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 […]
Do International Educational Assessments Help or Hinder an Open Society?
By Bryan Maddox, University of East Anglia In December 2014, an international ESRC seminar on Education Governance in International Assessments was held at the University of Edinburgh. Seven of the participants were asked to comment on video about the politics and potentials of international assessments in education and their role in educational governance. Their replies […]
The power and politics of international assessments
The power and politics of international assessments. By Sotiria Grek, University of Edinburgh. International education assessments have become the lifeblood of education governance in Europe and globally. But do we know enough about how education systems are measured against one another and the effects this measuring produces? Operating as a new form of global […]
ESRC Seminar Series
The inaugural seminar series of the Laboratory of International Assessment Studies will explore the potentials, politics and practices of international assessments in education. Funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council, this high profile, two year series will bring academic researchers, testing agencies and the end-users of international assessments together – including policy makers, teachers, […]
Encoded in Numbers – Workshop
The Laboratory of International Assessments will run a workshop on the theme of international educational assessments on the 17th and 18th February 2015 at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. This two-day workshop is intended for MA, doctoral and post-doctoral research students with interests in large-scale programmes of educational assessment (e.g. such as PISA). […]