Noting that improving the quality of learning in primary schools and preparing children for a long, complex life in the twenty-first century requires the highest quality of teaching and professional training, this book is part of a series to improve teachers' skills in the classroom. The book is intended to offer primary school teachers a means of reflecting on student assessment and then taking action to improve teaching and learning in their own classrooms. The book is presented in six units: (1) "The Manifold Nature of Assessment," showing how different methods are used in schools, including formal and informal assessment methods; (2) "Principles and Purposes of Assessment," discussing test validity and reliability, diagnosis, selection, and prediction; (3) "Informal Methods of Assessment," including questions and answers during classroom interaction, interviews, and observation; (4) "Formal Methods of Assessment," including both teacher-constructed and commercially produced written tests, assessment of various subject contexts, marking, and checking; (5) "Assessment in Action," focusing on assessment in various subjects, self-assessment, and the marking, recording, and reporting of assessment; and (6) "Whole School Issues," discussing how schools can develop effective policies and practices, including the issues of staff development, school inspection, teacher appraisal, and the use of league tables to compare schools. Each unit includes activities for teachers and their classes working together to improve teaching and learning. (Contains 33 references.) (KB)