Principles of assessment for learning

Assessment is a powerful process that can either optimise or inhibit learning, depending on how it is applied. Assessment for learning practices are designed to provide the information necessary to identify and respond to ākonga strengths, progress, and needs, and ākonga and whānau aspirations. They foster assessment literacy so that ākonga are empowered to take increasing ownership of their own learning.

The shift to progression requires distinctive practices that support assessment.

Within progress outcomes and progress steps, noticing, recognising, and responding (NRR) supports teachers to purposefully use classroom observations and conversations to notice ākonga work and reliable assessment information to recognise and then respond to learner progress as they plan and modify what and how they teach to meet all ākonga needs.

For ākonga 

Assessment for learning: 

• provides clarity for ākonga about what they have learned relative to the learning intentions  
• provides ākonga with information and guidance they can use to plan and manage the next steps in their learning 
• helps make visible the steps required to enable progression along an intended learning pathway 
• helps to break the intended learning up into smaller, more manageable chunks. 

For teachers 

Assessment for learning helps teachers gather information to notice ākonga strengths so that teachers and ākonga can build on them. 

In this context, ‘noticing’ doesn't just happen by chance. It is the active and deliberate process of being present during a learning experience.  

Teachers must deliberately cultivate ‘noticing’ by being in the moment, to recognise and respond to ākonga progress in ways that best support ākonga. 

This can take form in the several ways, including through: 

• planning and modify teaching and learning programmes for individual ākonga, groups of ākonga, classes, or hubs  
• making appropriate adjustments for ākonga who are not making sufficient progress in key foundation skills 

Learning to learn 

The assessment for learning process can provide insight into students’ thinking processes and help them become more aware of what they are learning and how they are learning it. This empowers ākonga to take control of their learning through developing self-regulation skills. 

Ākonga can then discuss their developing understanding with their teachers, peers, parents, and whānau. Independent learners like this can seek out and gain new skills, knowledge, and understanding according to their needs and learning goals. 

For these reasons, assessment for learning is focused less on the ‘correctness’ of students’ responses and more on the strategies, processes, and knowledge ākonga are using to make sense of the world.

Support for teaching and learning goals 

Assessment for learning supports teaching and learning goals in three ways: 

1. Identifying the learning need 

Assessment information helps teachers and students identify where a student is in terms of their learning, where they want to be, and what next teaching and learning steps can help them achieve their goals. 

Good assessment practice identifies what next teaching and learning steps are achievable and enables the teacher and ākonga to move from the student’s current state of learning towards their learning goals. This means striking a delicate balance. If the next instructional steps are too hard for the student, they are likely to feel frustrated. If they are too easy, they may feel bored and disengaged. 

2. Feedback 

Feedback based on assessment is one of the most powerful ingredients in teaching and learning. Feedback can drive a loop of continuous change and improvement for the teacher and ākonga, as both learn from each other. For these reasons, maximising the quality, appropriateness, and use of feedback is integral to effective assessment practice. 

Effective feedback provides clear, descriptive, criterion-based information that enables ākonga to determine where they are in a learning progression, how their level of understanding differs from their learning goals, and what they need to do to move towards those goals.  

Feedback in the assessment for learning process is an interactive process through which people can learn from and with each other. In the classroom, feedback: 

• guides the ākonga through the next teaching and learning steps 
• helps teachers assess and modify their teaching in response to ākonga strengths and needs 
• fosters learning interactions between ākonga. 

For feedback to be effective, teachers must make judgements about how much feedback to provide, how to provide it, and whether more than one approach is necessary. They need to know their learners well to ensure they offer feedback in ways that are empowering for ākonga. 

3. Next teaching and learning steps 

Part of the art of teaching is supporting students to build on strengths to meet needs and providing them with challenging yet achievable steps towards their learning goals.  

To be effective in describing the next teaching and learning steps, assessment for learning is linked to some form of learning progression. A learning progression clearly articulates what steps make up progress towards an ultimate learning goal. Assessment for learning helps teacher and student locate the student’s position along the learning progression.  

Progression doesn’t necessarily happen linearly. Students will often move far ahead in one area while retaining significant learning needs in another. 

Assessment for learning is underpinned by the utmost confidence that every student has strengths and can improve. It is driven by the concept of ako – to teach and to learn. Assessment for learning enables reciprocal learning where teachers and students share and value each other’s sense-making processes. Assessment for learning practices are mana-enhancing for ākonga and their whānau. 

