The Global Testing Culture: shaping education policy, perceptions, and practice (Oxford Studies in Comparative Education)

The past thirty years have seen a rapid expansion of testing, exposing students worldwide to tests that are now, more than ever, standardized and linked to high-stakes outcomes. The global testing culture permeates all aspects of education, from financing, to parental involvement, to teacher and student beliefs and practices. The reinforcing nature of the global testing culture leads to an environment where testing becomes synonymous with accountability, which becomes synonymous with education quality. This book problematizes this culture by providing critical perspectives that challenge the assumptions of the culture and describe how the culture manifests in national contexts. CONTENTS William C. Smith. An Introduction to the Global Testing Culture THE GLOBAL TESTING CULTURE AND THE INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION AGENDA D. Brent Edwards Jr. A Perfect Storm: the political economy of community-based management, teacher accountability, and impact evaluations in El Salvador and the global reform agenda Rie Kijima & Jane Leer. Legitimacy, State-Building, and Contestation in Education Policy Development: Chile's involvement in cross-national assessments Hilla Auren & Devin Joshi. Teaching the World That Less Is More: global education testing and the Finnish national brand Ji Liu. Student Achievement and PISA Rankings: policy effects or cultural explanations? Angeline M. Barrett. Measuring Learning Outcomes and Education for Sustainable Development: the new education developmental goal Karen E. Andreasen & Christian Ydesen. The International Space of the Danish Testing Community in the Post-War Years THE ABSENCE OF FORMATIVE TESTING AND THE POLITICS OF ACCOUNTABILITY Sumera Ahsan & William C. Smith. Facilitating Student Learning: a comparison of classroom and accountability assessment Renata Ticha & Brian Abery. Beyond the Large-Scale Testing of Basic Skills: using formative assessment to facilitate learning Anthony Somerset. Questioning Across the Spectrum: pedagogy, selection examinations, and assessment systems in low-income countries Sean W. Mulvenon & Sandra G. Bowman. An Evaluation of how the 'Politics of K-12 Testing' Impact the Effectiveness of Global Testing Programs Mariam Orkodashvili. How Much Stakes for Tests? Public Schooling, Private Tutoring, and Equilibrium THE GLOBAL TESTING CULTURE IN NATIONAL CONTEXT Kristine Kousholt & Bjorn Hamre. Testing and School Reform in Danish Education: an analysis informed by the use of the 'dispositive' Pearl J. Chung & Hyeonwoo Chea. South Korea's Accountability Policy System and National Achievement Test David Balwanz. The Discursive Hold of the Matric: is there space for a new vision for secondary education in South Africa? Tracey Burns, Patrick Blanchenay & Florian Koester. Horizontal Accountability, Municipal Capacity, and the use of Data: a case study of Sweden