Assessment for learning in the accountability era: New Zealand

The requirements for valid assessment for learning and assessment of learning are reviewed and then the tensions between these two purposes of assessment are explored, first in general and then within two areas of the New Zealand education system. First, the nature of assessment for learning in primary schools is discussed and how it is, or might be, affected by four accountability pressures associated with assessment of learning. The second area is assessment for qualifications in the final years of secondary education. Here, some of the assessment of learning occurs at local level, within schools, and the remainder occurs at national level. These two assessment pathways create substantially different conditions affecting assessment for learning.