Book excerpt: Defining Assessment in the widest possible way, ann Filer and Andrew Pollard have produced the most comprehensive ethnographic study of assessment ever attempted. Their case studies cover all of the most important questions concerning assessment. The findings, which are both profound and unsettling, have major implications for educational practice and policy - particularly on how supposedly objective assessment processes depend on their context and are vulnerable to both bias and distortion. In this colorful and reliable work, Filer and Pollard have provided the definitive study of assessment in the 5-11 age range.