Issues of access, social exclusion and widening participation dominate educational policy agendas and are a shared global challenge. Participation in higher education and adult lifelong learning activities can be a life-changing experience that opens up new opportunities. However, access remains unequal. People from lower socio-economic backgrounds, those living in the most deprived areas and people from minority ethnic groups are underrepresented. In this book, we focus on how we can move the field of widening participation forward, paying specific attention to the theories and methods we can use to better understand and tackle the problem of underrepresented groups in post-compulsory education, and how individuals and institutions can be supported. We argue that in order to make sense of these issues, it is important to engage in both the findings of widening participation research and the theoretical foundations which underpin them. This way, alternative perspectives on the widening participation agenda and emerging research and policy can be explored from alternative perspectives. This book was originally published as a special issue of Studies in Continuing Education.

Interdisciplinary Education in the Age of Assessment addresses a prevalent need in educational scholarship today. Many current standards-driven curricula follow strict subject-specific guidelines, leaving educators little room for interdisciplinary innovation. This book gears itself toward developing assessment models specific to interdisciplinary education, positioning itself as a seminal volume in the field and a valuable resource to educators across the disciplines. Each chapter covers a major subject area (literacy, science, math, social studies, bilingual education, foreign language, educational policy) and discusses methods of assessing integrated/ interdisciplinary curriculum and instruction.

Interdisciplinary Education in the Age of Assessment addresses a prevalent need in educational scholarship today. Many current standards-driven curricula follow strict subject-specific guidelines, leaving educators little room for interdisciplinary innovation. This book gears itself toward developing assessment models specific to interdisciplinary education, positioning itself as a seminal volume in the field and a valuable resource to educators across the disciplines. Each chapter covers a major subject area (literacy, science, math, social studies, bilingual education, foreign language, educational policy) and discusses methods of assessing integrated/ interdisciplinary curriculum and instruction.

Quantitative Data Analysis for Language Assessment Volume I: Fundamental Techniques is a resource book that presents the most fundamental techniques of quantitative data analysis in the field of language assessment. Each chapter provides an accessible explanation of the selected technique, a review of language assessment studies that have used the technique, and finally, an example of an authentic study that uses the technique. Readers also get a taste of how to apply each technique through the help of supplementary online resources that include sample data sets and guided instructions. Language assessment students, test designers, and researchers should find this a unique reference as it consolidates theory and application of quantitative data analysis in language assessment.

This book investigates the relationship developed between the researcher/evaluator and the commissioning arts and cultural producer in providing an opportunity to rethink the traditional process of reporting back on value and impact through the singular entity of funds acquittal. Using three commissioned evaluations as examples, the discussion outlines the two positions most often adopted by researchers/evaluators, external and distanced or embedded and collaborative, and will argue the merits and deficiencies of the two approaches. This text also investigates the role of the researcher/evaluator as a broker of stakeholder interests; how cultural organizations can partner in data gathering and develop a participatory approach to the research; what role the researcher/evaluator can have in the dissemination of evaluation findings and recommendations; and makes recommendations on which partnership type is more affective in a commissioned evaluation model for an arts and culture organization in the Australian landscape.

This book analyses and discusses the recent developments for assessing research quality in the humanities and related fields in the social sciences. Research assessments in the humanities are highly controversial and the evaluation of humanities research is delicate. While citation-based research performance indicators are widely used in the natural and life sciences, quantitative measures for research performance meet strong opposition in the humanities. This volume combines the presentation of state-of-the-art projects on research assessments in the humanities by humanities scholars themselves with a description of the evaluation of humanities research in practice presented by research funders. Bibliometric issues concerning humanities research complete the exhaustive analysis of humanities research assessment. The selection of authors is well-balanced between humanities scholars, research funders, and researchers on higher education. Hence, the edited volume succeeds in painting a comprehensive picture of research evaluation in the humanities. This book is valuable to university and science policy makers, university administrators, research evaluators, bibliometricians as well as humanities scholars who seek expert knowledge in research evaluation in the humanities.

A lot hangs on the summative grades that students are given. A good degree opens doors which otherwise might remain closed. Yet, as higher education is now a mass rather than an elite system, what is expected of its graduates is different from the expectations of previous generations. Students are expected not only to be able to demonstrate high standards of academic achievement, but also a variety of capabilities that have at different times been given labels such as 'generic skills' and 'transferable skills'. These abilities are difficult to grade for a variety of reasons and some graduates may be losing out because their particular strengths are given insufficient acknowledgement in current summative assessment practices. Using the UK honours degree classifications as a case study, this book appraises the way in which summative assessment in higher education is approached and shows that the foundations of current practices (in the UK and elsewhere) are of questionable robustness. It argues that there is a need to widen the assessment frame if the breadth of valued student achievements is to be recognised adequately.

