Assessment for Learning

HomeSchool resourcesAssessment for Learning
type here...
School
Thought leadership
Early childhood

Assessment for Learning

HomeSchool resourcesAssessment for Learning

Topic summary

When employed well, Assessment for Learning can empower learners and improve progress and achievement.

Assessment for Learning (AfL) refers to the formative use of assessment information, gathered from both formal tests and informal observations of students, their work, and their responses in classroom discussion, to gain insight into the students’ learning progress, so that teachers and students can adapt their teaching and learning strategies to better support that learning.

AfL enhances learning by indicating where learners require additional support and what is appropriate next as a learning challenge. It is a process of ‘learning, for learning, in learning’ — teachers and students are continually learning about what understanding the students have gained, in order to inform the next teaching and learning act.

AfL is a collaborative partnership between teachers and students in which teachers and students learn together about students’ learning progress and needs. AfL supports the transfer of the ownership of learning to the students, so that students gradually come to manage their own learning.

There is a growing research base, including a number of studies undertaken in New Zealand, on assessment for learning. However, there are still a number of aspects of assessment for learning that are under researched, including aspects of self and peer-assessment and what effective assessment for learning looks like in classroom practice.

There are a range of strategies and approaches you could employ in your classroom to integrate AfL into your practice. Some key practices are:

  • Including learning objectives and achievement criteria for all lessons
  • Integrating feedback that enables students to adjust their actions so that they can improve
  • Teaching students how to undertake self and peer assessment
  • Utilising annotated exemplars so that students understand expectations
  • Explicitly teaching students to review and evaluate their abilities, knowledge states and cognitive strategies

  • How often do you talk about goals and standards with your students?
  • How often do you provide opportunities for students to evaluate the quality of their work? And do you explicitly teach students how to do this?
  • Have you taught your students how to engage in effective peer assessment?

Research reviews

A brief introduction to Assessment for Learning

Assessment for learning at a glance.

How to transform teaching through Assessment for Learning

The key principles of Assessment for Learning and strategies for classroom implementation.

5 steps to implementing Assessment for Learning

A series of steps designed to help you implement Assessment for Learning in your classroom.

Q&A with Assessment for Learning expert, Associate Professor Mary Hill

Associate Professor Mary Hill answers your questions about Assessment for Learning.

QUIZ: How assessment-capable are you?

A checklist to help teachers evaluate how they implement and use assessment to inform teaching and learning.

8 AfL practices that motivate students

A set of Assessment for Learning strategies designed to motivate students.

11 strategies for developing assessment-capable students

A systematic look at a series of strategies designed to boost the assessment capability of students.

Webinars

In consideration of educational tests: evil, necessary, or beneficial?

Professor Gavin Brown (University of Auckland) takes a balanced perspective that suggests despite unwelcome side effects, schools and teachers need tests to know what students can or cannot do

Infographics

Assessment for Learning strategies

A visual overview of the key Assessment for Learning strategies to implement in your classroom

Snapshots

The role of assessment in an education system that learns

Key insights from a webinar with Michael Absolum.

