The Sociology Of Assessment Comparative And Policy Perspectives

In the World Library of Educationalists series, international experts themselves compile career-long collections of what they judge to be their finest pieces – extracts from books, key articles, salient research findings, major theoretical and practical contributions – so the world can read them in a single manageable volume. Readers will be able to follow the themes and strands and see how their work contributes to the development of the field. In a collection of her most influential work spanning nearly four decades, Patricia Broadfoot applies her trademark sociological and comparative perspective to empirical studies at every level of the educational system. From her classic long-term study of the impact of changing national assessment policies on pupils and teachers in the classrooms of England and France to her sustained championship of the need for a better understanding of the impact of assessment on learning, Broadfoot has consistently championed the need for a more developed sociological understanding of assessment. Broadfoot’s accessible writing offers insights that are as novel as they are important for the education of future generations. This book allows readers to follow themes and strands across Patricia Broadfoot’s career and will be of interest to all followers of her work and any reader interested in the development of teaching, learning and assessment.

This book provides a comparative account of the evolution of examinations and other assessment procedures in England and France. By tracing the similarities and differences in the ways in which the two countries provided for the assessment of occupational competence, for managing the need for educational and social selection and for social control, the author shows that changes in assessment reflect changes in the priorities and preoccupations of society as a whole. Assessment is seen as rising in the context of increasing social competition within emerging industrial societies.

This timely book provides a starting point for critical analysis and discourse about the status of gendered perspectives in environmental education research. Through bringing together selected writings of Annette Gough, it documents the evolving discussions of gender in environmental education research since the mid-1990s, from its origins in putting women on the agenda through to women’s relationships with nature and ecofeminism, as well as writings that engage with queer theory, intersectionality, assemblages, new materialisms, posthumanism and the more-than-human. The book is both a collection of Annette Gough, and her collaborators, writings around these themes and her reflections on the transitions that have occurred in the field of environmental education related to gender since the late 1980s, as well as her deliberations on future directions. An important new addition to the World Library of Educationalists, this book foregrounds women, their environmental perspectives, and feminist and other gendered research, which have been marginalised for too long in environmental education.

Sociology of Education discusses emerging theoretical and methodological approaches to the field of sociology of education. These emerging perspectives focus on the scholarship of class, race, gender and the state in education, and open up new avenues for theoretical and empirical work in the field. Anyone concerned with issues of quality and equality of educational opportunities and the social context of education will find Sociology of Education not only exciting but also useful in promoting new ways of thinking about and acting upon educational reform.

The Sociology of Education: A Systematic Analysis is a comprehensive and cross-cultural look at the sociology of education. This textbook gives a sociological analysis of education by incorporating a diverse set of theoretical approaches. The authors include practical applications and current educational issues to discuss the structure and processes that make education systems work as well as the role sociologists play in both understanding and bring about change. In addition to up-to-date examples and research, the eighth edition presents three chapters on inequality in educational access and experiences, where class, race and ethnicity, and gender are presented as separate (though intersecting) vectors of educational inequality. Each chapter combines qualitative and quantitative approaches and relevant theory; classics and emerging research; and micro- and macro-level perspectives.

Featuring leading voices in the field from across Canada and Europe, this edited collection offers empirical analyses of the historical, social, cultural, and legislative determinants of inclusive education in Canadian schools. Covering four thematic areas including the structure, culture, and practices of inclusive education, the volume offers comparative insights from a European perspective, engaging critically with widely held views of Canada as a world leader in inclusive education. Providing rich comparisons with educational systems in Germany, Spain, and Finland, chapters explore in-depth the assessment structures and curricula specific to Canada, as well as educational policy, and explore attitudes and practices in relation to diverse student populations, including refugee and indigenous peoples, and students with special educational needs. This volume will benefit researchers, academics, and educators with an interest in multicultural education, international and comparative education, as well as educational policy more specifically. Those involved with inclusion and special educational needs will also benefit from this volume.

Scholarly analysis in the sociology of education has burgeoned in recent decades. Frontiers in Sociology of Education aims to provide a roadmap for sociologists and other social scientists as they set bold new directions for future research on schools. In Part 1 of this forward-looking volume, the authors present cutting-edge research to set new guidelines for the sociological analysis of schools. In Part 2, notable social scientists, historians, administrators and educators provide a wide-ranging array of perspectives on contemporary education to insure that scholars make creative and broadly informed contributions to the sociological analysis of schools. The contributors to this volume examine events currently influencing education including: globalization, expansion of educational access, the changing significance of religion, new family structures, and curriculum reform. Frontiers in Sociology of Education offers an innovative collection of research and ideas aimed at inspiring new analyses of schools better linked to changing societal conditions.

This report provides an international comparative analysis and policy advice to countries on how evaluation and assessment arrangements can be embedded within a consistent framework to improve the quality, equity and efficiency of school education.