This book focuses on dilemmas inherent in the practice of assessment in the contemporary context. New forms of assessment are being introduced in all sectors of education and training, and the culture of assessment is shifting. The authors in this volume discuss the practice of assessment, reporting empirical research on modes of assessment within a variety of educational contexts, while also addressing conceptual and theoretical aspects of assessment. Though most publications on assessment do not go beyond one sector or phase of education and only consider assessment in one national context, this volume is cross-sectoral and international in scope. This groundbreaking book illustrates the conceptual and practical dilemmas of assessment and raises issues that are relevant and applicable across a variety of modes of assessment and across various contexts where assessment takes place.

The primary purpose of this book is to demonstrate how proven quality assurance tools and methods that have been applied successfully in the manufacturing and service industries for the past 20 years can be applied in the testing industry. It defines what is meant by the term "quality" in testing and reviews how three business process concepts standards, process planning and design, and continuous improvement can be used to improve the way in which tests are designed, administered, scored and reported so that errors can be eliminated.

Everybody seems to be talking about Assessment for Learning. This book shows you how to do it. The thinking behind the highly influential 'Assessment for Learning' approach is translated into usable and practical strategies for all those teaching literacy in primary and secondary classrooms. The authors show how thinking, learning and assessment can be linked together in a creative and integrated fashion, so that thinking promotes learning, learning enables assessment to take place and assessment acts as a stimulus to both thinking and learning. Concise teachers' notes for a broad range of dynamic techniques explain for each: what the approach is how you use it for assessment how you can manage it in the classroom how it helps with learning. Downloadable resources are included with all of the activities and ideas that can be used on Interactive Whiteboards. Active Assessment for English will prove inspiring reading for all literacy teachers at primary and secondary levels, LEA advisers and inspectors.

Using Differentiated Classroom Assessment to Enhance Student Learning introduces pre- and in-service teachers to the foundations, data use, and best practices of the DCA framework. As differentiated instruction practices increasingly enable K-12 educators to individualize learning in their classrooms, it is important that this framework be extended to assessment as well. This concise yet comprehensive book explains the science and rationale behind DCA as well as principles and strategies for both formative and summative assessments. Replete with vignettes, sample outputs, and recommendations, this is a lively and much-needed guide to understanding, enacting, and analyzing grouped and individualized assessments.

Linking Assignments to Assessment is designed for teachers in training in TESOL programs, future preK-12 teachers, and practicing instructors who need to integrate assessment into classrooms. The book shares foundational information on the importance of assessment literacy and on how language acquisition, student backgrounds, and standardized testing need to be considered. It offers step-by-step instructions on creating effective assessments for listening and reading, speaking and writing, grammar and vocabulary. Each chapter includes activities and discussion questions.

Despite their inherent, consistent emphasis in our educational system, test scores are not infallible measurements of a student's ability, skill, or knowledge. Therefore, they should not be viewed in isolation by educators and, more importantly, by parents. In this book, Estelle S. Gellman provides parents and educators with the information necessary to interpret the test scores one encounters in today's schools. While not a scathing condemnation of testing, the book strongly emphasizes that test performance must be interpreted with respect to the limitations of the test itself and how the score corresponds with other information known about the individual test-taker.

In her examination, which covers both teacher-made and standardized tests, Gellman is careful to present technical information in a way that can be readily understood by both parents and educators. The book explains the different types of tests that are used, the purposes for which they are given, and the qualities that they should exhibit. Separate chapters give attention to achievement tests, aptitude tests, and tests of personality and interests. Other chapters take on issues of testing children with disabilities and the use of test scores in decision making. By addressing the limitations of tests, this source will allow educators and parents to reap the benefit of information that they do provide.

As teachers are required to integrate an increasing number of assessment practices into the classroom, it is crucial that they have effective routines for organizing and evaluating the generated data. Managing Classroom Assessment to Enhance Student Learning introduces pre- and in-service teachers to the major categories of assessment management and provides empirical and theoretical support for their effectiveness. In-depth chapters consider management in the context of assigning and collecting work, interpreting and organizing assessment results, and providing students with feedback.

The editors of this volume aim to help educators make better decisions about their efforts at restructuring by showing what has and has not worked in some of the most widely known experiments. Because the programmes examined have been in place for several years, the cases offer richness of detail and a wealth of ideas. This book's insights and practical detail will benefit educators both in schools and at district level, as well as students and academics in the field.

