Afterword charting the path forward. Critiquing the Teaching and Learning of English in Chile.
Autores: Leonardo Veliz, Malba Barahona & Stephen Darwin.
Abstract: As we conclude this volume, it is useful to critically reflect on the analytical journey we have undertaken throughout these 14 chapters. This book sought not only to provide a critical examination of the contemporary state of English language teaching (ELT) and teacher education in Chile but also to engage in a deeper and more meaningful dialogue about the possibilities for transformative practice in this vital and largely unexplored educational space in the country.
Navigating the challenges and opportunities for equipping pre-service English language teachers for diverse classrooms. Critiquing the Teaching and Learning of English in Chile.
Autores: Leonardo Veliz, Malba Barahona & Stephen Darwin.
Abstract: This chapter reports on research designed to analyse the views and attitudes of a group of 12 Chilean pre-service teachers (PSTs) of English towards inclusive pedagogies, and to critically examine their perceived levels of professional responsibility for diversity as experienced during teaching placements. Using a qualitative methodology, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with PSTs from four Chilean universities. The interviews were structured around three main dimensions: (i) the role of English language teacher education programmes in preparing teachers for diverse contexts, (ii) the candidates’ pedagogical readiness and pedagogical responsibility for diversity, and (iii) the challenges and opportunities encountered during school placements. Analysis of the interview data revealed that while PSTs showed a great sense of pedagogical responsibility and recognition of the value of initial teacher education programmes in providing grounding for diverse contexts, they expressed a sense of limited pedagogical preparedness to meet the needs of increasingly culturally and linguistically diverse language learning classrooms. Further, the findings suggested that attempts to enact inclusive pedagogies during placements are constrained by the persistent drives of neoliberal ideologies for accountability, standardisation, and a continuing narrowing of curriculum focus.
Exploring avenues for the transformation of teaching and learning English in Chile. Critiquing the Teaching and Learning of English in Chile.
Autores: Malba Barahona, Leonardo Veliz & Stephen Darwin.
Abstract: This chapter introduces the context and key issues explored in the book, providing a critical overview of each of the chapters. It begins by outlining the historical and contemporary landscape of English language teaching (ELT) in Chile, and then moving to consider how English was integrated into the national curriculum. A critical reality—the persistent socio-economic disparities affecting language acquisition and proficiency—is considered in the context of the persistence of neoliberal educational policies that have led to pronounced levels of school segregation and inequitable resource allocation. Reflecting on the inequities and social injustices in English language education, the chapter details the editors’ collective commitment in developing the volume to critically analysing contemporary ELT practices and exploring prospective opportunities for transformative change. The chapter emphasises that this work can act as a potential catalyst for practitioners, educators, and scholars to use these insights, experiences, and innovations to foster critical dialogue on curriculum, policy, and pedagogical practices with an orientation toward transformative change.
Potential Effects of Test-Optional in Doctoral Admissions at a Research-Intensive University. A Comprehensive Guide to Graduate Enrollment Management.
Autores: Heeyun Kim, John Gonzalez, Paula Clasing-Manquian y Sooji Kim.
Abstract: This chapter presents a case of empirically examining the potential effects of discontinuing the use of General Record Examination (GRE) general tests in doctoral admissions. Using administrative data and a quasi-experimental method, the authors find significant impacts of the GRE-optional policy on enrollment outcomes and diversity of applicants, admitted applicants, and enrollees. Findings suggest that GRE-optional policy promotes the admission of students from marginalized backgrounds and increases the enrollment of socioeconomically disadvantaged students in some programs in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. This case could be particularly interesting for graduate enrollment management (GEM) professionals seeking empirical approaches to utilizing administrative data to evaluate the impact of a new admissions practice.
From Privilege to Differentiation: International students´ class reworkings., Internationalization in Higher Education.
Autores: Ana Luisa Muñoz-García, Teya Yu.
Abstract: Based on two qualitative studies on international student mobility from China and Chile in the United States, this article reflects on the process of reworking social class within internationalisation. As scholars researching international students/academic mobility and reflecting on our internationalisation process, we analyse how social class moves across borders and back again and how our lived experiences shaped our research themes. Using insights from the sociology of education, Whiteness, and decolonial studies, we argue that social class positioning moves with the space where people are from and is embedded with racialised constructions of people and places, tensioning the naturalised idea that internationalisation allows people to move up. To move towards a complex understanding of the experiences of international students/academics, research with international students needs to rethink linear understandings about where people start, where they move to, and where they end up. Reflections in this article raised questions about the ways class privilege is negotiated and/or used as a differentiation marker in both spaces, the native country Chile and China and the United States.
