Assessment

At its heart, this book presents a resolute and modelled commitment to criticality as being central to any professional development and progress in practice. 

The depth and breadth of discussion is impressive, if possibly over-focused on finding an ideology at the expense of linking consistently with the ways in which teachers might create their own evidence-based interactions with the ideas discussed. The discussion of the tensions between what teachers construct as ‘right’ and the frameworks which they are given to work within is woven throughout this concisely comprehensive discussion, with suggested approaches to negotiating this through reading-informed reflection. The exploration of the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of key issues in the assessment field are handled with deft referencing and commentary, though there could be more of a focus on why these ideas are postulated and the impact that is intended for learners. That said, the book works hard to bridge the gap between teachers as practitioners and teachers as researchers, making a considered case that excellent practice requires teachers to be both. 

The strongest and potentially most provocative moments in this book come when the relationship between theory, practice and (vitally) impact on pupils is made direct: the summaries of and signposts to further reading would support any teacher to take their thinking in this direction.

-- Alys F