Paragon Research Grants

Purpose

Paragon Testing Research Grants are intended to support high-quality research in the field of measurement and language assessment. The purpose of the funding is to:

1. contribute additional validity evidence for Paragon’s tests, and
2. investigate new methods, approaches, and concepts that can advance the field of measurement and language assessment.

Paragon’s tests include the Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP) which consists of CELPIP-General and CELPIP-General LS, and the Canadian Academic English Language Computer Edition (CAEL CE). For more information about these tests, please refer to the following websites:

CELPIP-General and CELPIP-General LS:

https://www.celpip.ca/

CAEL CE:

https://www.cael.ca/cael-ce

Topics of Interest

The 2019-20 Paragon Testing Research Grants encourage project submissions related the following areas of interest:

1. Test validation
   • Test-takers’ cognitive processes
   • Corpus-based analysis of test responses
2. Test use and impact
   • Test stakeholders’ perceptions and experience
   • Impact of test preparation on test performance
3. Application of complex psychometric models to solve language assessment issues.

While the above-mentioned areas of research are encouraged, researchers with innovative, well-planned proposals in other areas remain eligible for the 2019-20 Paragon Testing Research Grants.

Eligibility of Applicants

Faculty members and research scientists at universities and research institutes are eligible to apply. Preference will be given to researchers affiliated with Canadian universities/institutes and Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada affiliated with universities/institutes abroad.

Financial Support

Paragon Testing Research Grants fund research projects up to a maximum of $30,000CAD (including institutional overhead). Paragon will not consider projects that involve substantial travel costs, funded release from academic and teaching commitments, stipends to the primary investigator, or the purchase of expensive equipment.

Projects will be funded for a period of one year and should be completed within that one-year period. The disbursement of Paragon Testing Research Grants will be made in four stages with each disbursement depending on the achievement of the following project benchmarks:

1. after receipt of the signed project agreement and, if necessary, research ethics clearance;
2. after receipt of the interim report;
3. after receipt and written acknowledgement from Paragon of the final report;
4. after the final report is published as working paper on Paragon website

Application Requirements

To apply for this grant, the primary investigators need to provide their CVs and a research proposal of 2,000 to 2,500 words (not including tables, figures, and references). Proposals should follow APA style and researchers’ names should be on the cover page only.

The proposals must include the following:

1. purpose of the research and its relevance to Paragon tests,
2. rationale and significance of the project,
3. research questions,
4. methodology,
5. timeline,
6. budget,
7. dissemination plan (conference presentation and journal publication), and
8. a declaration of other sources of funding.

CVs and research proposals should be emailed to research@paragontesting.ca with “Paragon Testing Research Grants 2019-20” in the subject line before the deadline (August 19, 2019).

Deliverables

Prior to the commencement of research work and the release of the first stage of funding, each researcher will provide the following:

1. a contract written by Paragon, signed by the researchers, and approved by the researchers’ institutions; and
2. ethics clearance, if required, from the researchers’ institutions.

At the pre-determined date or benchmark of the research project (please refer to the timeline for details), the researchers will provide an interim report of about 1,000 words that states the current status of research work and a brief account of costs incurred.

Upon completion of the research project, the researchers will provide:

1. a full project report describing the research purpose, methods, and outcomes;
2. a list of planned conference presentations and publications based on this project; and
3. a complete summary of expenses.

The final project report should be about 7,000 to 9,000 words (excluding tables, figures, references, and appendices). The quality of the final report will be evaluated by the research committee at Paragon. Accepted reports will be made available on the Paragon website as working papers.

Access to Paragon Data

Data provision will be determined on a case-by-case basis. In general, researchers can be given access to: (1) anonymized test data with demographic information, and (2) a limited amount of retired materials, and (3) test practice materials.

All researchers will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement as part of the research agreement.

Evaluation Criteria

The research proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

1. relevance of the proposal to the identified topics and especially to Paragon’s tests;
2. clarity of the research proposal’s rationale, purpose, and methodology;
3. contribution to the development of language assessment or measurement expertise;
4. potential for publication;
5. qualifications and experience of the researchers;
6. feasibility of the budget; and
7. likelihood of completion in one year.

Timelines

Proposal due: August 19 (Monday), 23:59 PST, 2019
Notification of proposal acceptance: September 30 (Monday), 2019
Research agreement: October/November 2019*
Project start date: November 2019*
Interim report due: May 11 (Monday), 2020*
Final report due: November 9 (Monday), 2020*

Publication of the final report on Paragon website: By the end of 2020*

*Timelines are subject to change and will be agreed upon by Paragon and chosen recipient for the Research Grant.