Check out these new titles in the OISE library!

Testing Wars in the Public Schools: A Forgotten History
Controversies over assessment in the public school system are not a recent development. Written examinations were first introduced in the mid 19th century in response to a growing concern that current methods of assessment were inadequate and led only to rote memorization without understanding. Within decades, the new culture of written assessment provoked major backlash, with critics claiming that tests narrowed the curriculum and were hazardous to the health and sanity of both students and teachers. In this book, William J. Reese, Professor of Educational Policy Studies and History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, gives historical context to today’s battles over academic standards and assessment by delving into the early history of written exams and the controversies they ignited.

Measuring What Matters Most: Choice-Based Assessments for the Digital Age
Educators frequently use choice as a means to motivate their students to learn, and they strive to teach their students to make good choices both in the classroom and in the world. Schwartz and Arena argue that making good choices is central to learning how to act independently, a fundamental goal in education that is mismatched with the current focus on knowledge-based assessment, which offers students only a weak form of choice. They suggest that rather being an “ingredient” in education, choice should replace knowledge as the framework by which we assess students’ learning. The authors present both theoretical and practical issues, providing concrete examples of effective choice-based assessments.

Improving Large-Scale Assessment in Education: Theory, Issues, and Practice
Large-scale assessments have become standard, playing an important role in education policy and planning. This volume presents cutting-edge research in the field of large-scale assessments (LSAs) by a team of world-class researchers and measurement practitioners. Each chapter looks at a different issue, covering topics such as design, development, and delivery of LSAs, the role of digital technologies, assessment of diverse populations such as English language learners and special needs students, as well as technical issues around scoring and statistical analysis.

These and other new books are available on the New Acquisitions shelf on the ground floor of the library.