Building students’ assessment capabilities 

When ākonga actively participate in assessing their learning by interpreting their performance, they are better placed to recognise important moments of personal learning. This helps them identify their strengths and needs and discover how to make ‘where to next?’ decisions. They can take increasing control of their learning and become more effective and independent learners. 

Ākonga become adept at monitoring and regulating their progress when they understand: 

• what high-quality work looks like (examining examples and models of quality work helps develop this) 
• what criteria define quality work (participation in the development of learning goals and assessment criteria helps develop this) 
• how to compare and evaluate their work against such criteria (peer assessment and self-assessment help to develop this). 

Improving the assessment capabilities of students offers teachers better-quality information that they can use to: 

• clarify students’ learning strengths and needs, enabling more personalised development of the next teaching and learning steps 
• inquire more effectively into the impact of teaching practice and the relevance of the curriculum. 

Engagement and motivation 

One of the most important purposes of assessment for learning is the role it plays in student motivation. Knowledge and understanding of what is to be achieved are not enough. Students must want to make the effort and be willing to keep engaging, even when they find the learning difficult. 

Developing students’ assessment capabilities engages and motivates them and helps them become more independent as learners. Assessment that encourages learning promotes motivation by emphasising progress and achievement rather than failure. 

Assessment-capable students feel greater ownership of their learning and are more likely to attribute outcomes to factors within their control. This engages and motivates students.

Teacher self-awareness 

Internalised biases and low expectations can form powerful barriers to educational success. Effective teachers engage in critical thinking and conversations to challenge deficit thinking and recognise and respond to the diverse strengths innate to all learners. They seek ways to make the language, culture, and heritage of the home part of the assessment for learning practice.

Effective assessment for learning processes make progress and achievement visible in terms of the outcomes that matter to ākonga and their whānau and communities. They help enable mutual sensemaking and decision making that ensure every ākonga is supported along an individualised pathway to wellbeing and educational success. 

Valued outcomes 

Assessment for learning practices are designed to enable progress towards the valued outcomes set out in national and local curricula and the aspirations expressed by ākonga and whānau, hapū and iwi, and members of the local community. Information sharing is critical to ensuring shared understandings and that the right supports are in place to ensure every ākonga experiences success in relation to these outcomes.

Planning and communication 

Assessment for learning is built into teachers’ planning and is a part of everyday classroom practice. 

Learning goals, teaching strategies, and assessment criteria are carefully matched. Ākonga know in advance what they will learn, as well as how and why they are to be assessed. Teachers’ planning is flexible to allow changes in response to new information, opportunities, or insights. Their planning includes strategies to check that ākonga understand the goals they are pursuing and the criteria to be applied in assessing their work. 

Teachers’ planning provides opportunities for the student and teacher to obtain information about progress towards learning goals and use this information to direct the learning process. Teachers also plan how students will receive feedback, how they will take part in assessing their learning, and how they will be helped to make further progress. 

Teachers and schools use a diverse range of communication methods to share assessment information with parents and whānau in ways that are culturally responsive and inclusive, to collaboratively make sense of the information, and to ensure ākonga and whānau can participate in the planning and design of learning.

Assessment should be valid, fair, and suited to the purpose. It should measure progress, not just achievement. 

Approaches that are fit for purpose 

Assessment for learning illuminates the extent to which ākonga are progressing and achieving along their individual learning pathways. The use of reliable assessment tools enables the sharing of trustworthy information that can be used to make decisions, smooth transitions, and evaluate impact.   

This means prioritising learning over outputs and taking a broad view of what constitutes valid and appropriate evidence. 

What matters most is not so much the form of the assessment or how it is captured as how the information gathered is used to improve teaching and learning.

Cumulative measurement of progress 

To make a valid and fair measure of progress over time, teachers need to analyse information from a range of sources. Teachers gather information both formally and informally, using a range of approaches to add to or modify their picture of each student’s learning over time. 

Assessment for learning approaches may include: 

• day-to-day activities, such as learning conversations 
• a simple mental note taken by the teacher during observation of students working independently. 
• student self- and peer assessments 
• a detailed analysis of a student’s work 
• assessment tools, which may be written items, structured interview questions, or items teachers make up themselves. 

Teachers need to be aware that any assessment can only provide a snapshot of achievement on a particular day. Performance will vary from day to day depending on: 

• the nature of the assessment task 
• the conditions in which the assessment is undertaken 
• the purpose of the assessment 
• the student’s preparation 
• the student’s engagement and motivation. 

Knowledge of both curriculum and pedagogical content is essential for effective assessment for learning. Further, teachers themselves need to grow their assessment capabilities so that they can use them to strengthen their teaching. 

