Knowledge, expertise and policy in the examinations crisis in England

The Covid-19 pandemic suspended established practices that, in normal times, are seen as central to the functioning of education systems. For example, in England, school closures led to the cancellation of national examinations in 2020, and their attempted replacement with an algorithmic model. Foll...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inOxford review of education Vol. 49; no. 6; pp. 713 - 731
Main Authors Ozga, Jenny, Baird, Jo-Anne, Saville, Luke, Arnott, Margaret, Hell, Niclas
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford Routledge 02.11.2023
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Algorithms
COVID-19
Educational Change
Educational Policy
Educational systems
Evaluation Methods
examinations
Exit Examinations
expertise
Experts
Foreign Countries
Grades (Scholastic)
Inflation
knowledge
Pandemics
policy
Public policy
School Closing
Student Evaluation
Teachers
United Kingdom (England)
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Summary:The Covid-19 pandemic suspended established practices that, in normal times, are seen as central to the functioning of education systems. For example, in England, school closures led to the cancellation of national examinations in 2020, and their attempted replacement with an algorithmic model. Following public outcry about what were seen as the unjust effects of the application of that model, there was a very public policy reversal, and examination grades were awarded on the basis of moderated teacher assessments or Centre Assessed Grades, resulting in substantial grade inflation. This paper draws on research that investigated the actors involved in examinations policy in this period and focuses especially on the sources of expertise and the kinds of knowledge that were mobilised - or not - in the decision to cancel examinations, to develop the algorithm and to revert to Centre Assessed Grades.
ISSN:0305-4985
1465-3915
DOI:10.1080/03054985.2022.2158071