Section I Background to Higher-Stakes Assessment -- 1 Introduction and Background to High-Stakes Assessment -- 2 Research Literature -- 3 Issues in High-Stakes Assessment -- 4 Background to the Hong Kong Education System -- 5 The Initial 1996 Consultancy Study -- 6 The English Language Benchmark Subject Committee -- 7 The Pilot Benchmark Assessment (English) -- 8 Determining Benchmarks after the PBAE -- Section II The LPATE Enhancement Courses in Hong Kong: The Case of the Chinese University of Hong Kong -- 9 The LPATE Training Courses: An Initiative to improve Teacher Language Proficiency -- 10 The CUHK LPATE Training COurses: Reading and Listening -- 11 The CUHK LPATE Training Courses: Writing, Speaking and Classroom Language -- Section III The LPATE: A High-Stakes Assessment in Operation (2001-2007) -- 12 The Operation of the LPATE (2001-2005) -- 13 The Revision of the LPATE -- 14 Maintaining Standards in the Indirectly-Assessed Components of the LPATE -- 15 Misconceptions of the LPATE in the Media: Perspectives on Educational Change -- 16 A Quantitative Investigation of Stakeholder Perceptions -- 17 A Qualitative Interpretation of the Impact of the LPATE on Key Stakeholders -- Section V Conclusion -- 18 Concluding Comments on the Benchmarking (LPATE) Project: Strengths, Weaknesses and Constraints.

This book provides a detailed account of the origin, development, administration, revision and subsequent research findings on the benchmarking initiative from 1996-2016. It presents an overall assessment of the initiative’s impact on major stakeholders, predictions regarding the way forward, and implications for other countries, especially in South East Asia. In addition, the book discusses what the larger global community can learn from Hong Kong’s two-decade experience of conceptualizing and implementing minimum standard language requirements for teachers.