With the rise of accountability measures in education, many policymakers have also argued the need to record, assess, and certify students' holistic development. However, using China as a case, we caution how a policy-driven reform on the assessment of holistic development might fall into the pitfall of performativity. Borrowing from Ball's (Ball,…

This study examined the relationship between pre-service teachers' epistemological views and their assessment conceptions, as well as how epistemological beliefs and their components contribute to the variation in their assessment conceptions. Utilizing a quantitative descriptive correlational research design, data were collected from 197…

This paper explores Indonesian secondary school teachers' conceptions of assessment in the context of assessment reform. Teachers working at different school level were interviewed both individually and in groups and their responses were analysed using the content analysis approach. Detailed examination of teachers' assessment propositions…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine how faculty chairs at a large, Midwestern community college understand and engage with the assessment of student learning outcomes within academic programs. This study was informed by two conceptual paradigms of assessment: accountability and improvement. Sensemaking was used as a…

COVID-19 upended schooling across the United States, but with what consequences for the state-level institutions that drive most education policy? This paper reports findings on two related research questions. First, what were the most important ways state government education policymakers changed schools and schooling from the moment they began…

Various efforts have been made in higher education in Sweden to meet the demand for more transparent governance and increased efficiency and quality. The purpose of this article is to investigate how university teachers handle standardized models for assessment and examination and orientate in this field of tension between professional…

Examiners' judgements play a critical role in competency-based assessments such as objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs). The standardised nature of OSCEs and their alignment with regulatory accountability assure their wide use as high-stakes assessment in medical education. Research into examiner behaviours has predominantly explored…

Through-year assessment is enjoying a surge of attention. A through-year assessment program is: (1) Administered in multiple distinct sessions during a school year; and (2) Intended to support (a) the production and use of a summative determination, and (b) one additional aim. More than a dozen states are designing, piloting, or implementing…

A pronounced development of the 21st century is the technological revolution, which is leading to a global world that creates more multicultural, intercultural, and diverse communities. These developments influence our lives in various ways, one of which relates to education. Educational systems are facing complicated challenges, as they need to…

Using narrow test scores as the only means of accountability does not serve students, teachers, or schools. Jonathan E. Collins writes that policy makers and educators should consider accountability as an education system designed to be accountable to the best version of students. This means assessing outcomes that policy makers too easily…

This paper furthers the understanding of literacy being developed through this Special Issue by bringing a pluralistic, complex account of literacy into conversation with assessment. The rise of neoliberalism in education--and its related focus on standards, accountability, and efficiency--has seen literacy positioned as the "core…

Creating summative assessments that accurately test students' breadth of knowledge and critical thinking can be a difficult task. Instructors often rely upon overly complex quick response questions or constructed response exams. However, students often have negative perceptions of the latter. The authors implemented an approach for administering…

This study aims to explore the influence of science teachers' beliefs on an educational assessment reform adopted in Estonia. Two existing questionnaires were adapted to develop a model to examine teachers' beliefs about teaching and assessment and administered to a sample of Estonian science teachers (N = 319). The outcomes were examined through…

When seen in a positive light, accountability systems are understood as a means for promoting transparency, improvement, responsibility and commitment to valuable goals, thus ensuring that State funding is invested in initiatives that are beneficial to all citizens. However, in education, there is extensive evidence about the negative effects of…

For the past 20 years Massachusetts has used a high-stakes, test-based accountability system for the state's public schools. The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) are standardized tests administered in Grades 3-10 which account for the majority of district and school accountability measures, and the Grade 10 tests serve as an…