Resource Works by John Raven

Royal Fireworks Press has published four books by John Raven, one of the world's most original thinkers in education.
The Tragic Illusion: Educational Testing
Author: Raven, John
Subjects: Professional Resources; Testing
Order code: 5230
Price: $19.99
Website price: $15.00

Winner of the World Education Prize, 1991-1992, for contributing the most of any book to the social purposes of education
The assessment of the results of good educational practice defies conventional measurement because traditional attainment tests measure only small and arbitrary samples of low-level, memorized information drawn from the domain of a discipline. They fail to measure academic, intellectual, or practical competence. Their results, therefore, lead to inappropriate conclusions and interfere with student placement and programs. Raven believes that reform should take the form of competency-oriented education. The teaching role should move from telling to facilitating growth. Testing should move to generic competence assessments.
The book covers the limitations of conventional measurement paradigms and their implications; a formal model of competence, motivation, and behavior and its assessment; the need for a basic reform of assessment; the nature of competence; implementing generic competence assessments; and the question of validity.
Winner of the World Education Prize, 1991-1992, for contributing the most of any book to the social purposes of education
The assessment of the results of good educational practice defies conventional measurement because traditional attainment tests measure only small and arbitrary samples of low-level, memorized information drawn from the domain of a discipline. They fail to measure academic, intellectual, or practical competence. Their results, therefore, lead to inappropriate conclusions and interfere with student placement and programs. Raven believes that reform should take the form of competency-oriented education. The teaching role should move from telling to facilitating growth. Testing should move to generic competence assessments.
The book covers the limitations of conventional measurement paradigms and their implications; a formal model of competence, motivation, and behavior and its assessment; the need for a basic reform of assessment; the nature of competence; implementing generic competence assessments; and the question of validity.

This book is part of a series;
see the
series description.
Managing Education for Effective Schooling
Author: Raven, John
Subjects: Professional Resources
Order code: 5311
Price: $19.99
Website price: $15.00

This book is a valuable resource for teachers, educational psychologists, school administrators, and teacher trainers.
There is widespread agreement among teachers, students, parents, and employers that the main goal of education should be to foster such qualities as initiative, problem-solving ability, the ability to work with others, and the ability to understand and to influence society. But there are hidden barriers to achieving these goals. This book, a summary of more than 25 years of research into the evaluation and improvement of education, clarifies the goals of public education and the method used to reach them.
Clearly written, the book contains five sections and includes an overview of the contents, six chapters concerning the nature and achievement of educational goals—and the reasons for their neglect, three chapters on managing the educational system for effective education or creating an innovative educational system, and a chapter pointing the way forward.

This book is part of a series;
see the
series description.
The New Wealth of Nations
Subtitle: A New Enquiry into the Nature and Origins of the Wealth of Nations and The Societal Learning Arrangements Needed for a Sustainable Society
Author: Raven, John
Subjects: Professional Resources
Order code: 2320
Price: $19.99
Website price: $15.00

The New Wealth of Nations is a three-part book. Part One is devoted to the problems with current definitions of wealth and the market mechanism. Here, John Raven looks at the failure of the market mechanism to provide the things that determine quality of life and happiness, including satisfactory work experiences and security for the future.
The second part of the book documents the ineffectiveness of public management. One example of this failure is the inability of educational systems to identify or develop people’s most important talents or those that are required to function effectively at work and in society. Raven points directly at the involvement of government in some 75% of the GNP on the basis of arrangements set up when far smaller units were involved.
The third section looks at the way forward. Raven shows the need for free-flowing, organic experimentation in the context of proper arrangements for learning from the effects of action and modifying behavior accordingly. He talks about the need to create innovation designed to find ways of tackling the problems that confront us. We need much more experimentation, the deliberate creation of variety and choice, and evaluation of and information about the consequences of the options.
Raven makes a series of individually realistic recommendations, which, if implemented in a sequential manner, would result in the transformations of society that are so badly needed.

This book is part of a series;
see the
series description.
Competence in Modern Society
Subtitle: Its Identification, Development, and Release
Author: Raven, John
Subjects: Gifted Education; Professional Resources
Order code: 532X
Price: $19.99
Website price: $15.00

This book confronts directly the vital question of how we as a society develop the competencies in our citizens that we need to sustain our economy and society in an increasingly competitive world.
This book confronts directly the vital question of how we as a society develop the competencies in our citizens that we need to sustain our economy and society in an increasingly competitive world.

This book is part of a series;
see the
series description.
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