This paper explores the role of teachers in national assessment in England. The Education Reform Act of 1988 introduced a national curriculum for ages 5 to 16 together with a national assessment program for students at ages 7, 11, 14, and 16. The national assessment program is a crucial accompaniment to the national curriculum as the vehicle…

The use of performance based evaluation on a national scale with 7-year-olds in the United Kingdom is described, and the impact of national assessment on teaching practice and implications of this type of assessment are considered. The national assessment program in the United Kingdom started in earnest in 1991 when all 7-year-olds were assessed…

The United Kingdom has a history of performance assessment even for accountability purposes, as the public examinations (standardized achievement tests) at age 16 demonstrate. What the country does not have is a strong history in the area of equity. Debate and policy-making, when concerned at all, have been concentrated on equality of opportunity,…