Assessment Reform in Science Fairness and Fear [Paperback]

The conclusions and recommendations made in this book are derived from a study of ten teachers in Hong Kong as they tried to change their practice following a reform of the Hong Kong assessment system. Hong Kong is simply a context that provided the opportunity to gather very rich and informative data on issues pertaining to assessment reforms which also have very wide implications in many countries contexts. The text is written in a lucid and easy-to-read style.

Fairness and Fear ? I was startled at the subtitle of the book when I first heard it! Our series has some imaginative titles but none so evocative as this one. But fear and fairness capture much of teacher thinking about assessment. Indeed, teachers struggle to be fair with students, certainly c- cerned (and often fearful) of failures to be fair, and repercussions that teachers can face as a result. Then there is the fearful enterprise of imposed assessment regimes that many teachers face. Dr. Yungs book allows us to hear from the teachers on these concerns ? this is no top-down policy statement. His account is readable and highly instructive, and I hope that copies will find their way to the desks of many school administrators and policy personnel. We are indeed pleased to release this volume. William W. Cobern Book Series Editor (2000-2005) Foreword by Peter Fensham Two things are very clear to me about formal educational systems. What is assessed in these systems determines what teachers and students recognize as knowledge of worth. Teachers in general are conscientious in doing their best to ensure that their students will learn this knowledge of worth well. Science has now been widely acknowledged to be a core or key subject in the overall curriculum of schooling at all levels.

Foreword by Peter Fensham. Foreword by Derek Hodson. Acknowledgements.
1. Introduction.
2. The assessment reform.
3. Tel£ç