Men, gender and knowledge construction in higher education., Routledge Handbook on Men, Masculinities and Organizations.
Autores: Ana Luisa Muñoz-García, Mara Silva, Gabriela Bard, Liisa Husu.
Abstract: Academia, higher education and knowledge production continue to be gendered and male-dominated, despite increasing enrolment of women, and the advancement of policies promoting gender equality in higher education across the world. The place and dynamics of men and masculinities in higher education are explored in more detail through a focus on Latin America, and specifically the discipline of education in Chile. In recent years, the Chilean higher education system has advanced in creating and implementing gender-equality policies in research to promote the participation of women in knowledge production. However, these policies have not addressed either the resistance or the complexities of what it means to advance a gender-equality policy agenda in highly feminized disciplinary fields such as education. Drawing from the discussion on hegemonic masculinities, we analyse the discourses of university scholars in the educational disciplinary area. In a qualitative study (2017–2020), we analysed the national policies on knowledge and gender during 2010s in Chile, including 62 semi-structured interviews with scientific policymakers, research directors and academics from the educational field. This chapter shows that the presence of a high number of women in the educational field has been considered a mirror of gender equality, inhibiting a reflexive process on masculinity and its privilege in historically feminized spaces. This chapter is an invitation to focus more on questions of institutionalized sexism in academia, which perpetuate historical practices of gender discrimination.
Quasi-Experimental Methods: Principles and Application in Higher Education Research., Theory and Method in Higher Education Research.
Autores: Paula Clasing y Heeyun Kim.
Abstract: Education researchers have been urged to utilize causal inference methods to estimate the policy effect more rigorously. While randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are the gold standard for assessing causality, RCTs are infeasible in some educational settings, particularly when ethical concerns or high cost are involved. Quasi-experimental research designs are the best alternative approach to study educational topics not amenable to RCTs, as they mimic experimental conditions and use statistical techniques to reduce bias from variables omitted in the empirical models. In this chapter, we introduce and discuss the core concepts, applicability, and limitations of three quasi-experimental methods in higher education research (i.e., difference-in-differences, instrumental variables, and regression discontinuity). By introducing each of these techniques, we aim to expand the higher education researcher’s toolbox and encourage the use of these quasi-experimental methods to evaluate educational interventions.
Analyzing Learners’ Perception of Indicators in Student-Facing Analytics: A Card Sorting Approach., European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning.
Autores: Esteban Villalobos, Isabel Hilliger, Mar Pérez-Sanagustín, Carlos González, Sergio Celis y Julien Broisin.
Abstract: Many studies have explored using different indicators to support students’ self-monitoring. This has motivated the development of student-facing analytics, such as dashboards and chatbots. However, there is a limited understanding of how learners interpret these indicators and act on that information. This study evaluates different indicators from a student perspective by adapting the card sorting technique, which is employed in Human-Centered Design. We chose eight indicators based on different comparative reference frames from the literature to create 16 cards to present both a visual and a text representation per indicator. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from 21 students of three majors at two Latin American universities. According to the quantitative results, students’ agreement level about the indicators’ interpretability and actionability was relatively low. Nonetheless, the indicators that included temporality were found to be less interpretable but more actionable than those that did not. The analysis indicates that several students would use this information to improve their study habits only if their performance in the course is lower than expected. These findings might be used as a starting point to design student-facing analytics. Also, adapting the card sorting technique could be replicated to understand learners’ use of indicators in other TEL contexts.
“Linkage with the Midst”: digital impact and institutional identity in Chile., Academic Quality and Integrity in the New Higher Education Digital Environment.
Autores: José Miguel Salazar y Pete Leihy.
Abstract: Over recent years, the term Linkage with the Midst (Sp. Vinculación con el Medio) has become an essential phrase in Chilean higher education. In institutions and regulation, Linkage with the Midst emphasizes the demand that academic enterprises deepen and demonstrate their contribution to wider society. In the context of the digitalization of so many aspects of life both within and beyond academia, academic integrity depends not only on being able to navigate such an environment in order to connect with the wider world but also on understanding the special and even unique functions that academic institutions contribute. In the Chilean case, it is possible to take stock of aspects of the bidirectional relationship between institutions and society in order to understand the integrity of academic activities, against the backdrop of a wider world that may need what universities and other higher education institutions can offer, but may not always know it. Here, we consider the digital mediation of academic endeavors such as public-facing clinics, training opportunities, research applications, consultancy, media liaison, and the sharing of knowledge and culture.
