Assessing National Achievement Levels in Education
This introductory book describes the main features of national and international assessments, both of which became extremely popular tools for determining the quality of education in the 1990s and 2000s. This increase in popularity reflects two imp...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Publication |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
Washington, DC: World Bank
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/01/8865705/assessing-national-achievement-levels-education http://hdl.handle.net/10986/6904 |
| Summary: | This introductory book describes the
main features of national and international assessments,
both of which became extremely popular tools for determining
the quality of education in the 1990s and 2000s. This
increase in popularity reflects two important developments.
First, it reflects increasing globalization and interest in
global mandates, including Education for All (UNESCO 2000).
Second, it represents an overall shift in emphasis in
assessing the quality of education from a concern with
inputs (such as student participation rates, physical
facilities, curriculum materials, and teacher training) to a
concern with outcomes. This emphasis on outcomes can, in
turn, be considered an expression of concern with the
development of human capital in the belief (a) that
knowledge is replacing raw materials and labor as resources
in economic development and (b) that the availability of
human knowledge and skills is critical in determining a
country's rate of economic development and its
competitiveness in an international market. The purposes and
main features of national assessments are described in
chapter 2. The reasons for carrying out a national
assessment are considered in chapter 3, and the main
decisions that have to be made in the design and planning of
an assessment are covered in chapter 4. Issues (as well as
common errors) to be borne in mind in the design,
implementation, analysis, reporting, and use of a national
assessment are identified in chapter 5. In chapter 6,
international assessments of student achievement, which
share many procedural features with national assessments
(such as sampling, administration, background data
collected, and methods of analysis), are described. |
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