External and standardized assessments based on student results are a contested education policy among school actors. Movements of opposition have emerged in different countries, especially in those contexts with high-stakes accountability systems. However, this phenomenon has not been analyzed in soft accountability systems. The objective of this…

In this article, two government education policies for primary schools in England are scrutinised, the Phonics Screening Check and Baseline Assessment, both claimed by ministers to be 'evidence based'. What has become a high-stakes test rather than a diagnostic assessment, the Phonics Screening Check, introduced in 2012, now dominates early years…

Background and Context: Statewide test-based accountability in the United States began with minimum competency assessments in public schools during the 1970s, starting in Florida and other Southern states. Controversies over IQ (intelligence quotient) testing contributed to the development of "criterion-referenced" exams that became the…

International large-scale assessments are on the rise, with the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) seen by many as having strategic prominence in education policy debates. The present article reviews PISA-related English-language peer-reviewed articles from the programme's first cycle in 2000 to its most current in 2015. Five…

This study provides results form a national survey examining school psychologists' allocation of time in psychoeducational evaluations. A total of 177 participants with an average of 13.45 years professional experience in school psychology, representing 39 states, participated in the survey. The results indicate that school psychologists spend the…

An early consensus in the ongoing discourse about graduate student preparation for diverse careers was that graduates lacked competencies relevant to non-academic professional settings. Lists of missing "skills" were developed that universities and agencies sought to address, most commonly by the offering of generic (transferable) skills…

Education lays the foundation for political, social and economic development of any country. A viable education system enables the nation to achieve its national goals. Pakistan as a developing country has faced critical problems of education since its inception and therefore, the system of education has failed to deliver according to the…

The Black and Wiliam 1998 paper, "Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards through Classroom Assessment," was a landmark article. It crystallized hundred of studies to advance an argument that certain kinds of assessment by teachers and students in their own classrooms is one of the most effective ways to improve educational achievement. More than…

Background: National curriculum assessment (NCA) in England has been in place for nearly 20 years. It has its origins in a political desire to regulate education, holding schools accountable. However, its form and nature also reflect educational and curriculum concerns and technical assessment issues. Purpose: The aim of the article is to provide…