Assessment: Social Practice and Social Product

Ann Filer editor

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd

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Assessment: Social Practice and Social Product cover

Assessment has become one of the most significant areas of interest in educational policy development, as well as the focus of complex political, economic and cultural expectations for change. Increasingly, governments worldwide have become aware that curricula and teachers can be indirectly controlled through programmes of assessment. Opponents of centralized systems of mass assessment claim they are ill-suited to the diverse and changing needs of learners and users of assessment. In this text, the UK and US writers take the reader beyond the obvious functions of assessment, and focus upon the roles it performs in the social structuring of society. They examine the myths and assumptions that underpin assessment and testing and draw attention to its cultural context. This collection is devoted explicitly to socio-cultural studies of assessment and attempts to map the terrain of some 30 years of study in the field. Chapters are organized thematically, with background text providing comparative perspectives, key issues and further reading. The book provides a wide-ranging, structured and accessible approach to the study of socio-cultural origins and impacts of assessment.

'I recommend this book to all those interested in the wider social context of assessment. It goes beyond the 'sorting and ranking mind set' that dominates much of the assessment debate and challenges teachers, politicians, academics and parents to consider afresh some of the contested areas of assessment.' - Paul Weeden, Educational Review

ISBN: 9780415227827

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 476g

240 pages