This book provides pragmatic strategies and models for student assessment and ameliorates the heightened sense of confusion that too many educators and leaders experience around the complexities associated with assessment. In particular, it offers guidance to school and district personnel charged with fair and appropriate assessment of students who represent a wide variety of abilities and cultures. Chapters focus on issues that directly impact the educational lives of teachers, students, parents, and caregivers. Importantly, the confluence of assessment practices and community expectations also are highlighted. Assessment is highly politicised in contemporary society and this book will both confirm and challenge readers' beliefs and practices. Indeed, discerning readers will understand that the chapters offer them a bridge from many established assessment paradigms to pragmatic, ethical solutions that align with current expectations for schools and districts. In Part One, readers engage with concepts and skills needed by school learning leaders to guide optimal assessment practices. Part Two delves into student assessment within and across disciplines. Part Three provides pragmatic approaches that address assessment in the context of inclusive intercultural education, pluralism, and globalisation.

This book offers cutting edge thinking on effective leadership processes. It pulls together the thinking of 16 educators with diverse backgrounds and experiences, all of whom hold keen interests in harnessing the forces that can improve educational opportunity for students. The book is intended to stimulate the thinking of every educator who aspires to influence decision-making and to provide direction to their school, district or institution.

This book presents a new and refreshing look at student assessment from the perspective of leading educational theorists, researchers, and practitioners. The authors call for boundary-breaking assessment that reflects clear understandings of the purposes of assessment, a balance of assessment creativity and realism, the ability to detect solutions for assessment challenges, and the capacity to question and imagine assessment alternatives.

The 14 chapters offer school and district educators, policy makers, researchers, and university teacher preparation faculty with a comprehensive, current overview of the state and art of student assessment. Key questions are posed about assessment and critical challenges are presented along with sound evidence-based solutions.

Student assessment is analyzed in terms of its relationship with classroom instructional practices and large-scale testing programs. Formative and summative assessments are compared and contrasted. The role of psychological assessment in informing classroom practices is profiled along with the need for student voice in fair assessment practices.

Readers will be challenged to consider the ecology of student assessment, that is, the impact of assessment in classrooms and schools through to the macro level of globalized societies. The underpinning values and assumptions of student assessment are highlighted. Finally, a rationale is offered for reconceptualizing and redefining assessment.

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