The key principles underlying a system that learns in order to provide the best possible learning opportunities and outcomes for students.
Assessment describes a broad range of practices from informal evaluations of student learning and progress to formal summative examinations for the attainment of recognised qualifications such as NCEA. Assessment can be both formative, which means that it is used to inform ongoing teaching and learning, and summative, which is used to provide a measure of learning and progress. However, this is not a fixed distinction, as summative measures can also be used to inform the focus and direction of future teaching and learning. Sound educational assessment is characterised by validity, reliability and fairness in all assessment practices.
Assessment is crucial to learning and is an integral part of the learning process. It also serves as a tool for summative measures that may be used for reporting and certification purposes. Effective assessment practices are fundamental to an education system that learns.
Advances in educational assessment globally continue to influence thinking about assessment for and of meaningful outcomes for today’s students, as do considerations of how technology can be used for assessment to inform teaching and learning. There is a growing body of convincing evidence regarding the impact of effective formative assessment, although some aspects of assessment, such as self and peer assessment, remain under-researched.
Effective assessment practices:
An overview of the principles of validity, reliability and fairness that should underpin all educational assessment.
An introduction to the principles of assessment that underlie a ‘system that learns’, encompassing early childhood education, primary school and secondary school.
Renowned assessment expert Michael Absolum (ONZM) explores the central role assessment should play in driving learning throughout the education system and how schools and teachers can adopt these ideas into their practice
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
Professor Stuart Kime discusses the role of assessment in teaching and learning with a particular focus on practical strategies for how teachers can enhance their assessment practice and embed effective assessment into their day-to-day teaching.
Key insights from a webinar with Michael Absolum.
Key ideas from the webinar with Professor Gavin Brown on how teachers can use tests to inform teaching and learning.
Key ideas on effective assessment practice in schools from Stuart Kime's webinar
