Even in the white heat of the ever-present education debate, assessment is one of the hottest and most contested topics. While teachers develop practical methodologies such as Assessment for Learning, that aim to bring positive benefits to learners, governments and policy-makers strengthen the role of externally mandated assessment for accountability purposes. With the field of assessment a key focus for research the world over, the traditional issues of the topic, such as validity and reliability...

The second edition of Spelling: approaches to teaching and assessment is written at a time of renewed public and academic interest in the topic of children’s spelling. This interest is reflected in the amount of new research conducted over the past five years, and in the number of new books, articles, and curriculum guides written for teachers. Much of the research, and many of the new texts, are cited in this new edition.

Teachers speaking from their own experience and theorists consider whether the conventional systems for grading individual papers and portfolios support their pedagogies as they shift toward practices that focus on writing as a process. They cover directions and misdirections in grading practices, the power and authority of graders...

"Portraits of the L2 User" treats second language users in their own right rather than as failed native speakers. It describes a range of psychological and linguistic approaches to diverse topics about L2 users. It thus provides an overview of current second language acquisition theories, results and methods, seen from a common perspective.

This book takes a critical look at how students' achievements are assessed for a range of purposes, from reporting progress to selection and qualification. It considers the relationship between what is taught, and how, and what and how learning outcomes are assessed. The impact of using assessment results for setting targets and evaluation of provision for learning is also discussed.