School socio-economic compositional (SEC) effects have been influential in educational research predicting a range of outcomes and influencing public policy. However, some recent studies have challenged the veracity of SEC effects when applying residualised-change and fixed effects models and simulating potential measurement errors in hierarchical…

Currently, large-scale testing in Japan faces conflicting requirements derived from principles of education on the one hand, and measurement, on the other. Issues of affective ambivalence towards tests (i.e. test aversion and dependence) are also observed. The seemingly conflicting government discussions regarding the national assessment of…

This study examines one of the most notable manifestations of Japanese education's incorporation into the global education restructuring movement: the 2007 reintroduction of national academic achievement testing ("zenkoku gakuryoku gakushuu joukyou chousa"). In so doing, I aim to untangle the complex intermingling of national and global…

Drawing on a critical theoretical paradigm and critically engaging with the externalization thesis that Gita Steiner-Khamsi and Jurgen Schriewer have developed, this article examines the politics of "Finnish education" in the ongoing Japanese education reform debate. More specifically, it examines the various discursive uses of…

Describes an elementary school principal's visit to Japanese schools. Highlights positive impressions, such as 99 percent literacy, education's high priority, focus on basics, and students' proficiency in science and mathematics. On the minus side, Japanese schools give students scant individual attention and overemphasize memorization and highly…

Across five continents, operant testing schemes are the assessment equivalent of an English jumble sale. Test types, rationales, preparation times, and scoring practices are equally diverse in Australia, Brazil, Canada, the Czech Republic, England, Germany, Israel, and Japan. Most systems are in flux or under scrutiny. (MLH)

Reports on recent changes in examination policy and practice in China, England and Wales, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Japan, Sweden, the United States, and the Soviet Union. Identifies and discusses some significant trade-offs arising from the implementation of examination policy. Discusses four nearly universal dilemmas of…