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Making a Grade : Victorian Examinations and the Rise of Standardized Testing / James Elwick.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Elwick, James, 1973- author.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Education--Standards--Great Britain--19th century.
- Education.
- Educational tests and measurements--Great Britain--History--19th century.
- Educational tests and measurements.
- Examinations--Great Britain--History--19th century.
- Examinations.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (304 pages)
- Edition:
- First edition.
- Place of Publication:
- Toronto, Ontario : University of Toronto Press, [2021]
- Language Note:
- In English.
- Summary:
- "Starting in the 1850s achievement tests became standardized in the British Isles, and were administered on an industrial scale. By the end of the century, over two million people had written mass exams, particularly in science, technology, and mathematics. Some candidates responded to this standardization by cramming or cheating; others embraced the hope that such tests rewarded not only knowledge, but also merit. Written with humour, Making a Grade looks at how standardized testing practises quietly appeared, and then spread worldwide. This book situates mass exams, marks, and credentials in an emerging paper-based meritocracy, arguing that such exams often appeared first as "cameras" to neutrally record achievement, then became "engines" to change education as people tailored their behaviour to fit these tests. Taking the perspective of both examiners and examinees, Making a Grade claims that our own culture's desire for accountability through objective testing is not a new one."-- Provided by publisher.
- Contents:
- "The Age of Examinations": A Historical Sketch
- Monetizing Marks: The Political Economy of Examinations
- An Epistemology of the Mundane: Dissecting One Examination
- Daguerreotypes of the Mind: Paper, Partition, and Specialization
- Machining Minds: Commensuration, Tabulation, and Standardization
- Thin Descriptions: Credentials and Other Signals
- Learning and Earning: Coaching or Cramming?
- Immoral Economies: How to Cheat on a Victorian Exam
- Economies, Remoralized: Examinations as Technologies of Inclusion.
- Notes:
- Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's website, viewed June 21, 2021).
- Description based on print version record.
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- ISBN:
- 1-4875-3935-5
- 1-4875-3934-7
- OCLC:
- 1232108670
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