This article gives details of the Portsmouth Learning Community Assessment for Learning (AfL) project from 2002 to 2007. A context of research is given and a reframing of formative assessment suggested. Qualitative, positive effects are indicated resulting from teachers' collaborative action research and learners' involvement in classroom experimentation and curriculum design. Classroom and institutional cultures are characterised as more or less open to decision-making by learners and stakeholders. A heuristic, hermeneutic framework is presented, outlining what teachers and learners, as well as stakeholders, managers and leaders, can make explicit for any phase of activity. Conditions thought essential to sustainable development are noted.