Sarah Maughan

BSc, M Ed (Assessment)
Head of Assessment and Measurement
s.maughan@nfer.ac.uk
+44 (0)1753 637137

Sarah is Head of the Department for Research into Assessment and Measurement. She is responsible for the overall strategy of the department, as well as for ensuring project work is delivered to a high quality and within time and budget constraints. She is also project director for a number of assessment research and development projects.

Prior experience and professional background

Prior to joining NFER in September 2008 Sarah worked at the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics. She also worked at Cambridge Assessment for 10 years, both in the Research and Evaluation Division, and heading up the Assessment Development Unit in the international business stream..

Main research interests

Assessment, e-assessment, assessment policy, international assessment developments

Other research interests

International education, mathematics education, teacher CPD

Selected publications

National Foundation for Educational Research [Maughan, S.] (2009). Submission to Expert Group: Issues to Consider when Developing a National Monitoring System. Slough: NFER. [Available online].

Beedle, P., Eason, T. and Maughan, S. (2007). 'A case study of the development of an international curriculum leading to international GCSE certification'. In Hayden, M. Thompson, J.J. and Levy, J. (Eds) The SAGE Handbook of Research in International Education. London: Sage Publications.

Maughan, S., Monteath, P., Morley, J. and Sharp, S. (2006). 'Extending Examination board activities: an international review of innovative responses to educational need.' Presentation at the IAEA 32nd Annual Conference, 'Assessment in an Era of Rapid Change: Innovations and Best Practices', Singapore, 21-26 May.

Maughan, S. and Stocker, S. (2005). 'Towards best practice for exam boards and assessment authorities: a self-review model.' Presentation at the IAEA 31st Annual Conference, 'Assessment and the Future of Schooling and Learning', Abuja, Nigeria, 4-9 September.

Maughan, S. (2004). 'Closing the gap between assessment and learning.' Presentation at the 3rd Conference for the Association of the Commonwealth, Examination and Accreditation Bodies (ACEAB), Fiji, March.

Maughan, S. and Puntis, A. (2004). 'Using simulations to assess new educational goals.' Presentation at the IAEA 30th Annual Conference, 'Assessment in the Service of Learning’ , Philadelphia, 13-18 June.

Puntis, A., Maughan, S. and Beedle, P. (2003). 'Assessing new educational goals.' Presentation at the IAEA 29th Annual Conference, 'Societies’ Goals and Assessment', Manchester, 5-10 October.

Maughan, S. (2002). 'Do computer-based tests provide useful support to teachers during a learning programme?' Presentation at the IAEA 28th Annual Conference 'Reforming Education Assessment to Meet Changing Needs', Hong Kong, 1-6 September.

Hulme, C., Maughan, S. and Brown, G.D.A. (1991). 'Memory for familiar and unfamiliar words: evidence for a long-term-memory contribution to short-term-memory span', Journal of Memory and Language, 30, 685–701.