Measuring quality

de Kathryn A. Riley, Desmond L. Nuttall

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. This book offers a number of insights into the general debate about performance indicators. 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.