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Department of Education

Yasmine El Masri

OUCEA Research Associate

College Affiliation: Brasenose College

Yasmine El Masri is a Research Fellow at Ofqual.  She was previously Research Manager at AQA, a Research Fellow at OUCEA and a Hulme Junior Research Fellow in Educational Assessment at Brasenose College. She has been appointed by Ofqual as an External Assessment Specialist and by Qualification Wales as an Assessment Expert Advisor.

Yasmine completed her DPhil in Education at OUCEA in 2015. Her doctoral thesis examined the impact of language on the difficulty of PISA science tests across UK, France and Jordan using different psychometric and statistical techniques including Rasch modelling and differential item functioning (DIF). In 2014, Yasmine received Kathleen Tattersall New Researcher Award from the Association for Education Assessment- Europe (AEA-Europe).

Before coming to Oxford, Yasmine was a science teacher in secondary schools in Beirut and Abu Dhabi. In addition to her DPhil degree from Oxford, Yasmine holds a Master of Arts in Science Education, a Teaching Diploma for teaching science in secondary schools and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the American University of Beirut (AUB).

Yasmine led various externally funded projects, including a one-year ESRC GCRF Fellowship in 2017, during which she collaborated with a local NGO in Lebanon producing open source interactive science tasks in multiple languages for underprivileged students in the country, including Syrian refugees. She is currently leading a study within Project Calibrate, a three-year project funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Gatsby Foundation aiming to enhance summative assessments of practical science in England. She is also a co-investigator and a project manager of a project funded by the International Baccalaureate Organization focused on Critical Thinking in the Diploma Programme.

Research Interests

Item difficulty and demands, language in assessment, science assessments, international large-scale assessments, critical thinking, comparability of assessments across cultures

 

Funded Research Projects:

  • The Effect of the Diploma Programme on Critical Thinking Development: An International Multisite Evaluation

    • International Baccalaureate Organisation. Award: $100,000. Co-Investigator & Project Manager

  • Calibrate Project

    • Researcher, Leader of Study 2 and member of the Project Management Board. Funder: Wellcome Trust; Award: £270,773

  • Using Technology in Science Tasks

    • Reducing Language Barriers for Syrian Refugees in Lebanon, PI. Funder: ESRC GCRF; Award: £100,000

  • Aga Khan University Language Policy Thinking Group PI. Funder

    • Oct 2016 – Jun 2017

    Aga Khan University; Award: £20,000

  • Systematic review on judging demands and predicting task difficulty, PI. Funder

    • Apr - October 2016

    Oxford University Department of Education; Award: £3,366

  • Task Difficulty Models, Co-investigator with Professor Jo-Anne Baird. Funder

    • Jan - Dec 2015

    Pearson Inc.; Award: £46,667

Doctoral Applications

Yasmine welcomes doctoral applications from students interested in the following research areas:

  • item difficulty and demands
  • language in educational assessment
  • science assessments
  • differential item functioning (DIF)
  • Rasch modelling
  • international large-scale assessments

Publications:

  • Featured Publications

    • El Masri, Y, Ferrara, S, Foltz, PW, BAIRD, J (2017) “Predicting item difficulty of science National Curriculum tests: The case of Key Stage 2 assessments”, Curriculum Journal. Taylor & Francis (Routledge): SSH Titles.
      DOI: http://doi.org/10.1080/09585176.2016.1232201

    • Hopfenbeck, TN, Lenkeit, J, El Masri, Y, Cantrell, K, Ryan, JM, BAIRD, J (2017) “Lessons learned from PISA: a systematic review of peer-reviewed articles on the Programme for International Student Assessment”, Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research. Taylor & Francis (Routledge): SSH Titles.
      DOI: http://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2016.1258726

    • El Masri, Y, BAIRD, J, Graesser, A (2016) “Language effects in international testing: The case of PISA 2006 science items”, Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice. Taylor and Francis.
      DOI: http://doi.org/10.1080/0969594X.2016.1218323

    • Hopfenbeck, TN, Tolo, A, Florenz, T, El Masri, Y (2013) “Balancing trust and accountability? The Assessment for Learning Programme in Norway”, In: Report for OECD.

