ABSTRACT
With increasing demands throughout the world for improved efficiency and standards from education systems (Harris, Keys and Fernandes, 1997; Reynolds and Farrell, 1996), there has been extensive effort invested in developing ways of monitoring effectiveness. As Goldstein and Woodhouse (1996) have argued, ‘Since the principal aim of educational institutions is to promote learning it would appear natural to evaluate their accomplishment of this aim by comparing the performances of students who attend them’ (1996:135). Broadfoot (1996) recognizes the power of such comparative evaluations. Not only can the results be used to identify strengths and weaknesses of individuals, institutions and whole systems, results can also be used as a powerful source of leverage to bring about change. As she suggests, ‘It is for this reason that we are increasingly seeing policy makers in many countries quite deliberately manipulating assessment policies in order to alter priorities of the educational system with a view to improving effectiveness’ (1996:21).
