The Sociology of Assessment: Comparative and Policy Perspectives In the World Library of Educationalists series, international experts them- selves compile career-long collections of what they judge to be their finest pieces – extracts from books, key articles, salient research findings, major theoretical and practical contributions – so the world can read them in a single manageable volume. Readers will be able to follow the themes and strands and see how their work contributes to the development of the field. In a collection of her most influential work spanning nearly four decades, Patricia Broadfoot applies her trademark sociological and comparative per- spective to empirical studies at every level of the educational system. From her classic long-term study of the impact of changing national assessment policies on pupils and teachers in the classrooms of England and France to her sustained championship of the need for a better understanding of the impact of assessment on learning, Broadfoot has consistently championed the need for a more developed sociological understanding of assessment. Broadfoot’s accessible writing offers insights that are as novel as they are important for the education of future generations. This book allows readers to follow themes and strands across Patricia Broadfoot’s career and will be of interest to all followers of her work and any reader interested in the development of teaching, learning and assessment. Dr Patricia Broadfoot is Professor Emeritus of Sociology of Education at the University of Bristol, UK. She is a former Head of the School of Education, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Pro Vice Chancellor at the University of Bristol and was Vice Chancellor of the University of Gloucestershire, UK. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and was awarded the CBE for services to Social Science. World Library of Educationalists series The World Library of Educationalists celebrates the important contributions to education made by leading experts in their individual fields of study. Each scholar has compiled a career-long collection of what they consider to be their finest pieces: extracts from books, journals, articles, major theoretical and practical contributions, and salient research findings. For the first time ever the work of each contributor is presented in a single volume so readers can follow the themes and progress of their work and identify the contributions made to, and the development of, the fields themselves. The distinguished careers of the selected experts span at least two decades and include Richard Aldrich, Stephen J. Ball, Elliot W. Eisner, John Elliott, Howard Gardner, John Gilbert, Ivor F. Goodson, David Hargreaves, David Labaree and E.C. Wragg. Each book in the series features a specially written introduction by the contributor giving an overview of their career, context- ualizing their selection within the development of the field, and showing how their own thinking developed over time. Educating Young Children: A Lifetime Journey into a Froebelian Approach The Selected Works of Tina Bruce Tina Bruce Journeys in Narrative Inquiry The Selected Works of D. Jean Clandinin D. Jean Clandinin Researching Literate Lives The Selected Works of Jerome C. Harste Jerome C. Harste The Sociology of Assessment: Comparative and Policy Perspectives The Selected Works of Patricia Broadfoot Patricia Broadfoot For more titles in this series visit www.routledge.com/ World- Library- of- Educationalists/ book- series/ WORLDLIBEDU The Sociology of Assessment: Comparative and Policy Perspectives The Selected Works of Patricia Broadfoot Patricia Broadfoot First published 2021 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2021 Patricia Broadfoot The right of Patricia Broadfoot to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Broadfoot, Patricia, author. Title: The sociology of assessment: comparative and policy perspectives: the selected works of Patricia Broadfoot/Patricia Broadfoot. Description: Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2021. | Series: World library of educationalists | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2020027920 (print) | LCCN 2020027921 (ebook) | ISBN 9780367206307 (hardback) | ISBN 9780429262609 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Educational tests and measurements–Social aspects. | Students–Rating of. | Teachers–Rating of. | Educational sociology. Classification: LCC LB3051.B723 2021 (print) | LCC LB3051 (ebook) | DDC 306.43–dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020027920 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020027921 ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 20630- 7 (hbk) ISBN: 978- 0- 429- 26260- 9 (ebk) Typeset in Sabon by Newgen Publishing UK For my husband, David and my children, James, Laurence and Elanwy, for their sacrifices, their love and their unfailing support. Contents Preface: assessment, accountability and performance: the changing relations of power in education ix PROFESSOR STEPHEN J. BALL FRSA, FBA, FAcSS Acknowledgements xiv Previously published chapters xvi Introduction 1 PART I The rationality of judgement: understanding educational assessment sociologically 5 1 Competence, competition, content and control: how assessment mediates the relationship between education and society 7 2 Selection, certification and control: meritocracy or social reproduction? 59 PART II Insights from comparing national education systems: empirical studies of differences in the impact of assessment for system control on teachers and pupils 75 3 Towards a focus on learning and culture: time for a new approach to comparative education? 81 4 New forms of system control: the power of assessment as a tool for accountability and legitimation 101 viii Contents 5 Using the comparative approach to understand teachers’ priorities: the ‘Bristaix’ study of English and French education 120 6 Values, understanding and power: mapping the impact of assessment policy changes on teachers’ practice through the PACE project 147 7 Comparing influences on pupil achievement: insights from the QUEST project 162 8 Culture, context and policy: new perspectives on learning from the ENCOMPASS study of pupils in England, France and Denmark 183 PART III Assessment as a policy tool 207 9 Performativity versus empowerment: how the ‘assessment society’ is inhibiting the advent of a ‘learning society’ 209 10 Assessment as a social technology: the socio- cultural origins and implications of the ‘standards’ agenda 236 PART IV Anticipating the future: assessment for learning and the digital revolution 253 11 Enter the ‘assessment society’: international trends and future challenges 255 12 Challenging the status quo: the potential of assessment for learning 279 13 Towards an assessment revolution? The potentially transforming potential of computer- based assessment 304 Epilogue 330 Postscript 332 Index 336 Preface Assessment, accountability and performance: the changing relations of power in education Professor Stephen J. Ball, FRSA, FBA, FAcSS In his seminal paper On the Classification and Framing of Educational Knowledge (Bernstein, 1971), Basil Bernstein outlined a framework for the analysis of schooling based on what he called the ‘three message systems’ of schooling – curriculum, pedagogy and assessment – as relays of know- ledge. The analysis was based on the identification of the power relations embedded in each system, between teacher and learner, along a number of dimensions, and the ways in which these power relations work to construct and determine what is to be learnt, how content is to be learnt and when certain subject content is learnt. That is, ‘Curriculum defines what counts as a valid knowledge, pedagogy defines what counts as a valid transmis- sion of knowledge, and evaluation defines what counts as a valid realiza- tion of this knowledge’ (Bernstein, 1975, p. 85). Arguably, this was the first attempt to produce a theory of educational knowledge, or educational transmissions as he later termed them. It was certainly the first time that assessment had been interrogated and related in theoretical terms to peda- gogy and curriculum. Up to that point sociological interest in assessment was almost entirely limited to issues of unfairness, in terms of social class and of forms of testing like the English 11+. Chapter 10 illustrates how powerful Bernstein’s analysis of the role of assessment as a transmission system would prove to be for understanding the profound changes that were about to take place in English education policy. Perhaps more than anywhere else in the world, these changes heralded the introduction of a new social role for assessment