    • El Masri, Y, Vlaardingerbroek, B (2010) “Science textbook readability in Lebanon: A comparison between anglophone and francophone learning milieux”, Mediterranean Journal of Educational Studies. Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Educational Research.

    • Vlaardingerbroek, B, El Masri, Y (2008) “The status of evolutionary theory in undergraduate biology programmes at Lebanese universities: A comparative study”, International Journal of Educational Reform.

    • EL MASRI, Y, Andrich, D “The trade-off between model fit, invariance, and validity: the case of PISA science assessments”, Applied Measurement in Education. Taylor & Francis (Routledge).
      DOI: http://doi.org/10.1080/08957347.2020.1732384

  • Book chapters

    • EL MASRI, Y (2018) “International assessments of science: Key points explained”, In: I Banner, J HILLIER (eds.) ASE Guide To Secondary Science 4th Edition. The Association for Science Education.

  • Journal articles

    • Erduran, S, El Masri, Y, Cullinane, A, Ng, YPD (2020) “Assessment of practical science in high stakes examinations: a qualitative analysis of high performing English-speaking countries”, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION.
      DOI: http://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2020.1769876

    • Hopfenbeck, TN, Lenkeit, J, El Masri, Y, Cantrell, K, Ryan, JM, BAIRD, J (2017) “Lessons learned from PISA: a systematic review of peer-reviewed articles on the Programme for International Student Assessment”, Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research.
      DOI: http://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2016.1258726

    • El Masri, Y, Ferrara, S, Foltz, PW, BAIRD, J (2017) “Predicting item difficulty of science National Curriculum tests: The case of Key Stage 2 assessments”, Curriculum Journal.
      DOI: http://doi.org/10.1080/09585176.2016.1232201

    • El Masri, Y, BAIRD, J, Graesser, A (2016) “Language effects in international testing: The case of PISA 2006 science items”, Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice. 23(4) 427-427.
      DOI: http://doi.org/10.1080/0969594X.2016.1218323

    • El Masri, Y, Vlaardingerbroek, B (2010) “Science textbook readability in Lebanon: A comparison between anglophone and francophone learning milieux”, Mediterranean Journal of Educational Studies. 15(1) 109-124.

    • Vlaardingerbroek, B, Jaber, LZ, El-Masri, YH (2008) “The lebanese brevet professionnel: Resurgence of a lower secondary vocational track”, Journal of Vocational Education and Training. 60(4) 413-422.
      DOI: http://doi.org/10.1080/13636820802591848

    • Vlaardingerbroek, B, Hachem El-Masri, Y (2008) “Student transition to upper secondary vocational and technical education (vte) in lebanon: From stigma to success”, Journal of Vocational Education and Training. 60(1) 19-33.
      DOI: http://doi.org/10.1080/13636820701828788

    • Vlaardingerbroek, B, El Masri, Y (2008) “The status of evolutionary theory in undergraduate biology programmes at Lebanese universities: A comparative study”, International Journal of Educational Reform. 15 150-163.

    • EL MASRI, Y, Andrich, D “The trade-off between model fit, invariance, and validity: the case of PISA science assessments”, Applied Measurement in Education.
      DOI: http://doi.org/10.1080/08957347.2020.1732384

    • CULLINANE, A, ERDURAN, S, EL MASRI, Y, Lim-Ng, D “Assessment of practical science in high stakes examinations: a qualitative analysis of high performing English-speaking countries”, International Journal of Science Education.
      DOI: http://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2020.1769876

    • EL MASRI, Y, ERDURAN, S, Ioannidou, O “Designing practical science assessments in England: students’ engagement and perceptions”, Research in Science and Technological Education.
      DOI: http://doi.org/10.1080/02635143.2021.1872519

  • Reports

    • BAIRD, J-A, Caro, D, ELLIOTT, V, EL MASRI, Y, INGRAM, J, RANDHAWA, A, Isaacs, T, Stobart, G, Meadows, M, Morin, C, Pinot de Moira, A, Taylor, R (2019) Examination reform: Impact of linear and modular examinations at GCSE.

    • Hopfenbeck, TN, Tolo, A, Florenz, T, El Masri, Y (2013) “Balancing trust and accountability? The Assessment for Learning Programme in Norway”, In: Report for OECD.

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