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EPDF and EPUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND license. Bringing together divergent approaches to justice theorising, this volume connects normative and philosophical theories with the more empirically focused approaches emerging today in the social and political sciences and policy scholarship. The chapters overview a variety of mainstream approaches and radical critiques of justice to illustrate their value in addressing the pressing problems of climate change and economic development. Stressing the value of assessing justice theories in light of the material conditions of our changing world, the book concludes with an in-depth synthesis of how these wide ranging approaches to justice will be useful for students, scholars and practitioners concerned with realising justice.

This open access book responds to the need for a specifically African focus on public policy. It outlines the fundamental principles of public policy research, and engages with major issues in the study of public policy from an African perspective, covering essential topics such as the location and centrality of social sciences in relation to public policy, leadership, methodology, institutions, governance, and gender. This book is essential for understanding the various aspects and dimensions of policy making in Africa that underscore quality research and are at the core of excellence in teaching and learning.

The second edition of the Seminar "INVALSI data: a tool for research" was held in Florence on 17 and 18 November 2017. The event was an opportunity to meeting and networking among researchers, teachers, school managers and, more generally, all those who have an interest in educational evaluation and the data made available by INVALSI every year. The INVALSI data, in fact, although not claiming to be exhaustive about the complexity of the school world, are useful to understand some educational phenomena more effectively. The INVALSI Statistical Service has decided to collect the numerous research contributions presented on this occasion in specific thematic sessions. This volume contains 13 chapters which, starting from different points of view and using heterogeneous methodological approaches, provide insights into how INVALSI data can contribute to deepening the interpretation of the school world, in its different aspects. The reading path is rich and complex and can serve as a landmark for those wishing to explore some issues concerning the Italian system.

Educational Testing Service (ETS); large-scale assessment; policy research; psychometrics; admissions tests

The volume contains a collection of contributions presented at the conference “INVALSI data: a tool for research”, held in Rome the 20th September 2016. On this occasion, scholars from different professional contexts (school, university, research) and selected through a call for papers presented their scientific works, using INVALSI data. The book is divided into two parts: the first part devoted to the use of INVALSI data in didactic research, the second focused on INVALSI data as a tool for supporting policy and decision makers. The eighteen chapters cover in-depth analyses that, starting from different angles and using several methodologies, offer the reader a rich and structured view of the different possible uses of the data that INVALSI gather each year.