This qualitative study looks at multiple-choice questions (MCQs) in examinations and their effectiveness in testing higher-order cognition. While there are claims that MCQs can do this, we consider many assertions problematic because of the difficulty in interpreting what higher-order cognition consists of and whether or not assessment tasks…

Assessment News first announced the launch of the New Zealand Assessment Institute (NZAI) 4 years ago, and this current article looks at how NZAI has progressed, highlighting its key publications and activities from 2021. This update should be of use to teachers and school leaders who want to explore assessment more deeply, gain practical tips, or…

A key role of universities is the credentialing of student learning by awarding degrees and diplomas. This requires universities to have confidence in the integrity of their assessment processes and in turn, external stakeholders to have the same confidence. This study investigates the following research question: 'Has COVID-19 had an impact on…

This study investigated how New Zealand teachers in Early Childhood Education (ECE) gathered, documented and utilised assessment information about children's learning. It utilised phenomenological inquiry, with data being gathered through semi-structured interviews with five experienced ECE teachers. The findings highlight the complexity of the…

New Zealand lacks valid and reliable evidence-based schedules with which to observe teachers' assessment for learning (AfL) practices. To date, classroom assessment observation schedules have mainly been derived theoretically, used in developing countries with conditions different from New Zealand classrooms (Kanjee & Hopfenbeck, personal…

The Teachers Conceptions of Assessment Inventory was used to investigate New Zealand teachers' beliefs about assessment. The participating sample comprised teachers who work almost exclusively at the senior level of high school and are responsible for school-based assessment programmes that contribute at least 50% of students' final grades towards…

Portfolios are widely used in New Zealand for documenting children's learning; there is now an increasing move to online ePortfolios. This article presents findings from a doctoral study which investigated the impact of the introduction of ePortfolios in an early childhood education setting where traditional paper-based portfolios were previously…

Whilst many studies have explored academic identity construction, very few take a comparative perspective to examine the various ways of constructing academic identities within and across different disciplines. This paper analyses a key policy document used for evaluating academics' performance along with semi-structured interviews with 37…

This study examined the validity of data collected from a novel online story retell task. The task was specifically designed for use by junior school teachers with the support of speech-language therapists or literacy specialists. The assessment task was developed to monitor children's oral language progress in their first year at school as part…

The ability to reflect and self-assess are essential attributes for graduates to develop during their education. At many tertiary institutions, peer and lecturer-assessment contribute to summative assessment, but self-assessment, whilst recommended for development, does not. In order to make a case for the inclusion of self-assessment as a…

This paper explores the experiences and perceptions of parent academics and their colleagues, and argues that in the absence of institutional support and guidance, self and peer assessment of academic identity in relation to performance becomes a measure against which academics assess their own academic careers and the academic careers of others.…

Continuous increase of global reliance on sessional staff in higher education has not been accompanied by the development of strategies to enhance quality learning and teaching or understanding the experiences of these staff. This has resulted in a general discontent among this category of academics. The growing importance of building respectful…

It has been mandatory since March 2015 for New Zealand schools to use the "English Language Learning Progressions" (ELLP) (Ministry of Education, 2008) to determine English language learners' eligibility for Ministry funding of ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) programmes and support. Teachers are expected to "use a…

Using findings from a 2-year study, this paper explores undergraduate engineering student perspectives on good university teachers. Findings from open survey questions and semi-structured interviews were analysed using principles of grounded theory, resulting in four themes identified by students as key to good university teaching: communication,…

Secondary schools in New Zealand use assessment data for school self-evaluation, but little research has explored exactly how schools are using these data. This case study of selected high schools explored the perspectives of teachers and school leaders whose schools had recently implemented a student assessment tracking and monitoring…