"Prepared by the Joint Committee on Standards for Educatioanl and Psychological Testing of the American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association and National Council on Measurement in Education"--T.p. verso.

In this open access edited volume, international researchers of the field describe and discuss the systematic review method in its application to research in education. Alongside fundamental methodical considerations, reflections and practice examples are included and provide an introduction and overview on systematic reviews in education research.

Assessment has become one of the most significant areas of interest in educational policy development, as well as the focus of complex political, economic and cultural expectations for change. Increasingly, governments worldwide have become aware that curricula and teachers can be indirectly controlled through programmes of assessment. Opponents of centralized systems of mass assessment claim they are ill-suited to the diverse and changing needs of learners and users of assessment. In this text, the UK and US writers take the reader beyond the obvious functions of assessment, and focus upon the roles it performs in the social structuring of society. They examine the myths and assumptions that underpin assessment and testing and draw attention to its cultural context. This collection is devoted explicitly to socio-cultural studies of assessment and attempts to map the terrain of some 30 years of study in the field. Chapters are organized thematically, with background text providing comparative perspectives, key issues and further reading. The book provides a wide-ranging, structured and accessible approach to the study of socio-cultural origins and impacts of assessment.

The American Psychological Association offers this book to help researchers understand ethical conflicts. The examples and analyses help researchers in identifying conflicts of interest and solving ethical dilemmas, planning research, recruiting participants, training researchers, managing matters of informed consent and confidentiality, dealing with intellectual property issues, working with special populations, and updating protocols for institutional review boards.