She has recently completed a study of the impact of public examinations on classroom teaching and learning, for which she won the TOEFL award for outstanding dissertation in second/foreign language testing. Her current SSHRC-funded study is on the impact of the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) on second language students. Research indicates that these tests, constructed for first language English speakers, may have lower reliability and validity for second language students and should be interpreted carefully. This study looks at the impact of the OSSLT on second language students’ English literacy development by examining their test performance on various reading and writing constructs, and the potential influence of learning characteristics. For a copy of the study contact Lorinda Peterson.