What drives participation in international educational assessments?
By Camilla Addey. It is widely argued that internationally comparable data is needed to inform policy processes and benchmark educational progress, but scholarly research in International Assessment Studies suggests that countries participate for reasons that go well beyond accountability and policy. The rationales for participation will be discussed in a group discussion – ‘Why do […]
Talking sense or talking power in cross-cultural assessments?
Professor Ron Hambleton of the University of Massachusetts Amherst has recently prepared a video (below) on ‘Adapting Psychological and Educational Assessments for Use in Multiple Languages and Cultures’ for the Laboratory of International Assessment Studies ESRC seminar on ‘The Challenges of Diversity’ (Lima, July 2015). In this short blog post, Bryan Maddox writes a reply. […]
Do real-time assessment analytics exert looping effects on learners?
Ben Williamson, University of Stirling The emergence of computer-based assessment twinned with the rise in the collection of big data in education means that international assessment data can increasingly be collected and analysed in real-time and automatically. These big data developments for international assessment techniques are largely being led by major commercial organizations. Pearson plc, […]
Good performers as Bad Examples? International Educational Assessments and the Re-narration of Numbers
What makes good reference societies in International Educational Assessments? Sam Sellar responds to Professor Florian Waldow’s ESRC Seminar Plenary presentation on projections of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ schools among the top performing countries in international educational assessments. Why do some of the top scorers on international educational assessments turn into negative reference societies? In responding to […]
Literacy as Numbers: Researching the Politics and Practices of International Literacy Assessment
One of the powerful aspects of contemporary quantification of literacy – literacy as numbers – is that the evidence produced through quantification seems to offer certainty and closure on what literacy is and who it is for. The technology of numbers and the comparative data-based knowledge produced through international assessments are creating a globally dominant […]