The United Kingdom has a history of performance assessment even for accountability purposes, as the public examinations (standardized achievement tests) at age 16 demonstrate. What the country does not have is a strong history in the area of equity. Debate and policy-making, when concerned at all, have been concentrated on equality of opportunity,…

As part of a cross-national research project on literature instruction in middle-grade classrooms in Great Britain and the United States this study explored the effects of external assessment on that instruction. The focus was on the literature selected, the class time allotted, and provisions made for students' choices. The study explored the…

The implementation of the Australian national training package for hospitality occupations in Tasmania and the effects of inclusion of literacy and numeracy competencies in the training package were examined in a case study. Data were gathered through a literature review, analysis of the hospitality training package, workplace data, and…

The impact of inclusion of literacy and numeracy into Australia's Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training was examined in a case study in New South Wales (NSW). Data were collected through the following activities: interviews with key informants from urban and regional NSW; observations of the delivery of units of competency from the…

The implementation and effectiveness of the inclusion of literacy and numeracy in industry training packages was examined in a case study that focused on the use the horticulture industry training package in South Australia. Data were gathered from the following activities: a literature review; consultations with stakeholders in the package's…

The implementation and effectiveness of the inclusion of literacy and numeracy in industry training packages was examined in case studies of three programs in Western Australia. Two were certificate programs in cooking and food and beverage as specified in the hospitality training package, and the third was an aged care program based on the…

The effects of the inclusion of literacy and numeracy competencies within Australia's food processing industry training package were examined in two case studies of training at two food processing facilities in Victoria. The first case study involved a large pasta factory that had approximately 270 employees and a contract with a registered…

The effects of the inclusion of literacy and numeracy competencies within Australia's civil construction industry training package were examined in a case study in Queensland. Data were collected through the following activities: interviews with trainers, workplace teachers, and workers; observations of training at an on-site training session on…