In the opening paper in this Special Edition I outlined the major issues that led to the establishment of "project e-scape". The project was intended to develop systems and approaches that enabled learners to build real-time web-based portfolios of their performance (initially) in design & technology and additionally to build systems…

Since independence, Nigeria has been searching diligently for a viable educational system capable of enhancing the socio-economic and political values inherent in the country. This paper discusses concepts such as management, qualitative education and Universal Basic Education. In addition to the above, the paper also examines the National…

Since the 1960s, there have been continuing federal efforts to bring reform to scale in high-poverty elementary and secondary schools across the U.S. This paper traces the evolution of these efforts and discusses their impacts on achievement outcomes. Drawing on evidence from meta-analyses of the Title I evaluation literature and the Comprehensive…

The guiding principles and procedures for pupil assessment in Portuguese compulsory education were established by the Implementing Order No. 1/2005, 5th January, with amendments introduced by the Implementing Orders No. 18/2006, 14th March and No. 5/2007, 10th January, and apply to the learning objectives and competencies defined for the various…

Some of the assumptions underlying educational assessment policies in England and Wales are discussed in terms of contradictions in the aims of those policies. Two key initiatives--the national "bench-mark" testing and records of achievement--provide the focus for illustrating the potentially fundamental change of emphasis in the nature…

An established practice within the program of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is an examination, on request, of educational policy and planning trends in individual member countries. It involves: (1) the preparation by the country concerned of a report documenting and explaining current educational development…

The Swedish school system comprises: (1) Pre-primary school (Forskola), typical age 1-5; (2) Preschool class in the compulsory school (Grundskola) typical age 6 (participation voluntary); (3) Compulsory school, typical age 7-16, grades 1-9, and (4) Upper secondary school, 17 programmes (4 mainly academic, 13 vocational), typical age 16-19, grades…

The debate about national assessment in education is in its infancy in New Zealand. It is recognized that the requirements of assessment for national monitoring may conflict with assessment of a formative nature within the schools because of differing requirements for the numbers of students assessed, the type of assessment advisable, and the…

Discusses the 1975 decision of the Peruvian government to designate Quechua as an official language. Specific programs carried out as a result of this law are analyzed and assessed with respect to their effects and implications. The problems encountered in producing instructional materials for languages which are fragmented into dialects are…

Nationwide problems leading to lack of competency in foreign languages in the United States are discussed. The goals and procedures for national criteria and a national assessment program to rectify this deficiency are outlined. (PMJ)

In 1999, Ministers responsible for school education agreed to the new set of "National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-First Century," with the aim of providing high quality schooling in Australia which would secure for students the necessary knowledge, understanding, skills and values for a productive and rewarding life. As a…

The Polish school education system makes a distinction between two types of assessment: (1) Intra-school or internal assessment; and (2) External assessment. The idea of introducing external examinations into the Polish school education system emerged in 1992. This was directly inspired by study visits to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands…

This article presents the methodology used by the Finnish Education Evaluation Council in the national evaluation of social and communication skills in vocational education and training. The evaluation concentrates on key competences such as learning-to-learn skills, communication skills, social skills and entrepreneurship (Implementation of…

The costs and benefits of recent statewide and nationwide educational assessment programs are examined. The purpose of this paper is to present and substantiate some critical lessons and observations concerning: how the costs and benefits of large-scale assessments (LSAs) can be appraised, and the utility of this type of research to policymakers…

In January of 1987, a planning conference was convened by the Center for Education Statistics as part of an effort to study the feasibility of various approaches to the nationwide assessment of children's readiness for instruction in kindergarten and first grade. This report provides, in an appendix, the texts of the four commissioned papers…