Spotlight on Cambridge research at the World Education Summit

The rise and rise of Early Years Education

This talk by Sanjay Mistry, Cambridge Head of Research for Digital Assessment & Evaluation, and Kate Bailey, Managing Director of the
Cambridge Centre for Evaluation & Monitoring, explores issues of quality and best practice in early years education. As populations shift and economies develop, there is growing interest in early years education around the world. Different assumptions and approaches towards schooling during these crucial years are emerging, driven in part by varying social and economic factors, as well as differences in aspirations among policymakers.

A much-debated issue is the role of assessment within early years education: what ought to be assessed; how frequently; using what methods; and how should results be used? Related questions are on how workload and professional practice may be impacted by further incorporating assessment into early years education.

Fashions, phobias and evidence in the reform and improvement of national education systems

In this session, Jane Mann, Cambridge’s Managing Director of the Partnership for Education, and Tim Oates, Cambridge’s Group Director of Assessment, Research and Development, discuss key issues and debates in educational reform around the world, and the many pressures and challenges which policy makers, educators and families are facing. These range from climate change-induced shifts to competing educational theory and rhetoric.

Case studies and focus areas range from the Nordic countries to Central and South East Asia, from England to the USA, and the Middle East to the African continent. Jane and Tim roam the current forest of educational theory – with a focus on navigating the different models and views, and on finding a clear path through the landscape.

The Futures of Assessments: navigating uncertainties through the lenses of anticipatory thinking

In this session, Sarah Hughes, Cambridge’s Research & Thought Leadership Lead in the UK, presents Cambridge’s Futures of Assessment report.

This cross-Cambridge University research, led by the Digital Education Futures Initiative, looks forward to 2050, not to predict the future of assessment, but to use Futures Thinking to anticipate plausible assessment futures.

The report establishes future thinking methodologies including horizon scanning, futures triangle, causal layered analysis and scenarios to anticipate our preferred assessment futures. It identifies five drivers of the future of assessment and identifies actions to take now to help shape a positive assessment future.

These five drivers are:  AI tutors and personalised learning; augmented, virtual and hybrid technologies; human flourishing and wellbeing; climate change; and assessment organisations.

With a vision of 2050 in mind, Sarah explores how we can describe different phases in the timeline between now and 25 years from now to achieve and shape the preferred future.