National curriculum reform is a complex negotiation point of how basic education should be practiced and what role it should take in society. The question of participation in this process is central to creating a coherent, responsible, and implementable curriculum--but still left for little investigation in the national level reforms. Our goal was…

This article aims to highlight how a scientific and critical approach is used in assessment dialogues during the last period of a practical, school-based teacher education programme. The result is based on 13 assessment dialogues conducted in a course at a Swedish university, where one of the course objectives is to, 'in a scientific way, analyse…

This essay examines the shared philosophical foundations of Fredrick W. Taylor's scientific management principles and the contemporary learning outcomes movement (LOM). It analyses the shared philosophical ground between the focal point of Taylor's system--"the task"--and the conceptualization and deployment of "learning…

Within an era of change to early childhood education and care, this case study of kindergarten classroom literacy curricula sought to understand the production and effects of the curriculum within one urban, Canadian full-day kindergarten that included culturally and linguistically diverse children. Central was a concern for the place of…

The USA was the first nation to attain universal secondary education through the creation of a unitary school structure capped by the uniquely American institution, the comprehensive or cosmopolitan high school. Other leading democratic nations adopted the comprehensive model, but not until well after mid-twentieth century. The modern movement for…

This essay reflects on Daniel Tanner's "Race to the top and leave the children behind" by attention to the way our particular national histories impact on our thinking about what is valuable, the kinds of curriculum pressures and common senses that are now at work internationally at government and policy level, the specific forms these…

Around the world, increasing numbers of students receive after-school private supplementary tutoring. Such tutoring may be provided through informal channels or by companies, and it may be received one-to-one, in small groups or in large classes. The tutoring is commonly called shadow education since its content mimics that of regular schooling.…

The capacity of schooling to overcome disadvantage in society is a recurring topic of discussion and debate in countries around the world. Current government-led reforms of curriculum, assessment and schooling often aim to address inequality, as part of broader agendas to improve national productivity and social wellbeing. Recent approaches to…

Since the late 1990s there has been a fundamental shift in the way schooling and even education as a whole is evaluated. From this new perspective the education system would seem to be interpreted as a sub-system of the economic system and thus subservient to it. Decisions on education matters seem to have become determinant for individual…

Why and under which conditions do international student assessment programmes like PISA have success? How can the results of these assessments be useful for advocates of different, even contradictory, policies? What might explain different patterns of using assessment as a tool for school governance? Drawing on historical and comparative research,…

Scottish official curricular texts, including guidelines and examination papers, are analysed for representations of "self and the environment". The environment is represented as fragmented when it is the curricular focus and is only "whole" when it is background context; "human-environment relations" are dualized;…

Questions why some teachers are more successful than other teachers at helping students attain higher levels of mathematics achievement. Particular emphasis is given to a study of classroom behavior of a group of fourth grade teachers who were identified as relatively successful or unsuccessful in facilitating students' achievement in mathematics.…

Discusses a project in which quantitative and qualitative methodologies were combined in an evaluation of the High School Education Law Project (HELP) in Australia. Qualitative and quantitative evaluation were combined in several aspects of the study including field testing of preliminary versions of HELP materials, further evaluation work on…

Examines the recommendations of the Task Group on Assessment and Testing (TGAT) report, particularly emphasizing the sections on teacher assessment. Reflects upon the actual recommendations contained in the report. Finds the report not to be as progressive as was previously thought. (KO)

This paper considers the insights that can be gained into the 'actual' curriculum, as compared to the 'intended' curriculum, by using an approach which probes the structure of children's understanding. This approach, known as the clinical interview, can be used by teachers and curriculum evaluators to help children understand curriculum content.…