The curriculum is the totality of experiences which are planned for young learners through their education, wherever they are being educated. It determines the ethos of the school as a learning community, curriculum subjects and areas, interdisciplinary learning, and opportunities to attain personal and learning goals. An effective curriculum,…

The main aim of this research was to analyse teachers' views of pupil assessment. The theoretical framework was based on existing literature on advances and challenges of pupil assessment in regard to support for learning, fairness, educational partnership, feedback, and favourable methods. The data were gathered by means of a questionnaire…

Any policy reform in education is highly effective when it is planned and implemented "holistically" and yet, it is the most challenging way forward. Many countries in Asia have reformed their English language policies and syllabi in the last two decades due to the increasing value of the language worldwide. Motivated by a…

Research has shown that how principles and tools related to Assessment for Learning (AfL) are taken up by teachers can significantly impact how assessment initiatives are realised. However, questions remain about how teachers develop new resources for use in local contexts, and what these processes entail. This article examines such processes in…

Assessing student learning is a complex process requiring teachers to have deep knowledge of the curriculum, assessment, and pedagogy. Changing political climates mean that teachers are expected to respond to new approaches or systems and adjust their classroom practice accordingly. Teachers often engage in professional learning (PL) to assist…

The notion that future performance can be affected by information about previous performance is often expressed in terms of "closing the gap." Feedback has long been recognised as a mechanism through which teaching and learning may be influenced. The current wave of support in the United Kingdom for assessment "for" learning…

Singapore has earned accolades as one of the leading education systems in the world, based on its record in international assessments, including TIMMS and PISA. This has contributed to the entrenchment of "assessment" becoming an institutional authority of standards, teaching (performativity) and classroom learning. It is against, and…

The two authors share learning gleaned from personal, classroom experiences in small schools--both cautions and assurances--for other educators who may be embarking on a similar path. We worked at two different small high school sites in the Denver Public Schools, an urban district with an ethnically diverse student population of 78,000. We…

Plans for curriculum or pedagogical innovation often lead to little change in practice. Many innovations successful in their early stages fail later, with little post-innovation analysis to understand why. In Scotland, in 2001, the Scottish Executive Education Department initiated the Assessment is for Learning (AifL) programme. Recognising…

This article examines the extent to which classroom instruction conveyed challenging learning goals in writing through a range of teaching activities and how well the participating students understood those goals. We report an empirical study that examined the quality of writing instructional goals, how well they were conveyed to students through…

In contrast to theoretical and empirical insights from research into formative assessment in compulsory schooling, understanding the relationship between formative assessment, motivation and learning in vocational education has been a topic neglected by researchers. The Improving Formative Assessment project (IFA) addresses this gap, using a…

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…

It is accepted that formative assessment can lead to gains in attainment. Although claims have also been made that these techniques bring benefits in terms of self-esteem and motivation, the evidence here is limited. This article reports an exploratory study which focused on formative assessment techniques and primary children's views of…

Assessment reform has been on the educational agenda of many countries for at least two decades. In this article - which begins by charting what lies behind the calls for a paradigm shift in assessment and what is being proposed instead - classroom assessment is explored in detail in relation to its links with teacher and student assessment, as…

The author intends to add one particular national point of view to a previous comparative reflection done by Black and Wiliam (2005), whose thesis is the need to study particular cases before making general proposals addressing the implementation of formative assessment practices. Teachers' conceptions about assessment are considered to be one…