The past thirty years have seen a rapid expansion of testing, exposing students worldwide to tests that are now, more than ever, standardized and linked to high-stakes outcomes. The use of testing as a policy tool has been legitimized within international educational development to measure education quality in the vast majority of countries worldwide. The embedded nature and normative power of high-stakes standardized testing across national contexts can be understood as a global testing culture. The global testing culture permeates all aspects of education, from financing, to parental involvement, to teacher and student beliefs and practices. The reinforcing nature of the global testing culture leads to an environment where testing becomes synonymous with accountability, which becomes synonymous with education quality. Underlying the global testing culture is a set of values identified from the increasing literature on world culture. These include: education as a human right, academic intelligence, faith in science, decentralization, and neoliberalism. Each of these values highlights different aspects of the dialogue in support of high-stakes standardized testing. The wide approval of these values and their ability to legitimate various aspects of high-stakes testing reinforces the taken-for-granted notion that such tests are effective and appropriate education practices. However, a large body of literature emphasizes the negative unintended consequences – teaching to the test, reshaping the testing pool, the inequitable distribution of school resources and teachers’ attention, and reconstructing the role of the student, teacher, and parent – commonly found when standardized, census-based tests are combined with high-stakes outcomes for educators or students. This book problematizes this culture by providing critical perspectives that challenge the assumptions of the culture and describe how the culture manifests in national contexts. The volume makes it clear that testing, per se, is not the problem. Instead it is how tests are administered, used or misused, and linked to accountability that provide the global testing culture with its powerful ability to shape schools and society and lead to its unintended, undesirable consequences.

This book provides a refined definition of standardized educational test fairness that can be utilized in multiple contexts to better understand the experiences and perspectives of diverse groups of test takers.

This report addresses the more contentious aspects of large-scale learning assessments (LSLAs). Drawing on UNESCO's extensive experience in the area from involvement in the direct implementation of assessments and as a knowledge broker and convener of networks this publication presents the Organization's critical take on such initiatives. It aims to balance the debate on LSLAs by reviewing their benefits while raising awareness on their potential risks and pitfalls. The focus of discussions in this publication is on LSLAs conducted in formal and school-based education. It includes an Annex outlining key international studies. [Executive summary, ed]

"This book culminates a career-long search for justice. I felt it important to understand what it is and where it came from as a feature of human society, of human life. I wound up in a department of education, perhaps quite fortuitously, for education enabled me to examine how experiences of justice or injustice in various educational settings shape children and young people's values, behaviors, and chances for living a decent future life"--

Integrate cultural awareness and humility into your psychological assessments In Essentials of Culture in Psychological Assessment, editor Jordan A. Wright curates a collection of invaluable work that helps psychological assessors be more deliberate in acknowledging—and, in some cases, mitigating—the role that culture and cultural experiences can play in the psychological assessment process. It encourages assessors to think about cultural issues as they relate to clients, including the cultural background clients bring with them to the assessment and the oppressive experiences they may have endured. You'll explore the roles that power and privilege might play in the assessment process and the cultural variables that affect the interaction with clients and the process as it unfolds. You'll also discover how culture and oppression can be considered and accounted for throughout the entire lifecycle of a psychological assessment. Readers will also find: Tools and strategies for conducting culture-informed and diversity-sensitive psychological assessment Techniques for understanding the data that arises from clients from various backgrounds Ways to integrate culture into every aspect of psychological assessment Perfect for psychology clinicians of all kinds, Essentials of Culture in Psychological Assessment is a can’t-miss resource that will inform, improve, and transform the way you conduct psychological testing and assessment on clients from a variety of cultural backgrounds.

Cultural Diversity in Neuropsychological Assessment provides a platform for clinical neuropsychologists, psychologists, and trainees to bridge cultures and speak to each other about the ethnically diverse communities they serve throughout the world. It allows readers to peek into their clinical filing cabinets and examine how they worked with diverse individuals from indigenous and migrant communities of Arab, Asian, European, Israeli, Latin American and Caribbean, Persian, Russian, Sub-Saharan African, and North American origin. The book first reviews important foundations for working with diverse communities that include key knowledge, awareness, skills, and action orientation. It then provides a collection of cases for each cultural geographic region. Each section begins with an introductory chapter to provide a bird’s eye view of the historical and current state of clinical and research practice of neuropsychology in that region. Then, each chapter focuses on a specific community by providing surface and deep-level cultural background knowledge from the authors’ unique perspectives. A case study is then covered in depth to practically showcase an evaluation with someone from that community. This is followed by a summary of key strategic points, lessons learned, references, further readings, and a glossary of culture specific terminology used throughout the chapter. In the end, the appendix provides a list of culturally relevant tests and norms for some communities. This ground-breaking peer-reviewed handbook provides an invaluable clinical resource for neuropsychologists, psychologists, and trainees. It increases self-reflection about multicultural awareness and knowledge, highlights practical ways to increase cultural understanding in neuropsychological and psychological assessments, and sparks further discussion for professional and personal growth in this area.

In this impressive volume a combination of theorists - linguists, historians and lawyers - address the subject of citizenship testing for language proficiency and 'cultural' knowledge. Discussing themes of identity and cultural belonging, they draw out the implications for Australia and the wider international community.

Continuing Joel Spring’s reportage and analysis of the intersection of global forces and education, this text offers a comprehensive overview and synthesis of current research, theories, and models related to the topic. Spring introduces readers to the processes, institutions, and forces by which schooling has been globalized and examines the impact of these forces on schooling in local contexts. Designed for courses on globalization and education, international and comparative education, educational foundations, multicultural education, and educational policy, the text is written in a clear narrative style to engage readers in thoughtful consideration of topics discussed. Each chapter includes "Key Points" that summarize the content and suggest issues and questions for critical analysis, discussion, and debate.

This year’s edition brings together research and essays on comparative education trends and directions written by professional and scholarly leaders in the field. Topics covered include theoretical and methodological developments, reports on research-to-practice, area studies and the diversification of comparative and international education.

There is an increasing recognition today that young people need to have knowledge about religions and world views in order to live and work in diverse societies. What kind of 'maps' are they provided with through religious, values and ethics education? Does education address the challenging existential questions that children and adolescents ask about life and the world? This volume addresses different aspects of how existential questions have been dealt with in educational research. It especially draws attention to the Swedish research tradition of focusing on life questions and the interpretation of life in education, but with contemporary international research added. It also addresses issues of ethics education and discusses possible options for the future of existential questions as a resource for education.