Internationalization Across Global Divides: Comparison Between Core and Semi-Periphery Doctoral Holders in Chile, Malaysia, and Turkey., Internationalization and the Academic Profession. The Changing Academy – The Changing Academic Profession in International Comparative Perspective.
Autores: Sergio Celis, Fatma Nevra Seggie, Norzaini Azman.
Abstract: Internationalization is often depicted as an instrument for disseminating educational values and practices of hegemonic powers for cultural influence and domination. Core countries in the “Global North” dictate what counts as knowledge creation and feed dependencies with semi-periphery countries, most in the “Global South.” This divide creates global higher education hubs that distinguish systems at the core from those at the periphery. One of the mechanisms through which this divide solidifies is the training of future researchers. This chapter examines data from the perspectives of 5340 faculty members in Chile, Malaysia, and Turkey, three semi-periphery countries. We first ask to what extent do universities employ faculty with PhD training in core countries. We then test whether faculty’s perspectives on internationalization differ between those trained in core systems and those trained elsewhere. Second, we explore differences in terms of time allocation, preferences, and overall satisfaction. In general, results indicate that differences across countries are more significant than those among faculty members, and all faculty members feel a strong pressure for publishing abroad. However, those trained in core countries collaborate more with colleagues abroad, are slightly more critical about internationalization resources at their institutions, and allocate more time to external activities.
Contested and Contextual: Analysing the Foundations of Student Voice(s) in Contemporary Higher Education., Bloomsbury Publishing.
Autores: Stephen Darwin.
Abstract: This handbook brings together scholarship from various subfields, disciplinary traditions, and geographic and geopolitical contexts to understand how student voice is operating in different higher education dimensions and contexts around the world. The handbook helps not only to map the range of student voice practices in college and university settings, but also to identify the common core elements, enabling conditions, constraints, and outcomes associated with student voice work in higher education. It offers a broad understanding of the methodologies, current debates, history, and future of the field, identifying avenues for future research.
Theorizing Students’ Voice(s): A Critical Literature Review., Bloomsbury Publishing.
Autores: Carolina Guzmán-Valenzuela.
Abstract: This handbook brings together scholarship from various subfields, disciplinary traditions, and geographic and geopolitical contexts to understand how student voice is operating in different higher education dimensions and contexts around the world. The handbook helps not only to map the range of student voice practices in college and university settings, but also to identify the common core elements, enabling conditions, constraints, and outcomes associated with student voice work in higher education. It offers a broad understanding of the methodologies, current debates, history, and future of the field, identifying avenues for future research.
Internationalization Across Global Divides: Comparison Between Core and Semi-Periphery Doctoral Holders in Chile, Malaysia, and Turkey., Internationalization and the Academic Profession.
Autores: Sergio Celis, Fatma Nevra Seggie y Norzaini Azman.
Abstract: Internationalization is often depicted as an instrument for disseminating educational values and practices of hegemonic powers for cultural influence and domination. Core countries in the “Global North” dictate what counts as knowledge creation and feed dependencies with semi-periphery countries, most in the “Global South.” This divide creates global higher education hubs that distinguish systems at the core from those at the periphery. One of the mechanisms through which this divide solidifies is the training of future researchers. This chapter examines data from the perspectives of 5340 faculty members in Chile, Malaysia, and Turkey, three semi-periphery countries. We first ask to what extent do universities employ faculty with PhD training in core countries. We then test whether faculty’s perspectives on internationalization differ between those trained in core systems and those trained elsewhere. Second, we explore differences in terms of time allocation, preferences, and overall satisfaction. In general, results indicate that differences across countries are more significant than those among faculty members, and all faculty members feel a strong pressure for publishing abroad. However, those trained in core countries collaborate more with colleagues abroad, are slightly more critical about internationalization resources at their institutions, and allocate more time to external activities.
LALA Canvas: A Model for Guiding Group Discussions in Early Stages of Learning Analytics Adoption., Internationalization and the Academic ProfessionPracticable Learning Analytics.
