Brown Gavin T. L. - Handbook of human and social conditions in assessment

The Handbook of Human and Social Conditions in Assessment is the first book to explore assessment issues and opportunities occurring due to the real world of human, cultural, historical, and societal influences upon assessment practices, policies, and statistical modeling. With chapters written by experts in the field, this book engages with numerous forms of assessment: from classroom-level formative assessment practices to national accountability and international comparative testing practices, all of which are significantly influenced by social and cultural conditions. A unique and timely contribution to the field of educational psychology, the Handbook of Human and Social Conditions in Assessment is written for researchers, educators, and policymakers interested in how social and human complexity affect assessment at all levels of learning.

Organized into four sections, this volume examines assessment in relation to teachers, students, classroom conditions, and cultural factors. Each section is comprised of a series of chapters, followed by a discussant chapter that synthesizes key ideas and offers directions for future research. Taken together, the chapters in this volume demonstrate that teachers, test creators, and policymakers must account for the human and social conditions that shape assessment if they are to implement successful assessment practices which accomplish their intended outcomes.

Gavin T. L. Brown is Professor and Director of the Quantitative Data Analysis and Research Unit in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Lois R. Harris is a Senior Post-doctoral Research Fellow within the School of Education and the Arts at Central Queensland University, Australia.

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Handbook of Human and Social Conditions in Assessment

Edited by Gavin T. L. Brown and Lois R. Harris

Edited by
Gavin T. L. Brown and Lois R. Harris

First published 2016

by Routledge

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2016 Taylor & Francis

The right of Gavin T. L. Brown and Lois R. Harris to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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ISBN: 978-1-138-81153-9 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-138-81155-3 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-1-315-74913-6 (ebk)

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JOHN HATTIE

LOIS R. HARRIS AND GAVIN T. L. BROWN

SARAH M. BONNER

SHARON L. NICHOLS AND LOIS R. HARRIS

MARY F. HILL AND GAYLE E. EYERS

MEI KUIN LAI AND KIM SCHILDKAMP

JUDY M. PARR AND HELEN S. TIMPERLEY

ELISABETH VOGL AND REINHARD PEKRUN

KATRIEN STRUYVEN AND JOANA DEVESA

DANIEL L. DINSMORE AND HOPE E. WILSON

ANASTASIYA A. LIPNEVICH, DAVID A. G. BERG, AND JEFFREY K. SMITH

TAMERA B. MURDOCK, JASON M. STEPHENS, AND MORGAN M. GROTEWIEL

STEVEN L. WISE AND LISA F. SMITH

JAMES H. MCMILLAN

ERNESTO PANADERO

ROBIN D. TIERNEY AND MARTHA J. KOCH

TONYA R. MOON

JAN-WILLEM STRIJBOS

HEIDI L. ANDRADE AND GAVIN T. L. BROWN

BRONWEN COWIE AND CHRISTINE HARRISON

SUSAN M. BROOKHART

JANNA TELTEMANN AND ECKHARD KLIEME

BOB LINGARD AND STEVEN LEWIS

KERRY J. KENNEDY

ATTA GEBRIL

FONS J. R. VAN DE VIJVER

CHAD W. BUCKENDAHL

IRVIN R. KATZ AND JOANNA S. GORIN

KADRIYE ERCIKAN AND GUILLERMO SOLANO-FLORES

GAVIN T. L. BROWN AND LOIS R. HARRIS

John Hattie

In my book Visible Learning, I begin by commenting on the harm that has been done within the field of education because of the common assumption that everything seems to work (Hattie, 2009a, p. 1). I argue that this sentiment has been extremely destructive as it has allowed schools and teachers to essentially ignore evidence about best practices and what actually supports optimal learning for diverse groups of students. The alternative to a data driven approach is to rely on tradition, instincts, and intuitions. While not all of these intuitions and traditions are wrong, evidence must provide the foundation for why we continue, modify, or cease particular practices; otherwise, we risk repeating unsuccessful strategies over and over again simply because that is always how weve done things or because practitioners assume the current outcomes are the best which can be achieved.

The major message is that educators should continually ask about their impact, and assessing student learning is the major way to determine this. Schools and teachers must ask themselves many questions when considering impact. Is there a shared understanding of what impact means in the school (and between schools)? What is a sufficient magnitude of impact or what does at least a years growth look like for a years input? Does every student make sufficient gain? Impact is a judgement, informed by evidence, best discussed not only among teachers and school leaders, but with students as well. Impact evidence includes test scores, but also students work calibrated over time and students voices about their evidence of progress and their learning. Collating these judgements requires triangulation. The many interventions (and yes, some have higher probability of impact than others) are not as critical as the impact of these interventions. There is a practice of teaching; effective methods are known, and success is all around us in education. However, our eyes must be open to this success and it must be identified in a valid and dependable way.