Paula Elosua

Paula Elosua is Professor of Psychometrics at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). Throughout her career, she has promoted measurement practices that are both technically rigorous and socially responsible.

She holds a PhD in Psychology and has additional training in computer science and statistics. She has undertaken research stays as a visiting professor in educational assessment departments at several universities, including the University of Twente (the Netherlands), the University of Massachusetts (United States), and the University of British Columbia (Canada). She actively participates in international scientific organizations that promote ethical standards and good practices in measurement and assessment, and has served on the governing boards of several of them. She worked for 11 years with the International Test Commission, is Vice President of the Assessment Section of the International Association of Applied Psychology, promoted the creation of the Assessment Section of the Interamerican Society of Psychology, and is a member of the Test Committee of the College of Psychologists.

She has authored more than 100 scientific articles, books, and conference presentations. Her research interests include the challenges of assessment in multilingual contexts; the theoretical and operational foundations for the development and adaptation of assessment instruments; the influence of language on assessment processes; and the impact of digital technologies. Overall, her career has linked a methodological approach to assessment with the improvement of education systems and the promotion of social well-being.

Keynote:

Evaluation with a Social Purpose

Educational assessment plays a prominent role in public and professional debate. While its significant contributions are widely acknowledged, it has also been subject to substantial criticism, including the predominance of a technicist approach, its limited impact on teaching, and the generation of biased results.

Although these criticisms are well founded, our understanding of assessment has evolved over recent decades. Beyond mere measurement, assessment is now recognized as a social construction, and defining its purposes requires a solid pedagogical framework and careful consideration of cultural specificities. This shift is guided by a sociolinguistic-cognitive perspective, in which ways of learning and linguistic and cultural dimensions play a central role. Inevitably, assessment is understood as a process involving multiple actors.

From this perspective, if assessment is to serve as a tool for pedagogical decision-making—as it undoubtedly should—the transparency of assessment processes and the meaningful interpretation of results must be ensured. To this end, assessment must combine a strong technical foundation, an innovative pedagogical approach, and an inclusive perspective. Within this framework lie the main contemporary challenges, including the assessment of complex competencies, learning to interpret multimodal data, integrating new technologies, and addressing diversity.

The keynote will present the foundations of this shift and, through examples from our education system, will illustrate how coherent and fair assessment can be constructed and, consequently, how it can be socially responsible.