ABSTRACT
In thinking about Jason’s test booklet over the years, I have come to see that the key issues in assessment, the most challenging and difficult ones, are moral and philosophical, rather than organisational and pedagogical. Questions of what, when, where and how to assess are of secondary importance beside the more searching question of ‘Why assess?’ And ‘Why assess?’ implies ‘Why educate?’ Effective assessment can only be based on a thorough understanding-of our purposes in teaching and of our aspirations for our pupils.