Content knowledge 

Teachers require deep knowledge of the content to be taught and how students learn it. This means having a clear understanding of the concepts, a sense of the likely understandings and misunderstandings students will bring to the classroom, and knowing how to best facilitate new learning.  

To provide effective learning opportunities, teachers must understand the curriculum, its goals, and how students can progress towards them. Assessment for learning is dependent on knowledgeable teachers who can interpret their observations and act on those interpretations to enhance learning. 

How teaching, learning, and assessment are structured by teachers is a direct product of their content knowledge and beliefs about how students think and learn.

Assessment and evaluative capability 

Assessment for learning requires that teachers have opportunities to develop and strengthen their own curriculum design, pedagogy, inquiry, assessment literacy, and evaluative capabilities so that they can implement the curriculum in ways that meet the needs of all of our diverse ākonga. Teachers need to know about expected progress and about the tools, processes, and routines that are available for them to assess valued learning and enquire into and evaluate the impact of their practice on ākonga.  

All aspects of assessment carry a social and cultural dimension. If assessment is appropriate and effective, teachers need to know their students well and construct trusting and learning-focused relationships with them and their whānau. Such relationships have an unremitting focus on ākonga learning and wellbeing. They depend on teachers valuing the diverse perspectives, knowledge, and experience of ākonga and their whānau, and ensuring that both ākonga and whānau feel part of the school and kura and that they are partners in assessment and learning.

Social aspects 

To be effective, assessment for learning takes place in a positive learning environment. Ākonga are encouraged to take risks, make errors, and understand that wrong answers can assist learning just as effectively as right answers. 

Encouraging a culture of listening critically to one another, responding positively and constructively, and appreciating the different strengths, experiences, and skill sets among peers will help create such an environment. If this can be accomplished, ākonga can learn to conduct effective peer assessments of each other. 

Effective assessment for learning is underpinned by the concept of ako. It recognises the knowledge, skills, and understanding that teachers and students bring to learning interactions, and it acknowledges the way that new knowledge and understandings can grow out of shared learning experiences.

Cultural aspects 

In the classroom, non-judgemental exploration of teachers’ and students’ cultural values, assumptions, and understandings about learning and assessment may help them use the differences that surface to develop their strengths and identify areas for improvement. 

Effective assessment practice recognises different values, assumptions, and understandings and the impact they have on how students respond to different assessment approaches. Effective assessment practice plans for collaborative and collective assessment, in both formal and informal contexts, to reflect the educational values of different cultures, backgrounds, and experiences.

System improvement 

Assessment can do more than diagnose and identify students’ learning needs; it can assist improvements across the education system in a cycle of continuous improvement. In such a system, each person has the information that is necessary and sufficient for them to play their role well and contribute to a system that learns at, and across all its levels. 

• Ākonga and teachers use the information to determine the next teaching and learning steps. 
• Parents and whānau are kept informed of the next plans for teaching and learning and the progress being made, so they can play an active role in their children’s learning. 
• School leaders use the information for school-wide planning, to support their teachers, and to determine professional development needs. 
• Boards of trustees use the information to assist in their governance role and their decisions about staffing and resourcing. 
• Communities, hapū, and iwi use the information to participate in the design and review of the local curriculum that reflect their definitions of success. 
• ERO uses the information to inform advice for school improvement. 
• The Ministry of Education uses the information for national policy review and development so that government funding and policy interventions are targeted appropriately to support improved student outcomes.

A figure of a person stands in the middle of two circles. Inner circle text: student. The arrow points clockwise next to the text. Next, circle out the text: Parents and whānau. The arrow points clockwise next to the text. Three overlapping circles with arrows pointed clockwise lie behind the other circles and are labelled, from top right clockwise: Learning classrooms, Learning schools, Learning profession.

Trends in assessment: An overview of themes in the literature  - Rose Hipkins and Marie Cameron, 2018
This report, commissioned by the Ministry of Education, outlines findings from a literature review of trends in assessment policy and practice. The primary purpose of this report is to inform the Ministry as it considers updating its position on assessment, last articulated in the position paper titled Assessment (Schooling Sector) 2011 (Ministry of Education, 2011).

The idea of an assessment system that supports growth in "assessment capability" for everyone with a stake in using the information is the central recommendation of Directions for Assessment in New Zealand (DANZ): Developing Students’ Assessment Capabilities (see below).

Notes from the presentation at the NZARE Conference, November 2018, by Dr Rosemary Hipkins: Are the 2011 National Assessment Principles still fit for purpose? 

