ABSTRACT
Assessment of teachers is increasingly seen as useful not only for identifying effective teachers but also for stimulating teacher learning and professional development, because it may provide teachers with insight into their own functioning according to what is expected from them as professionals and in ways to improve their teaching (Darling-Hammond & Snyder, 2000). These days assessment for learning, as opposed to assessment of learning, is becoming more prominent; this also holds for assessment of teachers (Black & Wiliam, 1998). Certification, decision-making and promotion are central concepts in assessment for learning, mostly to make certain if an assessed teacher has acquired (minimum) mastery of a certain domain. Although a vast amount of studies into approaches to teacher professional development can be found in the literature, research on assessment as a means for supporting teacher professional learning is scarce (Lustick, 2011). Most research that is available has been conducted in the context of National Board certification in the USA (e.g. Sato, Wei, & Darling-Hammond, 2008). The available studies provide worthwhile insight into elements that make assessments useful for stimulating teacher professional development, such as using teaching standards, analysing and reflecting on classroom work, exchanging ideas with colleagues and teachers critiquing each other’s work based on classroom observations. However, more research is needed into the influence of these factors on teacher learning and the conditions under which they are influential (Sato, Wei, & Darling-Hammond, 2008). The papers in this special issue all focus on formative assessment of teachers and teacher professional learning.