Autores: Isabel Hilliger y Mar Pérez Sanagustín
Abstract: Regardless of all the frameworks and models that have been proposed for starting Learning Analytics (LA) initiatives, LA adoption remains immature. LA research is still a growing field in some regions, and researchers and practitioners continue to experience institutional challenges for scaling LA adoption. Considering the need for using LA to improve student learning and program quality, it is important to bring stakeholders together to exchange ideas about how LA tools could be used in everyday practices. To meet this objective, this chapter presents the LALA Canvas: a conceptual model to support a participatory approach to LA adoption in higher education (HE). The LALA Canvas was developed within the LALA Project, and it proposes a template to guide group discussions at universities where LA adoption is still at an early stage. The LALA Canvas model has been used by the four Latin American universities affiliated with the LALA project and socialized with 371 HE stakeholders from universities from different Latin American countries, including Chile, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Perú. This chapter describes the LALA Canvas and the lessons learned from having used it to start conversations about the potential benefits of LA in different university settings.
Facing the change beyond COVID-19: continuous curriculum improvement in higher education using learning analytics.
, A Research Agenda for Global Higher Education.
Autores: Isabel Hilliger, Mar Pérez-Sanagustín.
Abstract: Due to the rapid digitalization of Higher Education, universities and colleges have access to more student data than ever before, allowing for real-time analysis of student behaviour and learning results. To evaluate the quality of curriculum and teaching practices, some institutions have relied on curriculum analytics  a subfield of learning analytics aiming to leverage educational data for improving program quality and student learning. So far, some promising tools have been developed to inform curriculum renewal strategies. However, this is still an emerging research area, so little is known about how it supports continuous curriculum improvement in different university settings. More robust design-based research is needed to understand how curriculum analytics helps higher education stakeholders gain better understanding of student outcome attainment. This chapter presents a research agenda that reflects on the importance of promoting continuous curriculum improvement and the research challenges for using curriculum analytics for this purpose.
Chapter 17: Academic careerism. , Research Handbook on Academic Careers and Managing Academics.
Autores: Peodair Leihy y José Miguel Salazar
Abstract: Theories of academic capitalism arose during the 1980s and 1990s and have particularly inspired commentary on expanding academic systems where transactional incentives have more greatly informed academic behaviours. Often this transformation has seen not the monetisation of academic values, but their squeezing out by more venal operators. In developing academic systems – such as Chile’s – that have sought to mimic mature systems in academic career structures, academic capitalism low on real academic capital (here dubbed academic careerism) can take root. The chapter provides a taxonomy positing differences between academic capitalism and academic careerism. A corollary is to dispel the common misconception in countries such as Chile that the troubled enough practice of academic capitalism in developed academic systems is just about money and power.
How Valid Are the Content Knowledge and Pedagogical Content Knowledge Test Results of the Teacher Professional Development System in Chile?. , Validity of Educational Assessments in Chile and Latin America.
Autores: Edgar Valencia, Martha Kluttig y Beatriz Rodríguez
Abstract: Teacher policies in Chile often deem content knowledge (CK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) as essential dimensions of teaching quality. The measurement of CK and PCK started in 2002, with two voluntary teacher evaluation programs. CK and PCK gained greater relevance with the National System for the Recognition and Promotion of Teachers’ Professional Development (Teacher Career System, TCS) in 2016. TCS is a mandatory nation-wide policy defining the career paths of educators serving in publicly funded schools. Shortly after the first evaluation process, this chapter attempts to examine critical aspects related to the validity of the CK-PCK test results. Validity is a requirement to justify the high-stakes nature of the test. Along with a description of the policy context and measurement process, the chapter proposes seven assumptions underlying the appropriate use of the test results for the decisions the teacher evaluation program seeks to inform. The chapter discusses how reasonable five out of the seven assumptions are and offers a formative judgment of the validity of the CK-PCK test results. Finally, the chapter offers guidelines for a summative validation agenda discussing various ways of improvement of the mandatory measurement of CK and PCK in Chile.
The Development of the Research Capabilities of Chilean Faculty.
, The Changing Academy – The Changing Academic Profession in International Comparative Perspective.
Autores: Daniela Veliz y Sergio Celis
Abstract: Over the past 30 years, Chilean faculty’s progress in terms of size, academic training, and research productivity has been outstanding. In the last decade, the number of faculty in Chilean higher education increased by about 40%, and the number of them holding doctorate degrees doubled. This progress has occurred in the context of multiple national initiatives and policies attempting to migrate the country from an economy based on the exploitation of natural resources to one based on knowledge and innovation. This chapter describes these changes and explores the challenges and opportunities for faculty members in the emerging Chilean knowledge economy and its innovation system. In particular, we discuss issues and new demands surrounding faculty’s research work. This building of research capabilities includes modernizing doctoral education, increasing the participation of women in leadership positions and STEM fields, navigating internationalization, and meeting new demands for outreach with industry and society.
