Measuring Quality: Education Indicators

Moves to develop indicators about school effectiveness and performance have been driven by national trends and debates about performance and accountability. Nationally set indicators - such as the standard assessment tasks, or the publication of performance in public examinations - have increasingly become part of the new education currency: a medium for exercising choice and decision-making in the new education market place. As contributors to this book suggest, such a framework is not unproblematic. Originally published in 1994, this book offers a number of insights into the general debate about performance indicators at the time. It explores the background to the debate; the differing perspectives of policy-makers and practitioners; and the purpose, audiences and values of education indicators, both in the UK and elsewhere.

Kathryn A. Riley, Desmond L. Nuttall

A Tribute. 1. The Framework Kathryn A. Riley and Desmond L. Nuttall 2. Education Indicators: Officials, Ministers and the Demand for Information Alan Ruby 3. Choosing Indicators Desmond L. Nuttall 4. How Indicators Have Been Used in the USA Ramsay Selden 5. Quality, Surveillance and Performance Measurement Kieron Walsh 6. Performance Indicators: Flourish or Perish? John Gray and Brian Wilcox 7. Following the Education Indicators Trail in the Pursuit of Quality Kathryn A. Riley 8. A Role for Parents, Students and Teachers in School Self-Evaluation and Development Planning John MacBeath 9. Measuring Performance - National Contexts and Local Realities Kathryn A. Riley and Desmond Nuttall. Notes on Contributors. Index.