Professor Chris Davison, a specialist in language education and school-based assessment, is Professor of Language and Literacy Education in the School of Education, University of New South Wales (UNSW), and the former Head of the School for more than 10 years (2008-2019). She has worked in teacher education for over 35 years, including at the University of Hong Kong (1999-2008) where she was Associate Dean (Research), the University of Melbourne (1988-1999), and La Trobe University (1985-89). Before that, Chris had extensive experience as an English and ESL teacher and consultant in primary and secondary schools, English language centres and the adult and community education sector in Australia and overseas.
Chris has researched and published extensively on the interface between English as a mother tongue and ESL development, integrating language and content curriculum, and English language assessment, with over 100 peer-reviewed publications, including in leading international journals such as TESOL Quarterly, Applied Linguistics, Language Assessment Quarterly, Language Testing and Linguistics and Education. Her books include a two volume handbook of teaching English internationally (Springer, with Jim Cummins) and a co-authored book on English language teaching innovation in China (HKU Press, with Xinmin Zheng). She is founding co-editor (with Andy Gao) of the Springer book series on English Language Education.
With colleagues at the University of Hong Kong, Chris completed the research and development of a range of oral school-based assessment initiatives for the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority, and also worked over a number of years with the Ministries of Education in Singapore and in Brunei on integrating assessment for learning into their new curricula. She has recently completed a multimillion dollar project researching and developing an online assessment resource centre for assessing and teaching EAL learners in Victorian schools, funded by the Department of Education and Training (DET), Catholic Education and Independent Schools Victoria. She has conducted many in-service programs and consultancies with educational systems in the Asian region, including Singapore, Laos, Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia, Philippines, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand and China.
Chris has been actively involved in an extensive range of professional associations and community organizations throughout her career, including undertaking stints as President of the Australian Council of TESOL Association, Chair of the Australian Literacy Federation, Chair of the TESOL International Research Committee and most recently, Chair of the NSW Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards Initial Teacher Education Committee and President of the NSW Council of Deans of Education. In 2015-18 she was on the Executive of the Applied Linguistics Association of Australia as Editor in Chief of their journal, the Australian Review of Applied Linguistics.
Chris is recipient of a number of awards, most recently for Outstanding Contributions to Teacher Education and to TESOL, awarded by the Australian Council of Deans of Education in 2016, the Ralph Rawlinson Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Education of Students with Disadvantage at the International Level in 2017, and the UNSW Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Dean's Research Leadership Award and the UNSW Postgraduate Council Outstanding Supervisor Award in 2018.
1998 Most Exemplary Thesis in Education, Most Outstanding Doctoral Thesis, La Trobe University.
2012 Award for Outstanding Contributions to Teacher Education, Australian College of Education.
2016 Award for Outstanding Contributions to Teacher Education and to TESOL,
Australian Council of Deans of Education.
2016 Supervisor Award, Postgraduate Council, UNSW.
2017 Ralph Rawlinson Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Education of Students with
Disadvantage (International Level), Australian College of Education.
2018 Outstanding Supervisor Award, Postgraduate Council, UNSW.
2018 Dean's Research Leadership Award, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, UNSW.
2018 Anna Hogg Oration, Australian College of Education.
2018-22 Department of Education, NSW, (with A/Prof Scott Eacott). Longitudinal evaluation of the Griffith secondary education model.
2018-19 Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Board. (with Dr Michael Michell, Dr Alan Williams). EAL Curriculum research and development.
2017 Department of Education, NSW, (with A/Prof Scott Eacott). Scoping study evaluation of the Griffith secondary education model.
2015 The Association of Independent Schools of NSW. Improving the Quality of Teacher Education Practicum Experiences.
2012-16 Department of Education and Training (DET), Catholic Education Office and Independent Schools Victoria. Research and Development: Tools to Enhance Assessment Literacy for Teachers of English as an Additional Language (TEAL).
2010-11, NSW Department of Education and Training (DET), (with Dr Michael Michell). ESL Assessment English as a Second Language (ESL) Assessment Tools and Advice: Phase 2 – Design Options.
2010-11, Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD), (with Dr Michael Michell). ESL Assessment English as a Second Language (ESL) Assessment Tools and Advice: Phase 2 – Design Options.
2007-09 Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority, (with Prof Liz Hamp-Lyons), Continuation study on the implementation of the school-based assessment component of the 2007 HKCE English Language Examination.
2006-09 Hong Kong Research Grants Committee (RGC) Competitive Earmarked Research Grant (CERG) Award 2006-07, HK$1,174,116, (with Dr Steve Andrews (PI) and Prof L Hamp-Lyons, University of Hong Kong, Dr Liying Cheng, Queen’s University). An impact study of a high-stakes ESL assessment innovation in Hong Kong secondary schools.
2006-08 Hong Kong Research Grants Committee (RGC) Competitive Earmarked Research Grant (CERG) Award 2006-07, HK$ 724,319 (with Dr S Andrews and Prof L Hamp-Lyons, University of Hong Kong, Prof C Leung, King’s College, University of London). The use of summative oral school-based assessment for formative purposes in Hong Kong secondary English.
2006-08 Quality Education Fund, Education and Manpower Bureau, HK $2,359,000 (with Dr S Andrews, D Carless, M Clarke, G Davies, N Tavares, L Hamp-Lyons), University of Hong Kong), Aligning assessment with curriculum reform in junior secondary English language teaching.
2005-07 Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority, (with Prof Liz Hamp-Lyons), Longitudinal study on the implementation of the school-based assessment component of the 2007 HKCE English Language Examination.
2005-06 Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority, (with Prof Liz Hamp-Lyons), Research and development for professional development courses for teachers in preparation for the school-based assessment component of the 2007 HKCE English Language Examination
2005 Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority, (with Prof Liz Hamp-Lyons) Field trialling for school-based assessment in the 2007 HKCE English Language Examination
2005 Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority, (with Prof Liz Hamp-Lyons) Professional development for teachers in preparation for school-based assessment in the 2007 HKCE English Language Examination, Part 1 & 2
2004-06 Hong Kong Research Grants Committee (RGC) Competitive Earmarked Research Grant (CERG) Award 2004-05, HK $690,000 (with Dr S Andrews, Prof L Hamp-Lyons & R Tang, University of Hong Kong), Oral summative assessment of secondary ESL in Hong Kong .
2004-06 Quality Education Fund, Education and Manpower Bureau, HK $314,000 (with Dr S Andrews, Dr F Hyland, Dr A Wong, R Tang, University of Hong Kong), Making school-based assessment more effective in English language education.
2001 Universitas 21 International Collaborative Research Grant, University of Melbourne, AUD$10,000 (with Dr Sophie Arkoudis, University of Melbourne), Cross national similarities and differences in teachers’ assessment judgments of student written texts and the implications for alternative assessment.
2000-03 Hong Kong Research Grants Committee (RGC) Competitive Earmarked Research Grant (CERG) Award, 2000-2001, HK $807,817 (with Dr J Day, Dr T Kwan, F. Real-Lopez and Prof A Tsui, University of Hong Kong), An investigation into the impact of school-university partnerships in teacher education in Hong Kong.
1999 Australian Research Council (ARC) Grant. The assessment practices of ESL teachers.
1992-98 Language Australia (formerly National Languages and Literacy Institute of Australia), AUD$180,000, Victorian Child Literacy and ESL Research Network.
Education, English language learning & teaching, TESOL, assessment.
eg., see Podcast, https://faculti.net/using-assessment-to-promote-learning/