Evaluation at a glance: A decade of assessment in New Zealand Primary Schools - Practice and trends
This report is a synthesis of findings from evaluations carried out from 2007 to 2017 by the Education Review Office (ERO). ERO identifies aspects of effective and less effective teaching, school leadership, and management practices influencing students’ learning. 

Ministry of Education Position Paper: Assessment (2011)
This Assessment Position Paper, produced by the Ministry of Education, outlines its vision for assessment. It describes what the assessment landscape should look like if assessment is used effectively to promote system-wide improvement within, and across, all layers of the schooling system. The paper, supported by national and international research, including the 2009 DANZ report (see below), places assessment firmly at the heart of effective teaching and learning.

See Materials that come with this resource to download the Ministry of Education Position Paper Assessment (Schooling Sector) (.pdf)

Directions for Assessment in New Zealand (DANZ) Report Michael Absolum, Lester Flockton, John Hattie, Rosemary Hipkins and Ian Reid (2009)

This paper provides broad advice to the Ministry of Education to guide and inform the design of new and improved strategies, policies, and plans for assessment. The central premise of the paper is that all young people should be educated in ways that develop their capacity to assess their own learning. Students who have well-developed assessment capabilities are able and motivated to access, interpret, and use information from quality assessment in ways that affirm or further their learning. 

See Materials that come with this resource to download Directions for Assessment in New Zealand (.pdf)

Rukuhia, Rarangahia (2014)

Rukuhia Rarangahia is a position paper, which sets out a high-level conceptual approach to assessment in the context of Māori-medium education in Aotearoa New Zealand, and of Ngā Whanaketanga Rumaki Māori. This paper presents a Māori medium position to inform and direct policy review and development as it relates to aromatawai.

See Materials that come with this resource to download Rukuhia Rarangahia (2014) (.pdf)

Reports and publications

Student Engagement in the Middle Years of Schooling (Years 7–10): A Literature Review
This 2010 research report investigates the relationship between student engagement and student achievement. It considers what teachers can do to raise levels of student engagement within their year 7–10 classes and schools.  

Making Classroom Assessment Work by Ann Davies and Mary Hill, NZCER Press, Wellington, (2009)
In simple and easy-to-follow steps, Davies and Hill show how teachers can use assessment to boost learning. 

Assessment: Feedback to Promote Student Learning
This publication from the Teaching Development Unit of the University of Waikato examines some of the issues associated with feedback on assessment and provides some guidelines for effective practice. 

Clarity in the Classroom by Michael Absolum, Hodder Education, Auckland, (2006)
With an emphasis on assessment for learning principles and well-developed learning-focused relationships, Clarity in the Classroom provides key strategies for developing effective and meaningful classroom practices. 

National Education Findings of Assess to Learn (AtoL) Report
This report by Jenny Poskitt and Kerry Taylor, published in July 2008, describes the impact that the Ministry of Education’s professional development Assess to Learn (AtoL) project had on teachers, students, and schools in New Zealand. 

The Nature of Learning: Using Research to Inspire Practice (.pdf)
This practitioner's guide is based on extensive research findings on different aspects of learning and applications. It provides a powerful knowledge base for the design of learning environments for the 21st century. The principles help to inform everyday experiences in current classrooms, as well as future educational programmes and systems. Assessment for Learning is the sixth principle, a key message for educators about its importance. 

The 7 principles of learning chart
This chart developed by Ellen Hauser and Bernadette Pearce can assist you in analysing how well your learning environment reflects what is known from current research. 

See Materials that come with this resource to download Seven principles of learning chart (.doc)

Narrative Assessment 

The Narrative Assessment guidelines (2009) were designed to help teachers assess ākonga learning and progress.  

Narrative assessment provides a rich picture of ākonga skills, strengths, and learning support needs. It uses learning stories to capture progress, and record the connections between ākonga, their learning environments, their peers, and their learning activities.  

Narrative Assessment is useful when engaging with parents and whānau, allowing those who know ākonga best to collaborate in planning next steps and, where needed, within Individual Education Plans.  

While its original intention was to provide exemplars and guidance for specialist, resource, and classroom teachers who work with ākonga who require extra support for their learning, this approach is relevant to all ākonga. Teachers use the information gathered when considering possible next learning steps for ākonga and reflecting on their own teaching.   

Narrative Assessment helps answer 3 questions: 

• What might learning look like for students working predominantly within level 1 of The 2007 New Zealand Curriculum? What might learning look like for students working anywhere within the curriculum?  
• How might this learning be noticed, recognised, and responded to?  
• What features of ākonga environments support this learning? 

