About Research at Paragon

Paragon's Test Research and Development team are responsible for producing innovative and high-quality language tests through collaboration within the team and with external stakeholders.

The goals of the Test Research and Development unit are as follows:

  • Maintain current assessment products and develop new assessments.
  • Ensure the security and integrity of Paragon’s assessments.
  • Provide evidence for the validity of Paragon’s testing products.
  • Show leadership in language assessment design and research in Canada and internationally.

UBC and Paragon Partnership

In September 2015, Paragon Testing Enterprises entered into a partnership with the University of British Columbia (Vancouver Campus), Faculty of Education and Office of the Provost. Together Paragon and UBC are investing $1.8 million over a period of five years to enhance UBC’s standing as a global leader in research and graduate student training in the statistical science of measurement. This initiative is led by Professor Bruno Zumbo, the Paragon UBC Professor in Psychometrics and Measurement.

CAEL Online Concordance Study

A Novel Multimethod Approach to Investigate Whether Tests Delivered at a Test Centre are Concordant with those Delivered Remotely Online: An Investigation of the Concordance of the CAEL Test.

Prometric In-centre vs. Remote Proctoring Study Summary

Key findings from our in-center delivery vs. remote assessment research study to determine if live remote proctoring yields equivalent outcomes across tests taken at test centers.

Publications and Conference Presentations

Paragon emphasizes research-lead assessment design with the aim of being a world-class participant in the field of language testing. The Test R&D unit encourages and financially supports internal research projects and is dedicated to sharing its research findings through presentations at conferences as well as through publications.

Paragon Working Papers

Paragon Working Papers are pre-publication papers that present the findings from research undertaken by recipients of Paragon Research Grants and Doctoral Student Research Grants as well as the findings from research undertaken by Paragon staff.

Test Reports

Paragon prepares users’ guides and annual reports for each testing program. These offer guidance on how to interpret test scores, provide evidence of the soundness of the test administrations and contribute to the validity evidence for the exams.

Awards and Grants

Paragon values collaborative research relationships with professional researchers and graduate students. Paragon Research Grants and Doctoral Student Research Grants provide financial support to cover the cost of data collection or analyses for researchers who wish to carry out original research projects related to one or more Paragon tests.
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CAEL
I appreciated the availability of test dates for CAEL, and found it convenient and inexpensive compared to other English proficiency tests.
- Aashima, CAEL - Test Taker
CAEL
What I liked most about the CAEL was that you can do the test on the computer, it uses Canadian English, and the results are released quickly!
- Alinsson, CAEL - Test Taker
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