ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book draws on data from a small-scale qualitative case study of Australian school and teacher productivity. It aims to problematize the research constructs teacher effectiveness and teacher quality and argue that the emphasis on metricated “data” such as standardized tests is dangerously reductive and omits the broader work that teachers and schools do. The book addresses the “new normal” of reform in school education and along with this an education reform movement that has particular objectives and weapons at its disposal. It deals with political and economic parameters that influence contemporary education worldwide and explains why education is involved in doing the work of the economic and political. The book takes a closer look at how the constant of reform connects to another constant, the need to improve.