See Materials that come with this resource to download Narrative Assessment: A guide for teachers (.pdf)

This resource was originally hosted by the Ministry on the Through Different Eyes website. The exemplars that were created for the website are no longer accessible separately, however, the guidelines include some examples of learning stories. 

Research and Evaluation of Narrative Assessment  

The Research and Evaluation of Narrative Assessment and Curriculum Exemplars for Students with Special Education Needs (2010) was conducted over a three-year period (2007–2009). The purpose was to evaluate the development of exemplars and the introduction of professional development and learning for teachers in the use of learning stories, and to collect baseline data on current assessment practices used in primary and secondary schools for students with high and very high educational needs. 

See Materials that come with this resource to download Research and Evaluation of Narrative Assessment and Curriculum Exemplars for Students with Special Education Needs (.pdf)

Readings

Aromatawai and the principles of assessment: Supporting aromatoawai and the development of quality assessment practices (NZQA, August 2022) 

These principles provide guidance and support to kaiako and assessors as they develop quality assessment and aromatawai practices. They will: 

• strengthen a sector-wide understanding of aromatawai, a teaching, learning, and assessment approach that is underpinned by mātauranga Māori 
• support the education sector in quality assessment design and aromatawai practices. 

In conversation with John Hattie
Educational Leaders reports on the Spring 2013 issue of the Ontario Ministry of Education paper In Conversation, which is an interview with Professor John Hattie entitled Know Thy Impact: Teaching, Learning and Leading. Professor Hattie sets out eight mind frames for leaders and teachers from his research and book on visible learning. Much of this discussion focuses on how the attitudes and actions of teachers, when assessing what is taking place in the classroom, can best be framed to increase the focus on the process of learning. 

Seven practices for effective learning 
McTighe and O’Connor summarise the key assessment practices that improve teaching and learning, providing descriptions and examples of diagnostic, formative, and summative assessment. For each kind of assessment described, the authors provide a classroom-based example, making this a very accessible introduction to and/or reminder of effective assessment practice. 

Learners in the driving seat 
This 2009 article by Chris Watkins from the UK looks at how young people themselves can take the lead – and the excellent results that can follow. Although the assessment regime in the UK is very different from that in New Zealand, the principles of self-regulated learning apply in both contexts. 

Using Classroom Data to Give Systematic Feedback to Students to Improve Learning 
How can teachers capitalise on the evidence about student learning that is generated in their classrooms every day? How can this information best be collected and used to increase student learning? This webpage provides a summary of how best to provide feedback to students on the website of the American Psychological Society. The messages reinforce the main ideas in Dylan Wiliam’s work. 

Keeping learning on track: Formative assessment and the regulation of learning 
In this paper, Dylan Wiliam outlines some of the research that suggests that focusing on the use of day-to-day formative assessment is one of the most powerful ways of improving learning in the mathematics classroom. 

Learning to Love Assessment 
In this 2008 article from Educational Leadership, Carol Ann Tomlinson explains her journey with an informative assessment. From judging performance to guiding students to shaping instruction to informing learning, coming to grips with informative assessment has been an insightful journey for one of the gurus of differentiated learning. 

Assessment Through the Student's Eyes 
In this 2007 article from Educational Leadership, Rick Stiggins argues that our mission compels us to embrace a new vision of assessment that can tap the wellspring of confidence, motivation, and learning potential that resides within every student. To enable all students to experience the productive emotional dynamics of winning, we need to move from an exclusive reliance on assessment that verifies learning to the use of assessment that supports learning – that is, assessment for learning. 

Videos

Dylan Wiliam on formative assessment 
These YouTube videos feature Dylan Wiliam, an assessment for learning expert, talking about a range of formative assessment aspects. He reviews the nature of formative assessment and how teachers can use it to gain better insights into student learning and achievement.  

Dylan Wiliam outlines five key assessment strategies and how they interconnect is a good place to start. Listen as he describes the roles and relationships of teachers, learners, and their peers.  

Dylan William’s five key strategies animated on YouTube 
Michael Rystad summarises the five key strategies for effective formative assessment as proposed by Dylan William. The YouTube presentation is in an animated drawing/writing style, with a simple expansion of the ideas contained in each of the strategies. 

John Hattie on visible learning 
In these two YouTube presentations, John Hattie, director of the Melbourne Education Research Institute, discusses the principles and practices of effective teaching and learning, explored in detail in his book Visible Learning (2008). 

• Visible Learning Part I 
• Visible Learning Part II