Research evidence that well-executed formative assessment raises achievement and enhances motivation and autonomy has influenced policy and practice in schools and universities in the United Kingdom. Formative assessment is also built into the aims and assessment activities of outcome-based qualifications in post-compulsory education. Behind these…

This paper reports principally on two studies, prompted by research on school effectiveness in the United States and England, which indicate globalization is beginning to affect school improvement. The first study cites case studies of two schools--from working-class, multi-ethnic, poorly educated areas of Singapore and London--to determine if…