Sarah leads Research in Cambridge International Education. Her team is part of the Education Futures Directorate and she is passionate about applying research to impact on practice and policy.
The research my team does provides evidence to Cambridge University Press and Assessment to fulfil three purposes: to understand what works in international education; to evaluate and improve our learning and support materials and assessments; and shape the future of education. The research I lead supports assessment practitioners who develop and quality assure digital assessments. I am passionate about applying research to influence decision making and policy and aim to provide timely and relevant research evidence to practitioners.
I started my research career in Cambridge Assessment over 30 years ago. My very early work addressed the question 'What makes exam questions difficult?' for which I used my background in Psychology. Whilst training examiners about how learners think I realised that it was time to really find out for myself; I trained as a teacher at the Institute of Education, University College London then taught in primary schools. I was drawn back to the world of research and re-joined Cambridge as an assessment developer. During that time I studied for a Master's in Education at Cambridge University focussing on the assessment of mathematics. I left Cambridge again - to travel the world this time - then researched for Pearson Education and for government agencies before returning, for the third time, to Cambridge University Press and Assessment.
What is your role in the Digital Assessment team?
Get research done to support decisions and thinking in digital assessment and share our thinking internally and externally.
Tell us something about you that we don't need to know, but helps us get to know you
If I’d lived 300 years ago I would have been branded a witch and killed on the ducking stool.
What is the most exciting thing in the future of assessment?
That point we’ll get to when the teaching and assessment are indistinguishable.
What most annoys you about the assessment industry?
Like the whole of education, we go in cycles: rote learning in, rote learning out; cross curricular work in, cross curricular work out. Let’s use evidence to make decisions (that is targeted at Ministers of Education).
What are your interests?
Wild swimming (well, it’s more like bobbing around than swimming).