This edited volume focuses on the cultural situatedness of educational leadership in countries in the Mediterranean basin (Malta, Israel, Spain, Algeria, Portugal, Italy, Cyprus) featuring chapters that explore the reception of the leadership concept and its enactment in education settings within one or more countries of the Mediterranean; consider how both local and global policy discourses work on education leaders who translate this in a distinct school context; focus on the interplay of leaders, followers and context as a complex and ambiguous social construction within the Mediterranean context; study leadership via a combination of a theoretical definition and a consideration of what a particular group means by 'leadership', with a specific openness to local meanings; explore the unfolding of education reform as either a top-down or bottom-up process; consider the various cultural, religious, social and local factors that 'dictate' both leadership enactment, in addition to the power flow among leaders and followers; argue how the territorial, political and religious conflicts affect educational leadership, and thus the implementation of education reform to either conform to or converge from globalized discourses. This book is targeted for post-graduate and doctoral students, as well as scholars, interested in the study of educational leadership, policy and politics of education, Mediterranean studies, and sociology of education. It is also of interest to those who feel the need to address the 'missing-what' of educational leadership in the Mediterranean region, an area of study that is largely dominated by Western models.

Education today has been influenced by several factors that are changing the purpose and goals of understanding and thinking and, consequently, how we assess students' understanding. One of these influences has been the rapid advancement and accessibility of digital technologies. While the use and impact of digital technologies as a valuable tool to improve teaching and learning is well documented, there is little discussion of innovative methods used to assess teaching and learning in digital environments. It is important educators view assessments considering the tools used for learning. Even when digital technologies are ubiquitous in education, assessment methods continue to use traditional assessments, typically multiple-choice or short answer. They are inadequate to provide information about a student's reasoning and conceptual understanding, thus they are limited in measuring the sophisticated knowledge and skills needed for 21-century careers. Digital technologies can support inquiry-based learning that is essential to developing a deep conceptual understanding of the content. Innovative practices that include digital-based assessment models allow students to demonstrate higher-order skills while integrating digital technologies as a powerful teaching tool. The book explores the use of digital-based assessments to measure knowledge, shares research and pedagogies related to digital-based assessments, identifies digital tools and applications for the effective assessment of learning, shares models of digital-based assessment in digital learning environments, and identifies best practices and innovation in digital-based assessment. It is ideal for higher education faculty, classroom teachers, administrators, policymakers, educational technologists, and graduate students.