Assessment for Learning

Assessment in education is about gathering, interpreting and using information about the processes and outcomes of learning.

Assessment For Learning

Teachers use a variety of assessment tools to gather information about students' learning. Asking questions, giving written tests at the end of units of study, setting and correcting homework assignments are all forms of assessment with which teachers are familiar. Teachers use the results of this assessment to inform students on their progress, to report to parents and to plan future classroom activities.

However, recent advances in our knowledge of how learning takes place and how learners make their way through classroom activities have led to new understandings of the importance of assessment in the promotion of learning. These new perspectives are having an impact across the curriculum as the focus in assessment activity begins to move from an emphasis on the assessment of learning to include assessment for learning-providing feedback to learners on how to improve their learning.

The main features of assessment of learning and assessment for learning are set out below:

It is important, however, to avoid seeing assessment of learning and assessment for learning as opposing or contradictory practices. While the assessment of learning will always have a place in education and in classroom and school practice, the development of assessment for learning offers new opportunities for teachers.

Powerpoint Downloads on Assessment for learning

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Northern Ireland Curriculum Guidelines

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