This commentary focuses on one of the positive impacts of COVID-19, which was to tie societal inequity to testing in a manner that could motivate the reimagining of our field. That reimagining needs to account for our nation's dramatically changing demographics so that assessment generally, and standardized testing specifically, better fit the…

History has shown that despite favourable changes in policy and perception, undesirable or ineffective educational practices in the Caribbean have remained largely unchanged, or superficially or inadequately changed. It has also shown that high stakes summative assessment wields considerable influence on the content to which students are exposed…

Educational assessment is important. But in the twenty-first century it is easy to feel that schooling and other phases of education are shaped entirely by certain assessments, and that assessment is only about exam results. The idea that test grades can accurately describe the aims and outcomes of education is unfair and reductive. Yet it is a…

Assessment is an essential part of teaching and learning, but too often it leads to misleading conclusions--sometimes with dire consequences for students. How can educators improve assessment practices so that the results are accurate, meaningful, informative, and fair? Educator and best-selling author Myron Dueck draws from his firsthand…

Although alternatives exist, unseen, written examinations still appear to be a major component of assessment in higher education in the UK. Such exams can be unsettling for students new to higher education, particularly for those with specific learning difficulties. The concept of an 'attainment curve' is developed to assist mark attribution and…

This article is an introduction to a European Educational Research Journal special issue on accountability policies and instruments in Europe. Two hypotheses grounded in the new institutionalist theory are presented to conceptualise and analyse the variety of national trajectories and forms of accountability in four European education systems…

Digitally enhanced learning and teaching is widely used across the European Higher Education Area, with general acceptance growing over the years and institutions widely acknowledging the benefits it brings to the student experience. The strategic focus being placed on digitally enhanced learning and teaching has increased, undoubtedly accelerated…

This theoretical paper taps into Ball's view of the terrors of performativity in order to critique examination mafiarisation in Zimbabwe. Of late, the education system in this country has experienced a number of trajectories, characterised by examination leaks, cheating, and a decline in confidence in Zimbabwean education. I critique examination…

Assessment literacy (AL) empowers teachers (Grabowski & Dakin, 2014) by helping them make better decisions about the development, administration, and use of assessments (Harding & Kremmel, 2016; Popham, 2009). This is crucial because when teachers make erroneous interpretations, which lead to incorrect decisions, students can suffer…

This article argues that assessment is a central feature of teaching, particularly as a means to determine whether what has been taught has been learnt. However, I take issue with the current trend in education which places a significant amount of emphasis upon large-scale public testing, which in turn has exacerbated the…

In this paper, we explore the improvisations made in examination practices in higher education during the pandemic of 2020. Drawing on STS, we start from the theoretical assumption that examinations constitute an obligatory passage point in universities and colleges: a sacred point which students need to pass if they want to gain recognized…

The United States is formally represented around the world by approximately 14,000 Foreign Service officers and other personnel in the U.S. Department of State. Roughly one-third of them are required to be proficient in the local languages of the countries to which they are posted. To achieve this language proficiency for its staff, the State…

Preserving the unique contours of cultural communities is integral to the rich weave of our collective human heritage. However, the postcolonial United States (US) educational paradigm, reflected in curricula and standards based on white middle-class norms, has a flattening effect on the vibrancy of diverse languages and community traditions.…

Single-timepoint educational measurement practices are capable of assessing student ability at the time of testing but are not designed to be informative of student capacity for developing in any particular academic domain, despite commonly being used in such a manner. For this reason, such measurement practice systematically underestimates the…

Background:This brief reflection on the work of the Gordon Commission calls out significant themes and implications found in the various papers authored by the commissioners and other scholars, especially those included in this special issue of Teachers College Record. Purpose: The forward-looking vision of the Gordon Commission is contrasted with…