ABSTRACT
In order to optimise student learning and achievement, it is vital to focus efforts on improving the specific components of teaching competencies that positively impact learning. Among the various dimensions of teaching competency, assessment experts and researchers have long argued for the importance of teachers’ ability to use assessment and student assessment information to improve student learning. This teacher assessment ability is broadly represented by a philosophical framework referred to as assessment for learning (AfL). The AfL paradigm calls for a shift in teachers’ assessment practices from recording and evaluating student achievement to helping and encouraging students’ active engagement in learning through assessment. The emphasis of teacher professional development is focused on test design and analysis, which should only be one element of the key components of teacher AfL literacy. Teacher assessment for learning literacy is widely seen as the centrepiece of effective learning and teaching.
