Assessment and reporting : what do we need to understand

Margaret Forster, ACER

Abstract

There is a widespread expectation that assessment and reporting should improve learning, enrich teaching and learning experiences, and assist teachers, students and parents to monitor learning. Yet despite considerable effort by systems, schools and teachers, realising this expectation remains a challenge. Why? Is the expectation unrealistic? Are the needs of schools, teachers, parents and students so diverse that no process will be able to deliver? To address the challenge, the author looks beneath the assessment and reporting process and examines four issues that she thinks need to be better understood if assessment and reporting are to live up to expectation.