ABSTRACT
Part IV addresses the DFEE competences (see Part I) that are contained within subsections 2.5 (for secondary student teachers) and 2.4 (for primary student teachers). Assessment itself is not a new phenomenon, though the considerable attention it has received in the last decade certainly is. This part sets out a range of issues and practices in assessment and indicates how student teachers might approach it on their teaching practice. It will be argued that, though assessment opportunities should be found in everyday teaching, a degree of rigour should be shown in planning, conducting, recording and reporting assessments. It is useful, first, to know ‘where assessment is coming from’, to find out why and how it has come to gain the centre ground in education and educational policymaking. This can be seen by examining the international and national contexts. Then a series of key issues for planning assessments is outlined, including the purposes of assessment, the types of assessment, reliability and validity in assessments, methods of gathering assessment data, providing opportunities for assessment to take place and when to assess. Part IV closes with some guidelines for planning, recording and reporting assessments in the context of a formal report and a record of achievement.
