As education is internationalized, so is assessment: policy makers keen to develop 'human capital' see large-scale comparative international surveys as useful in planning. Here, they are explored in economic, policy, educational and technological terms.

This volume offers contributions by thought leaders from a variety of disciplines and different perspectives, which are brought together in a final chapter. The contributions give insight in the role of large-scale international assessments as change agents. As national leaders recognize the growing importance of human capital and how it is distributed, policymakers, economists and decision makers in education have become increasingly interested in results from comparative international surveys. These assessments offer important information on the development of cognitive skills and the...

Across the country, our children are beginning life from very different starting points. Some have aspirations and believe they can be achieved. For too many others, aspirations are tempered, if not dashed, by the sobering realities of everyday life. These different starting points place children on distinctly different trajectories of growth and development, ultimately leading to vastly different adult outcomes.
How did we get to a place where circumstances of birth have become so determinative? And what must we do, within communities and across our country, to better equalize...