This chapter takes a legal perspective on educational assessment issues, examining court responses to challenges to educational assessment in the jurisdictions of Australia, the United States of America (United States) and England. To date, the predominant focus of legal challenges in education has been regarding either education for children with special needs, or allegations of negligence resulting in physical or emotional injury. However, throughout the jurisdictions considered, challenges on assessment-focused grounds have included discrimination in assessment and testing, allegations of inappropriate assessment and/or failure to provide appropriate educational instruction as a result of errors in assessment. The chapter explains briefly the nature of law in the jurisdictions considered, including legislation and case law.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
American Educational Research Association (AERA), American Psychological Association (APA), & National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME). (1999). The standards for educational and psychological testing. Washington, DC: AERA.
Baker, E., & Linn, R. (2002). Validity issues for accountability systems. Los Angeles: NCRESST.
Booth, C. (1998). Foreword. The Liverpool Law Review, 20(1), 1–3.
Cumming, J. J. (2000). Establishing a professional standard for teachers’ duty of care. Proceedings of the Australian and New Zealand Education Law Annual Conference, Adelaide, 12–14 July.
Cumming, J. J. (2008). Legal and educational perspectives of equity in assessment. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Procedures, 15(2), 123–135.
Cumming, J. J., & Dickson, E. A. (2007). Equity in assessment: Discrimination and disability issues from an Australian legal perspective. Education and the Law, 19(3–4), 201–221.
Cumming, J. J., & Mawdsley, R. D. (2008). Student searches in Australia: A consideration of roles, responsibilities and rights of students, school staff and police. Australia and New Zealand Journal of Law and Education, 13(1), 49–70.
Hølleland, H. (2007). Nasjonale prøver og kvalitetsutvikling i skolen. In S. Tveit (Ed.), Elevvurdering i skolen—grunnlag for kulturendring (pp. 29–44). Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
Hopkins, A. (1996). Liability for careless teaching: Should Australians follow the Americans or the British? Journal of Educational Administration, 34(4), 39–59.
MacAdam, A., & Pyke, J. (1998). Judicial reasoning and the doctrine of precedent in Australia. Sydney: Butterworths.
Mawdsley, R. D., & Cumming, J. J. (2004). High stakes testing and the demand for school district accountability: A dilemma for special education students in the United States and Australia. Australia and New Zealand Journal of Law and Education, 9(2), 19–36.
Mawdsley, R. D., & Cumming, J. J. (2008a). Educational malpractice and setting damages for ineffective teaching: A comparison of legal principles in the U. S., England and Australia. Education and the Law, 20(1), 25–46.
Mawdsley, R. D., & Cumming, J. J. (2008b). The origins and development of education law as a separate field of law in the United States and Australia. Australia and New Zealand Journal of Law and Education, 13(2), 7–20.
McNeil, L. M. (2000). Sameness, bureaucracy, and the myth of educational equity: The TAAS system of testing in Texas public schools. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 22(4), 508–523.
Nygh, P. E., & Butt, P. (1998). Butterworths concise Australian legal dictionary. Sydney: Butterworths.
Sachs, J., & Mellor, L. (2005). Child panic’, risk and child protection: An examination of policies from New South Wales and Queensland. Journal of Education Policy, 20, 125–140.
Saucedo, L. M. (2000). The legal issues surrounding the TAAS case. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 22(4), 411–422.
Tronc, K. (1999). Educational malpractice. Australian Professional Liability—Education, 20, 303.
Ward, C. A. (2000). GI Forum v Texas Education Agency: Implications for state assessment programs. Applied Measurement in Education, 13(4), 419–426.
Williams, P. (1996). Suing for negligent teaching: An Australian perspective. Journal of Law and Education, 25(2), 281–306.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Cumming, J.J. (2009). Assessment Challenges, the Law and the Future. In: Wyatt-Smith, C., Cumming, J.J. (eds) Educational Assessment in the 21st Century. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9964-9_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9964-9_9
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-9963-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-9964-9
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)