An animated introduction to Assessment for Learning

This short animation provides an introduction to Assessment for Learning: why it’s important, and how you can incorporate it into your teaching practice.
“Thanks for the opportunity. This was without doubt amongst the best professional development I have done in many years.”
Course participant
Assessment & Intentional Teaching
“I've just started and it's incredible! Best professional learning course I have participated in in a long time. I've just completed Part 2 – so inspiring!”
Course participant
Visual Arts in ECE
"I loved how the course was laid out. It was easy to leave and pick up where I had left off. The site was easy to navigate and I liked the videos that backed up the reading."
Course participant
Assessment & Intentional Teaching
“Continue with your excellent work. I get feedback that student teachers love it too.”
Educator
Martinborough
“I have found all your webinars to be of incredible value to myself and my team. Thank you.”
Centre Leader
Auckland
“You guys are doing a FABULOUS job - keep up the great work. And thank-you for offering free webinars; readings etc - in this current climate it is so hard to find money for extra things and PD is usually the first thing that gets a budget cut. Having access to your webinars means that there is no excuse for my teachers not keep professionally ahead of the game. My team and I certainly appreciate it.”
Early childhood teacher
Wellington
“I LOVE your work. It is super useful as an AST in a large COL, The Education Hub is a springboard for my own self-driven PD and a good resource for the spectrum of needs in our Kahui Ako. Thank you for the epic work you do!”
Advanced Skills Teacher
New Zealand
“Appreciate the diverse range of resources on offer!”
Intermediate school teacher
New Zealand
“The Education Hub is a gem and I recommend it to all schools I work with.”
Education consultant
New Zealand
“The resources and support provided by The Education Hub are greatly appreciated. As an HOD in a small school, in a small department usually made up of beginning teachers, it often falls on my shoulders alone to try and be up to date with ensuring our programmes are founded on sound pedagogical practices in terms of teaching in general and our particular curriculum area ... so I'm like a sponge when it comes to what you provide.”
Head of Department
“The Hub articles have been really useful and provided conversations for staff meetings and provocations for teachers. Thank you - great work and food for thought.”
School leader
Dunedin
“Articles are always well considered and written. I enjoy the content; it’s a superb resources for teachers”
Teacher (primary)
Tauranga
"I love this site!! I love everything you do for us educators, professional leaders and whanau. I loved this site during my studies last year when I upgraded to a Degree. Love it – thank you!"
New entrant teacher
Wellington
“I really value the Education Hub as a non-partisan (and non-reactionary) force for building consensus around what works and what matters in (New Zealand) education. There's nothing like it, and without it we'd be at the mercy of the more vociferous at both ends of the spectrum (progressive vs conservative).”
Deputy Principal
Christchurch
“Keep up the great mahi, I would struggle to have conversations with teachers about current pedagogy without you!”
Professional development provider
Auckland
“Having discovered The Education Hub this year, it has been timely as I navigate the teaching of structured literacy. The content has been so relevant and reliable, I come away wanting more.”
Primary teacher
Nelson
“The information I have gained from the webinars I have watched this year has been so enlightening and it has fueled my desire to further my own knowledge. We are lucky to have such a great resource.”
Preschool teacher
Palmerston North
“Thank you for providing high quality professional learning that is easily accessible.”
High school teacher
Napier
“I really appreciate the quality and range of the webinars you provide. I love that I can access them later if I don't get to watch them at the time.”
Teacher
Bay of Plenty
"Thank you! This course has renewed my passion for writing meaningful learning stories that are backed up with intentional teaching and show progression of learning and development."
Course participant
Assessment & Intentional Teaching
“Thank you to those of you who are working hard to keep this resource relevant and accessible for all of us in the education sector. More specifically, I appreciate the balanced approach taken by your team to specific topic”
School leader
Manukau
"I liked the mix of different aspects that kept things interesting, I enjoyed sharing my new learning with my colleagues and I loved learning new practical aspects of story writing."
Course participant
Assessment & Intentional Teaching
“Thank you so much for the valuable service you provide. We are so lucky to have access to this quality of resources.”
Graduate teacher
Blenheim
"I loved how the course was laid out. It was easy to leave and pick up where I had left off. The site was easy to navigate and I liked the videos that backed up the reading."
Course participant
Assessment & Intentional Teaching

Get unlimited access to all our webinars

Buy a webinar subscription for yourself, your school or centre and enjoy savings of up to 25%

The Education Hub webinars provide high-quality research-based content for teachers. A webinar subscription costs just NZ$60+GST per person (with discounts of up to 25% available for groups) and provides access to all our live webinars for 12 months, plus all the recordings in our archive.
Find out more

12-MONTH WEBINAR SUBSCRIPTION

NZ$ 60 per person +GST
  • All live webinars for 12 months
  • Access to our library of over 100 webinars
  • Personalised certificates
  • Group savings of up to 25%
Buy now

About The Education Hub

The Education Hub’s mission is to bridge the gap between research and practice in education. We want to empower educators to find, use and share research to improve their teaching practice, and then share their innovations. We are building the online and offline infrastructure to support this to improve opportunities and outcomes for students.

New Zealand registered charity number: CC54471

Find out more

We’ll keep you updated

Follow us on social media

Like what we do? Please support us

Donate now to show your appreciation

© The Education Hub 2025 All rights reserved | Site design: KOPARA

Close popup
Message from The Education Hub Choose how you stay up to date

Early childhood education
School

Your details:

Already have an account? Login here

* Required fields

By clicking submit, you are agreeing to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

We value your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal information. The data you provide on this form will be used to keep you informed about our latest news, updates, and promotional offers. Rest assured, your information will be handled in strict accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Your data will be stored securely, and you have the right to access, correct, or delete your information at any time. For more details, please review our Privacy Policy or Terms of Service.