Abstract:
This paper problematises the often taken-for-granted concepts of standards, standardisation and standards-based reforms (SBRs). While these terms are frequently used in concert to reference similar reform agendas in education policy, we challenge this conflation to question how standards and standardisation relate to teacher practice and policy reform. We synthesise theoretical and conceptual work pertaining to these terms, with empirical data from Australia and the USA, to address three questions: 1) what policy rationalities and technologies are being used to assemble SBR; 2) how do SBR occur vis-