We are at a critical moment for assessment in schools. Teachers are called to navigate advances in classroom assessment research, top-down assessment policies, and lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on teaching and learning. Embedded in this context are also systemic challenges to teachers' assessment practice. This paper analyses these…

Background: This study examines the engagement of knowledge users in knowledge mobilisation (KMb) research on Canadian K-12 teaching and education policy. Research on and around KMb has grown in the decade since this field was first assessed comprehensively. Thus, it is timely to re-evaluate if current knowledge producer-user relationships in KMb…

Higher education has faced increased pressure to prove its quality through 'economic efficiency' and 'value for money', thrusting institutions into what researchers call an 'audit culture'. This study explores whether and how the audit culture has impacted educational developers in Canadian post-secondary institutions. Results include a summary of…

Data literacy is the ability to collect, manage, evaluate, and apply data, in a critical manner. It is a relatively new field of study, dating only from the 2010s. It includes the skills necessary to discover and access data, manipulate data, evaluate data quality, conduct analysis using data, interpret results of analyses, and understand the…

This project reviews data collection practices regarding race, ethnicity and ancestry (REA) in post-secondary institutions (PSIs) in Canada, as well as in other relevant sectors (e.g., health, K-12 education, government agencies). The goal of the project was to identify promising practices and to develop recommendations to guide REA data…

As art libraries face challenges from an evolving environment, repercussions from the COVID-19 pandemic, and static or diminishing resources, finding sustainable pathways forward becomes an increasing priority. An important option for art research collections in achieving long-term sustainability is collaboration. This report explores…

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the nature and sufficiency of descriptive information included in open datasets and the nature of comments and questions users write in relation to specific datasets. Open datasets are provided to facilitate civic engagement and government transparency. However, making the data available does not guarantee…

In large-scale assessments, performance differences across different groups are regularly found. These group differences (e.g., gender differences) are often relevant for educational policy decisions and measures. However, the formation of these group differences usually remains unclear. We propose an approach for investigating this formation by…

This paper explores the student achievement-related decision-making processes of eight school principals in Ontario, Canada. First, we describe Ontario's public education system with respect to neo-liberalism and student achievement. Next, we review general approaches to reducing the achievement gap as it pertains to matters of race. We then show…

Comparing group is one of the key uses of large-scale assessment results, which are used to gain insights to inform policy and practice and to examine the comparability of scores and score meaning. Such comparisons typically focus on examinees' final answers and responses to test questions, ignoring response process differences groups may engage…

This article reveals the multifaceted ways in which policy enactment was expressed as praxis in the context of assessment reform in Ontario, Canada. The research explores the way in which the Growing Success assessment policy was interpreted variously by different educators occupying senior roles within the district office in a single school…

The Education Council of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) commissioned a review of the current approach to the presentation of the National Assessment Program -- Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) data including information published on the "My School" website. The review was framed by four Terms of Reference, namely: (1)…

Although I am an economic geographer trained in the United States, most of my research has been conducted in Germany or Canada. Thus, I developed my disciplinary schema in a context different from the one where I now use it. This US-focused training taught me that before one examines the local dynamics of a particular industry, labor market, or…