Unlocking Assessment Understanding for Reflection and Application

Assessment is inextricably linked with learning and teaching, and its profile in British schools has never been higher. Recently the value and importance of formative assessment in supporting learning and teaching has also become widely recognised. Although assessment is a prime concern of anyone involved in education it remains a highly complex field where much controversy and misunderstanding abounds. This book explores the values, principles, research and theories that underpin our understanding and practice of assessment. It also provides practical suggestions and examples, and addresses some key points about the future development of assessment. The book makes accessible complex but crucial ideas and issues, so that teachers can be more confident and proactive in shaping assessment in their classrooms, in ways that support learning and avoid unintentional harmful consequences.

Part1: Assessment, Values, Learning and Agency 1.Assessment and Values: aClose and Necessary relationship 2. Assessment andLearning 3. Can Assessment Unlock and Open the Doors to Resourcefulness and Agency? Part 2: Assessment for Learning 4.Feedback - the Central Process in Assessmentfor Learning 5.Questioning and Dialogue6.Getting to the Core of Learning: Using Assessment for Self-Monitoring and Self-regulation 7. Understanding and Using Assessment Data Part 3: Assessment Issues 8.Qualityin Assessment 9. Trusting Teachers' Judgements 10. Technology in the Service of 21st Century Learning and Assessment. Continuing the Exploration

Sue Swaffield is a lecturer in Leadership and School Improvement in the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge. Throughout her career as a teacher, local authority adviser and university lecturer, assessment development and research has been a major theme. She is a co-author of Improving Learning How to Learn: Classrooms, Schools and Networks and Assessement Literacy for Wise Decisions.