Women in STEM in Chilean Higher Education. ,Gender Equity in STEM in Higher Education.
Autores: Jeongeun Kim, Sergio Celis
Abstract: In this chapter, the authors explore how grassroots movements influence women’s participation in Chilean higher education and describe overall patterns in the evolution of women’s participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) undergraduate programs. They begins by discussing a brief history of women’s participation in STEM disciplines and other related areas in Chile. The authors then introduce the main characteristics of the Chilean feminist movement, focusing on case of faculty of physical and mathematical science at the universidad de Chile. The system, under the authority of the ministry of education, operates admissions based on the national admissions tests, including tests in mathematics, language, sciences, and history and social sciences. The Chilean higher education system consists of 150 institutions divided into three major types: two-year programs, professional institutes and universities. The participation of women in STEM in Chilean higher education is unique and significant as their progress stems from social movements and scientific and intellectual movements internal to higher education.
Fifteen Internationalization of Chilean Higher Education: Research, Innovation, and Human Capital Formation in a Globalized Era. En: The Bloomsbury Handbook of the Internationalization of Higher Education in the Global South.
Autores: Javier González, Andrés Bernasconi & Francisca Puyol
Abstract: Research, Innovation, and Human Capital Formation in a Globalized Era Javier González Andrés Bernasconi Francisca Puyol Internationalization has played a key role in Chile’s national development strategy, especially since the 1990s. The promotion of international agreements led by the state has played a critical role in Chile’s insertion in the global economy and geopolitical arena. Internationalization has been key to gain competitiveness and to allow the flow of technology, capital, and human talent, promoting the exchange of ideas, knowledge, and innovation. The higher education system has also experienced this process, although at a slower pace when compared with other sectors. For this reason, the capacity of the country both at the macro (national) and micro (institutional) level to promote a coherent higher education internationalization strategy capable of inserting Chile in global knowledge and innovation networks will play a key role in shaping its future economic and social development path. A…
Creando políticas feministas, En: Educación, Horizontes y propuestas para transformar el sistema educativo chileno
Autores: Ana Luisa Muñoz-Garcia & Andrea Lira
Abstract: El libro que presentamos en esta oportunidad entrega un conjunto de propuestas que, con una mirada de futuro, apuntan al mejoramiento de la calidad de la educación en Chile. En él se reúnen artículos elaborados por un selecto grupo de mujeres y hombres con experiencia, conocimientos y especialización en el área de la educación, quienes entregan, desde distintas perspectivas, una amplia mirada al estado actual de la educación en Chile y su visión de hacia dónde creen que el país y sus políticas educacionales debieran moverse. Lo anterior se complementa y enriquece considerablemente con propuestas que, de manera crítica, identifcan los grandes desafíos que enfrenta la educación en nuestro país, dimensionan cuánto queda aún por avanzar y anticipan el modo en que nuestro Congreso Nacional puede participar de esta tarea.
Do Not Interrupt Students’ Work: How Teacher Interactions Influence Team’s Problem-Solving Capabilities. Problem solving in mathematics instruction and teacher professional development.
Autores: Sergio Celis, Carlos Quiroz & Valentina Toro-Vidal
Abstract: We study how teacher interactions with student groups relate to team’s problem-solving capabilities in the teaching of mathematics in open-access institutions of higher education in Chile. We define a teacher interaction as the moment in which a teacher visits a group of student working on a problem-solving activity. The data is based on 25 videos of classroom teaching of 11 teachers. Through the analysis of about 700 interactions observed in videos, we described and measured items such as the number of students who talk during the interaction or whether the teacher interacts mostly with questions. We also created a variable we called depth of the solution, which indicates whether a team solved the problem and how far they went in further problem extensions. This measure was used as the dependent variable, regressed on multiple teachers’ interaction variables, and controlled by several teachers and team characteristics. We used the idea of scaffolding as a framework to analyze and discuss the data. We found evidence that the fewer teachers interrupt student groups, the further students go into the mathematics content of the problem-solving task.
