilities, using applications developed globally.

  Analyzing and Managing Complex Data

  Assessments, in addition to measuring individual skills, can measure collective progress toward state or national policy goals. NTA will create state-of-the art data analysis and management capabilities including the procedures, software and systems necessary to perform complex analysis of assessments on any scale.

  These capabilities may be used by the Government of India, State Governments, UGC, AICTE, State Boards, etc. NTA will also be able to develop content and analyse data for any national survey that the government wishes to do on a large scale and to examine the performance of the nation’s educational system as a whole.

  In collaboration with the State Governments, the NTA will host half yearly training to disseminate and advance the knowledge behind these capabilities.

  Promoting Fair and Valid Use of Test Scores

  NTA’s operational testing capabilities will also include resources designed to make tests that result in meaningful scores for all test takers. NTA will raise awareness about the valid interpretations of a test’s results, ensuring that tests cover the appropriate amount and scope of content.

• ii) Assessment Research

  NTA will engage in research to innovate and improve assessments. NTA’s research team will contribute in the field of educational measurement through research in the following areas:

  Developing Natural Language Processing Applications

  Natural Language Processing (NLP) has many applications. It is especially useful to develop automated scoring applications. One of these applications will be in developing anautomated scoring engine.

  Reliably and Validly Measuring LIfe Skills

  Some of NTA’s research capabilities will be dedicated to identifying and investigating areas that are not well represented in large-scale testing programs. NTA will look for valid and reliable methods of measuring Life Skills on a large scale.

  Research on Understanding and Enhancing Teaching

  NTA will also use its research capabilities to contribute to a new generation of assessments that can help support effective teaching at critical points throughout teachers' careers.

  Understanding Teacher Effectiveness

  NTA’s researchers will also work to develop and validate measures of teaching effectiveness. Research in this area will include expertise in classroom observation, classroom assignments, and measures of teaching knowledge.

  Integrating Assessment and Classroom Instruction

  NTA will also investigate questions such as these: What must change about schools' approaches to assessment in order to better promote quality and equity? How can teachers use assessment more effectively? Is it possible to better align assessment with classroom instruction?

• iii) Policy Research

  Promoting Effective and Equitable Education Policy

  NTA will also conduct research on and evaluation of public policy-related issues in education in order to:

  • address topics that are prominent on the agendas of Government of India, and state governments
  • apply research findings to craft policy and program ideas for educational improvement
  • publish and disseminate reports that increase understanding of education challenges and promote improvement of education and education policies