Mark Paige takes an in-depth look at the interaction of Value Added Models (VAMs) and the law of teacher evaluation. It notes that the hasty adoption of VAMs in evaluation and employment law actually complicates efforts to improve teacher quality, especially at the local level. In brief, VAMs' costs vastly outweigh their benefits. The book advocates for a complete removal of VAMs in high-stakes decisions. It sets forth numerous recommendations for administrators and policymakers to enable them to effectively deal with the complications created by VAMs.

Effective evaluation of a pupil's performance and of resources available is a vital part of successful teaching. Originally published in 1983, this non-statistical guide aims to help teachers organise their work so as to improve their assessment of their pupils and also to analyse their own management efforts. A model is developed showing how teachers can progressively structure their work to increase the objectivity of their assessment. The use of published tests and the production of tests by teachers is covered, but the focus throughout is on the part played by assessment in the organisation of learning. The steps recommended are arranged so that the first yield the largest return. But none requires any statistical expertise or a large investment of time. The second part of the book shows how schools can be evaluated by their staff - school organisation, staff development and the curriculum are given special attention in this step-by-step guide to effective and rewarding school assessment.

Students in higher education today are expected to demonstrate a wide range of skills and abilities to show that they have mastered not only subject content but also the ability to put their learning into practice in real-life contexts. This book explores how university staff can assess live and practical skills fairly, effectively, efficiently and imaginatively.
Drawing on the expertise and experience of the authors and contributors through a wide range of international case studies, "Assessing Skills and Practice "provides theoretical perspectives on skills assessment. Topics discussed include:
- inclusive assessment - ensuring that all students achieve their maximum potential
- assessing across the arts, humanities and sciences - from lab work to dance
- the importance of involving all stakeholders (peers, employers, clients and tutors) in assessment
- how formative feedback helps students understand what is required of them
With pragmatic advice on implementation," Assessing Skills and Practice" is ideal as an introduction for new or part-time lecturers, and students of PGCHE programmes. It will also be valued by experienced teachers new to this area of assessment or looking to improve their current practice, as well as course leaders, managers and those working on assessment related projects.

This insightful text offers a detailed account of the historical development of educational accountability in the US public education system. In doing so, it diagnoses the unforeseen consequences arising from a centralized, technocratic implementation of the concept, and calls for a radical re-thinking in how our democratic responsibilities translate into the provision, measurement, and conceptualization of education. Drawing from the works of scholars including Stanley Cavell, Linda Zerilli, Daniel Koretz, and James Scott, A Democratic Theory of Educational Accountability illustrates the way in which "educational accountability" has foregrounded centralized measures of "success" to the point of perversity. Through nuanced political theory and philosophical arguments, the text demonstrates how test-based measures have rendered the holistic aims of education futile, resulting in an education system of "box-checking" and "rule-following". Ultimately calling for a new imagination of how our democratic responsibilities are enacted in schools and communities, Gottlieb illustrates how accountability can be used for good, to ensure that our schools nurture talent, cultivate social mobility, and engage with local needs. This text will be of great interest to graduate and postgraduate students, researchers, academics, and libraries in the field of philosophy of education, educational policy, assessment & testing and democratic theory.

The Aptitude Myth addresses the decline in American children's mastery of critical school subjects. It contends that a contributing cause for this decline derives from many Americans' ways of thinking about children's learning: They believe that school performance is determined very largely by innate aptitude. The Aptitude Myth traces the deep historical origins, the spread and elaboration, and the eventual triumph of the belief in the determining power of mental abilities "given" at birth and therefore fixed. Covered is 600 B.C.E. until 1926 (when the S.A.T. was first administered). The belief in aptitude, assumed by many Americans to be the modern view of learning ability, is revealed as an archaic way of thinking that originated in the imaginations of our ancient forebears and gradually gained credibility over 2,500 years. In recent times, the belief became elaborated to include the fanciful notion that more-than-modest academic study injures a child's health. Having inherited this mindset, Americans don't know how to insure that children gain mastery. A new mindset is needed. The final chapter offers a transformative mindset.

