Graham Ruddock

B Ed, PhD
Deputy Head of the Department for Research in Assessment and Measurement
enquiries@nfer.ac.uk
+44(0)1753 574123

Graham is Head of International Assessment Research and Deputy Head of the Department for Research in Assessment and Measurement. He directs the development of mathematics and science tests and is the Mathematics Co-ordinator for the 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Survey (TIMSS).

Prior experience and professional background

After teaching mathematics to secondary pupils, he worked for his Ph.D. with the Concepts in Secondary Mathematics and Science project (CSMS) at Chelsea (now King's) College, London and on mathematical problem solving for junior school children at the Polytechnic of the South Bank with Leone Burton. Since joining NFER in 1980, he has worked on and led a range of projects on assessment involving both national and international assessments.

In the international field he has been involved with the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Survey (TIMSS) since the late 1990s. He is the international mathematics co-ordinator for the current 2011 TIMSS survey and also undertook this role for the 2007 survey. He was National Research Co-ordinator for England for both the 1999 and 2003 surveys and also undertook this role for Scotland in 2003. He has also been involved with questionnaire development for TIMSS.

Apart from international assessment, much of Dr. Ruddock's recent work has focused on National Curriculum assessment in both England and Wales. He currently directs the development of both key stage 2 and key stage 3 statutory science tests for use in England and also undertook the same role for the development of new optional mathematics tests for years 7 and 8. Also in mathematics, he has also directed the development of key stage 3 tests for England and Wales (1994 to 1999 tests) and tests for both key stages 2 and 3 in Wales (2003 and 2004 tests).

In the early years of the national curriculum, 1989 to 1990, he was project co-ordinator of the NFER consortium's development of Standard Assessment Tasks for the core subjects at key stage 1, and from 1991 to 1993 he played a similar role in the NFER's evaluation of National Curriculum Assessment at key stage 3, covering mathematics, science, English and technology.

From 1980 to 1988 he was Project Leader of the project to monitor performance in mathematics in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This was carried out by NFER under the auspices of the government's Assessment of Performance Unit. His role included survey designs, item development and selection of items to use in surveys of both 11 and 15 year olds.

Main research interests

Assessment, Numeracy, Science education

Other research interests

Mathematics education, Large scale testing

Selected publications

Foxman, D., Ruddock, G. et al (1982). Mathematical Development, Primary Survey Report No. 3. London: HMSO.

Foxman, D., Hagues, N., and Ruddock, G. (1990). Practical Maths Assessments. Windsor: NFER-Nelson.

Ruddock, G. and Tomlins, B. (1993). Evaluation of National Curriculum Assessment at Key Stage 3: Report on the 1992 National Pilot Assessment of Mathematics and Science. London: School Examinations and Assessment Council.

Ruddock, G. (1995). 'Case Study: England and Wales'. In: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Performance Standards in Education: in Search of Quality. Paris: OECD.

Ruddock, G., Sturman, L., Schagen, I., Styles, B., Gnaldi, M. and Vappula, H. (2004). Where England Stands in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003: National Report for England. Slough: NFER. [Available online].

Mullis, I., Martin, M., Ruddock, G., O’Sullivan, C., Arora., A and Erberber, E (2005). TIMSS 2007 Assessment Frameworks. Boston: IEA.

Sturman, L., Ruddock, G., Burge, B., Styles, B., Lin, Y. and Vappula, H. (2008). England's Achievement in TIMSS 2007: National Report for England. Slough: NFER. [Available online].