Arab Centre for Educational Testing Service

The Centre has been established as a regional instructional centre for testing and educational measurement and evaluation under a cooperative agreement between Amman Arab University for Graduate Studies and the Educational Testing Service (ETS Global B.V.) based in Princeton, USA. The cooperative agreement establishes the framework for the Centre and the roles and responsibilities of the parties, and has been approved by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

The Centre is overseen by a seven-member Board of Directors. Three members are designated by AAUGS, one of whom is the President of Amman Arab University for Graduate Studies or his representative, who serves as Chair. Three members are designated by (ETS Global B.V.), and a seventh member is selected by the Parties in cooperation: A Centre Director from the employees of AAUGS will be appointed by the Board of Directors.

 The Centre encompasses a group of professional experts in the fields of measurement, evaluation, testing development, and teacher education from within the University or from experts approved by the (ETS) or from community members who have outstanding experience.

Services and Activities of the Centre:

The Centre provides professional development programs and services on issues related to education reform and the use of testing and evaluation results for the improvement of teaching and learning. Classes and professional development activities are conducted on the campus in Amman, as well as other locations in the region, convenient to the participants.

 The most important services and activities of the Centre are:

·         Cooperating with school administrations to prepare standards- based programs and tests that are designed to evaluate the extent to which the educational goals have been realized and compare the educational outcomes according to the adopted standards. 

·         Designing and implementing training programs under contractual cooperative agreements with other institutions seeking to satisfy their training needs in the fields of teaching, item banks, and teacher education.

·         Organizing and running training courses in item banks aimed to develop evaluation methods, and the use of advanced educational technologies and promote the capabilities and skills of educational institutions in constructing item banks, preparing and administering exams, and analyzing their results, ultimately, leading to improving the learning - teaching process.

·         Running training programs and courses for educational institutions staffs based on Pathwise series which are created by (ETS) for the preparation .and education of teachers and educational leaders.

·         Overseeing the administration of tests prepared and developed by (ETS) such as (TOEFL) and (TOEIC).

·         Providing training programs aimed at developing the knowledge and skills of students and faculty involved in graduate studies. Such programs will be focused on the concepts of measurement, evaluation, test building, questionnaires, and statistic analyses needed for scientific research and studies.