Dr.Coombe has given a training course for the authors of the USE materials

The HSE Department of Foreign Languages in cooperation with the US Embassy has organized a full time training course on elaboration of test materials for the standardized state exams in English. The session took place from 30 June to 4 July 2015 and was held by Dr. Christine Coombe, the former TESOL president and specialist in standardized testing.

This course focused on the peculiarities of the Unified National Examination (UNE) in English.

The attendees had an opportunity to get acquainted with the latest tendencies in the field of language assessment, to get some practice working in pairs and groups, and to discuss the already prepared UNE materials with Dr.Coombe.

The programme of this course has turned out to be saturated and practice-oriented, that was reflected in the works and comments of the participants.

“It was a unique chance to be able to work under the guidance of Dr. Christine Coombe. Dr. Coombe has demonstrated a genuine interest in problems an issues of the Russian State Exam and Middle School Exam and was able to give invaluable advice to improve the exam frame and the quality of test items. She managed to enable the program participants to transfer the world’s best practices of testing to Russian mentality and practices of developing tests.”

Ekaterina Nechaeva 

“I would like to thank the US Embassy’s American Culture Center (Moscow) and the National Research University “Higher School of Economics”. My special gratitude is to Aida Rodomanchenko and Dr. Christine Coombe. The course organization and workshops were excellent! The training course consisted of both lectures deepening our knowledge and workshops allowing us to have some practiсe. The teaching talent of Christine made every seminar easy in realization, but saturated and professional in its content.”

Alyona Martynovich

“It’s been a wonderful and worthwhile experience. We appreciate all the work HSE Language Department does for improving the quality of language testing in Russia. A special thanks to Elena N. Solovova and Aida Rodomanchenko for all of the time and effort that you put into organizing this event. Language testing in Russia wouldn't be moving forward to new levels of reliability without you!”

Ekaterina Kolesnikova

“This training session with Christine Coombe was one of the most productive I've had in a long time. What I've learned in these five days provides a solid base for creating effective test items for any exam, including the Russian State Exam. I feel extreemly grateful for Christine's time in one-on-one sessions which allowed me to get her professional opinion on my work and her very practical advice for the future development of my materials. I am very thankful for the opportunity to be a part of this training.”

Nadezhda Vyshegorogсeva