The use of computers and the Internet in the testing community has expanded the opportunity for innovative testing. Until now, there was no one source that reviewed the latest methods of automated scoring for complex assessments. This is the first volume to provide that coverage, along with examples of "best practices" in the design, implementation, and evaluation of automated complex assessment. The contributing authors, all noted leaders in the field, introduce each method in the context of actual applications in real assessments so as to provide a realistic view of current industry practices. Evidence Centered Design, an innovative approach to assessment design, is used as the book's conceptual framework. The chapters review both well known methods for automated scoring such as rule-based logic, regression-based, and IRT systems, as well as more recent procedures such as Bayesian and neural networks. The concluding chapters compare and contrast the various methods and provide a vision for the future. Each chapter features a discussion of the philosophical and practical approaches of the method, the associated implications for validity, reliability, and implementation, and the calculations and processes of each technique. Intended for researchers, practitioners, and advanced students in educational testing and measurement, psychometrics, cognitive science, technical training and assessment, diagnostic, licensing, and certification exams, and expert systems, the book also serves as a resource in advanced courses in educational measurement or psychometrics.

Are you effective at assessing your students' practical skills and are your assessment techniques fair and reliable? Assessing Live and Practical Skills is an accessible guide that outlines how to ensure fair, consistent and reliable assessment of practical activities, whatever they are. With a particular focus on formative feedback and its role in helping students to understand what is required of them, this guide is packed with advice, examples and case studies covering all the key areas, including: assessing across the arts, humanities and sciences - from labwork and clinical practice to dance; assessing oral work; using feedback; and ensuring inclusive and fair assessment. This volume is an ideal introduction for new or part-time lecturers, and will also be valued by experienced teachers who are new to this area of assessment or who want to improve their current practice.

This resource helps administrators and teachers implement RTI as a powerful school improvement process. Response to Intervention (RTI) is currently being adopted throughout the United States as a method for documenting eligibility for a learning disability as permitted in the reauthorization of IDEA 2004. The model most often chosen involves a three- or four-tier pyramid incorporating general education classroom components in the lower tiers and special education as the final tier. Using RTI for School Improvement illustrates how integrating RTI into all aspects of a school can go beyond assessing learning disabilities to make a significant positive impact on schoolwide student achievement. The authors show how educators can successfully implement each tier to provide effective instruction for all learners, develop an intervention approach for students at risk, and provide intensive intervention for non-responding learners.

The federal government's No Child Left Behind Act has thrust high-stakes testing (its goals, methods, and consequences) into the educational limelight. The four-fold purpose of this book is to: 1) describe the nature of high-stakes testing; 2) identify types of collateral damage that have attended the testing programs; 3) analyze methods different groups of people have chosen for coping with the damage; and 4) suggest lessons to be learned from the high-stakes-testing experience. The six groups of people whose coping strategies are inspected include: a) politicians and their staffs; b) educational administrators and their staffs; c) parents and the public; d) test makers and test administrators; e) teachers; and f) students. Importantly, the author avoids aligning himself with the test-bashing rhetoric of those who oppose high-stakes testing, especially the No Child Left Behind Act.
Key features of this outstanding new book include:
*Illustrative Cases. The book offers more than 350 cases of collateral damage from high-stakes testing--and people's coping strategies--as reported in newspapers over the 2002-2004 period.
*Background Perspectives. Part I examines the influence of high-stakes testing on: 1) what schools teach; 2) how student progress is evaluated; 3) how achievement standards are set; and 4) how test results are used.
*Participant Responses. Part II, which is the heart of the book, devotes a separate chapter to the coping strategies of each of the major participants in the high-stakes testing movement: politicians and their staffs, educational administrators and their staffs, parents and the public, test-makers and test-givers, teachers, and students.
*Summary Chapter. The last chapter (Lessons to Learn) offers suggestions for minimizing collateral damage by adopting alternative approaches not used in the creation of our current high-stakes testing programs, particularly the federal government's No Child Left Behind Act.

This book is appropriate for any of the following audiences: students taking evaluation or administration courses in schools of education, inservice administrators and teachers, policy makers, and those members of the general public who are concerned about the fate of schooling in America.

In response to public demand, federal legislation now requires testing of most students in the United States in reading and mathematics in grades three through eight. Many educators, parents, and policymakers who have paid little attention to testing policy issues in the past need to have better information on the topic than has generally been available. "Kill the Messenger," now in paperback, fills this gap.

This is perhaps the most thorough and authoritative work in defense of educational testing ever written. Phelps points out that much research conducted by education insiders on the topic is based on ideological preference or profound self-interest. It is not surprising that they arrive at emphatically anti-testing conclusions. Much, if not most, of this hostile research is passed on to the public by journalists as if it were neutral, objective, and independent. "Kill the Messenger" explains and refutes many of the common criticisms of testing; describes testing opponents' strategies, through case studies of Texas and the SAT; illustrates the profound media bias against testing; acknowledges testing's limitations, and suggests how it can be improved; and finally, outlines the consequences of losing the "war on standardized testing."