Evaluación de la Formación Inicial Docente mediante estimaciones de valor agregado: el caso de una institución selectiva en Chile. Educación, escuela y profesorado: aportes desde el Consejo de Facultades de Educación del Consejo de Rectores de universidades chilenas.
Autores: María Verónica Santelices, Edgar Valencia
Abstract: La formación inicial docente (FID) es uno de los factores más importantes a la hora de explicar el desempeño de los docentes y de sus alumnos. En un contexto de creciente ren- dición de cuenta y presión externa, existen voces abogando por la evaluación de programas de FID utilizando metodologías de valor agregado, es decir, vinculando a los egresados de un programa de FID con el aprendizaje de sus alumnos. Este capítulo describe la imple- mentación pionera de la metodología de valor agregado para evaluar la efectividad de los egresados de un programa de FID en una institución altamente selectiva en Chile. En base a este ejercicio se discuten las di cultades técnicas implicadas en su implementación y las debilidades y fortalezas conceptuales de la evaluación de programas FID utilizando meto- dologías de valor agregado.
Validez de Sistemas de Evaluación para la Selección y Certificación. Validez de evaluaciones educacionales de Chile y Latinoamérica
Autores: María Verónica Santelices
Abstract: Este capítulo conceptual aborda el estudio de validez de los instrumentos de medición y evaluación con altas consecuencias, tales como las utilizadas en selección a la educación superior y certificación profesional. Este estudio requiere, como una etapa inicial, la explicitación de los usos que se le darán a los puntajes obtenidos en dichas mediciones. La explicitación de los usos puede hacerse por medio del estudio de la Teoría de Programa, o modelo lógico. El capítulo discute y entrega ejemplos de los estudios de validez que examinan los usos más frecuentes para este tipo de evaluaciones: estudios de validez predictiva para la selección a la educación superior y de la validez de estándares de desempeño para el caso de la evaluación docente implementada en Chile. Se argumenta que el adecuado uso de pruebas de altas consecuencias requiere de mediciones que no presenten varianza irrelevante del constructo, es decir, que estén libre de sesgo, y se mencionan metodologías utilizadas para su análisis. Asimismo, se propone que el argumento de validez no debe limitarse a la constatación empírica de los objetivos de la medición, sino que debe incluir también la posible ocurrencia de consecuencias no esperadas. Se discuten algunas de las consecuencias no esperadas más frecuentes en la literatura.
Los académicos en la educación superior chilena: una profesión en transiciónDe la reforma a la transformación: Capacidades, innovaciones y regulación de la educación chilena. Santiago, Chile : Ediciones UC. 2019
Autores: Daniela Véliz, Andrés Bernasconi
Abstract: En este artículo revisaremos primero estas tendencias globales del contexto en que los académicos realizan su labor, tanto en los países desarrollados como en América Latina. Luego presentaremos una semblanza del profesorado de la educación superior en Chile, para finalmente identificar algunos desafíos que enfrenta el desarrollo de la profesión académica en el país, con foco en el aporte que la política pública puede hacer para perfeccionar las capacidades de este estamento para incrementar la calidad y la relevancia de la labor de las instituciones de educación superior.
The Weaknesses of Traditional Standard Setting Procedures. In Blomeke and Gustafsson (eds). Standard Setting in Education. The Nordic Countries in an International Perspective. Springer. Switzerland.
Autores: Mark Wilson y María Verónica Santelices.
Abstract: This book summarizes the international evidence on methodological issues in standard setting in education. By critically discussing the standard-setting practices implemented in the Nordic countries and by presenting new methodological approaches, it offers fresh perspectives on the current research. Standard setting targets crucial societal objectives by defining educational benchmarks at different achievement levels, and provides feedback to policy makers, schools and teachers about the strengths and weaknesses of a school system. Given that the consequences of standard setting can be dramatic, the quality of standard setting is a prime concern. If it fails, repercussions can be expected in terms of arbitrary evaluations of educational policy, wrong turns in school or teacher development or misplacement of individual students. Standard setting therefore needs to be accurate, reliable, valid, useful, and defensible. However, specific evidence on the benefits and limits of different approaches to standard setting is rare and scattered, and there is a particular lack with respect to standard setting in the Nordic countries, where the number of national tests is increasing and there are concerns about the time and effort spent on testing at schools without feedback being provided. Addressing this gap, the book offers a discussion on standard setting by respected experts as well as profound and innovative insights into fundamental aspects of standard setting including conclusions for future methodological and policy-related research.