High Stakes Assessment: Global Pressures and Local Responses

Abstract

This chapter reviews how the international situation has influenced the emergence of the Kiwi Standards. The Kiwi Standards may be viewed as a lagging and somewhat unusual response to the same climate of high-stakes national assessment that has long overtaken the school systems of other Anglo-American countries. Kiwi Standards could also reflect the growth of international large-scale assessments (LSAs) such as PISA run by the OECD. New Zealand has never held back on market and managerial reforms, including in education with self-managing schools. New Zealand has also always been an enthusiastic participant in LSAs. Overall, the Kiwi Standards might be as much an attempt to respond to the new wave of international testing activity as any belated alternative response to national testing.