'The authors are well-known in the Assessment field and this work presents their highly original analysis...[It] promotes a professional learning approach that will undoubtedly help educationalists in schools and across the schools sector in their quest to improve learning' - Professor Mary James, University of Cambridge, UK. This book explores the processes involved in developing assessment practice. It argues that the role of teacher assessment needs to be put firmly at the forefront of the educational agenda and that assessment by teachers needs to be developed in a widespread, high quality and sustainable fashion. The authors, all members of the influential Assessment Reform Group, argue that the target-driven approach of external testing leads to problems, including 'teaching to the test' to the detriment of the wider curriculum, and motivational problems. In this book, they tackle the differences between formative and summative assessment and ask the question: 'What is quality teacher assessment?' There is coverage of key professional learning dimensions including: the purposes of assessment; the need for evidence to support innovation; the process and steps to develop new practice; and, perceptions of what counts as quality assessment in schools. The authors draw on these various perspectives to explain how teachers and schools can build on existing practice, and develop new practices, and how the system should react to support them. This book is essential reading for teachers, head teachers, local authority professionals, policy makers and academics.

Table of Contents

Developing Teacher Assessment: An Introduction Part I: Lighting the Fuse Assessment to Support Learning What is Quality Teacher Assessment? What's Happening in the UK? Part II: Spreading the Word, Widening the Practice What is Innovative about Teacher Assessment? Moving Beyond the Classroom Professional Learning to Support Teacher Assessment Teachers as Self-Agents of Change Part III: Keeping it Going Making a Difference: Evaluating the Impact of Innovations in Assessment Embedding and Sustaining Developments in Teacher Assessment

Author Biography

John Gardner is Professor of Education in the School of Education at Queen's University, Belfast and Visiting Professor at the University of Oxford Centre for Educational Assessment, UK. Wynne Harlen, OBE is Honorary Visiting Professor at University of Bristol, UK. Louise Hayward is Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of Glasgow, UK. Gordon Stobart is Professor of Education at the University of Bristol and an Emeritus Professor at the Institute of Education, University of London, UK. Martin Montgomery was formerly the Assessment Operations and Development Manager at the Northern Ireland Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment and is now an independent Assessment Consultant.