Marten Shipman

Effective evaluation of a pupil’s performance and of resources available is a vital part of successful teaching. Originally published in 1983, this non-statistical guide aims to help teachers organise their work so as to improve their assessment of their pupils and also to analyse their own management efforts.A model is developed showing how teachers can progressively structure their work to increase the objectivity of their assessment. The use of published tests and the production of tests by teachers is covered, but the focus throughout is on the part played by assessment in the organisation of learning. The steps recommended are arranged so that the first yield the largest return. But none requires any statistical expertise or a large investment of time. The second part of the book shows how schools can be evaluated by their staff – school organisation, staff development and the curriculum are given special attention in this step-by-step guide to effective and rewarding school assessment.

Effective evaluation of a pupil’s performance and of resources available is a vital part of successful teaching. Originally published in 1983, this non-statistical guide aims to help teachers organise their work so as to improve their assessment of their pupils and also to analyse their own management efforts.A model is developed showing how teachers can progressively structure their work to increase the objectivity of their assessment. The use of published tests and the production of tests by teachers is covered, but the focus throughout is on the part played by assessment in the organisation of learning. The steps recommended are arranged so that the first yield the largest return. But none requires any statistical expertise or a large investment of time. The second part of the book shows how schools can be evaluated by their staff – school organisation, staff development and the curriculum are given special attention in this step-by-step guide to effective and rewarding school assessment.

Historians and sociologists chart the consequences of the expansion of knowledge; philosophers of science examine the causes. This book bridges the gap. The focus is on 'academisation' — the paradox whereby, as the general public becomes better educated to live and work with knowledge, the ‘academy’ increases its intellectual distance from the public, so that the nature of social and natural reality becomes more rather than less obscure.