Changes and possibilities: a case study of Nova Scotia classroom assessment policies

Abstract

Although numerous writers have identified a different set of skills needed for employment in New Times, little analytic attention has been paid to how educational assessment policies contribute to envisioning such future citizens. This case study illustrates how Nova Scotia classroom assessment policy for Grades 7–9 English classes envisions young people as new workers who use new literacies in an knowledge economy for future employment in the province and elsewhere. The case study concludes that assessment policies must acknowledge their connections with ideal subject positions and the promotions of particular forms of knowledge.

Keywords:

• assessment
• policy
• critical discourse analysis
• new literacies
• citizenship
• knowledge economy
• globalization
• Nova Scotia
• Canada