Changing Assessment Practice: Process, Principles and Standards

Abstract

This is a brief account of what has been learned during the Analysis and Review of Innovations in Assessment (ARIA) project about how changes in assessment practice may be brought about most eff ectively. The changes in question focus on the role of teachers in formative and summative assessment in schools. The approach has been to review recent initiatives and developments in assessment that shared this purpose in all four countries of the UK: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (see Appendix 2 for a list of projects included). It is not the intention of this summary pamphlet to review and report on each of the projects. Rather the intention is to present a synthesis of lessons learnt that has emerged from our studies of the projects, combined with the insights of key experts who took part in a series of project seminars and interviews throughout the UK. This synthesis unfolds along two main axes: an exploration of the key processes involved in moving from an innovative idea to its embedding and sustainable development in the classroom; and a framework of principles and standards for eff ective assessment practices, which are set out in Appendix 1.