Classroom assessment and pedagogy

Since our 1998 review of research on classroom assessment and learning was published, we have contributed to theorising formative assessment, but recognise that this work is incomplete. In this paper, we take up a suggestion by Perrenoud that any theory of formative assessment must be embedded within a wider theoretical field, specifically, within a theory of pedagogy. We propose a model whereby the design of educational activities and associated assessments is influenced by the theories of pedagogy, instruction and learning, and by the subject discipline, together with the wider context of education. We explore how teachers may develop productive relationships between the formative and summative functions of classroom assessment, so that their judgements may inform the formal external assessment of students, thus increasing the validity of those assessments. We also show how the model informs the development of theories that give appropriate weight to the role of assessment as part of pedagogy.