Large-scale Assessment and Teachers' Assessment Capacity: Learning opportunities for teachers in the National Education Monitoring Project in New Zealand

Abstract

The National Education Monitoring Project (NEMP) in New Zealand is a large-scale assessment programme designed to monitor and report on the national educational achievement, attitudes and values of children across the curriculum. One of the key elements of the model is the employment of teachers to administer and mark the assessment tasks. This study investigates the extent to which the NEMP assessment philosophies and procedures (the NEMP model) impacts on the nature and level of professional development gained by these teachers. The data reveal that teachers' assessment capacity and literacy provided through the 'NEMP experience' renders benefits which are numerous, broad and multi-faceted. The benefits range from personal and professional, specific and general, immediate and longer term, related to assessment and beyond. The potential for extensive teacher learning in assessment is realised through the NEMP model and suggests that large-scale assessment programmes can, through careful design and implementation, have a positive impact on teachers' assessment capacity and the assessment activities of the classroom.