From Oct. 21 to 23, the first Standard-based Assessment and Evidence-Based Research (SAER) International Conference was held at Jiangsu University (JSU). More than 50 experts and scholars from 33 universities and enterprises at home and abroad attended the conference online and offline. The conference was organized by JSU and co-hosted by the Department of Planning and Development, School of Teacher Education, and the Evidence-based Research Center for Educational Assessment (ERCEA) of JSU.Vice President of JSU Prof. Tian Lixin, Director of the Department of Planning and Development Xu Wei, Dean of the School of Teacher Education Prof. Wang Jiajia, Deputy Director of the Department of Planning and Development Xu Guihong, teachers and students from the Institute of Higher Education and School of Teacher Education attended the opening ceremony.

In the opening ceremony, Prof. Tian delivered a speech, pointing out that education evaluation plays an important role in the reform and development of higher education, and fully affirmed the significance and contribution of this international conference to the development and application of education evaluation theories, methods and technologies. In Xu Wei’s speech, he said that the theory and practice of education evaluation is of great significance in the innovation of discipline knowledge in colleges and universities, the development strategy of serving universities, and the reform of internal governance. Prof. Wang Jiajia hoped that the conference would promote the development and promotion of educational evaluation methods, promote the transformation of educational research into application, and enhance the international cooperation and exchange between ERCEA and School of Teacher Education.

Focusing on the theme of the conference Collaborating for Change in Assessment and Research, Director of the ERCEA Prof. Huang Jinyan, the School of Education of St. John's University Prof. John Spiridakis and the Chinese University of Hong Kong Prof. Alan Cheung made the keynote speeches, shared the significance and practical cases of evaluation and evidence-based research in the field of education. The conference also set up the academic sessions. 44 young scholars presented papers around the two themes of “assessment, testing, measurement, and evaluation” and “quantitative, qualitative, and mixed research methods”. The conference invited Wuhan University of Science and Technology Prof. Liu Yingliang and Qufu Normal University Prof. Meng Lingqi to conduct academic sessions with young scholars as comment experts.

Through keynote speeches and academic sessions, the conference provided researchers and students in the field of education with multiple perspectives and methods in conducting evidence-based educational research. The experts and scholars also expressed their hope to further strengthen the cooperation between universities and enterprises to jointly promote the reform of assessment and research.