Obstacles and opportunities in the New Zealand curriculum refresh: An illustrative case study of the enactment of formative assessment in a New Zealand primary school

In the context of significant reforms to the curriculum for New Zealand schools, this paper presents an early line of findings from an ongoing ethnographic multi-case study investigating New Zealand primary school teachers’ enactment of informal formative assessment. Data was gathered through observations, interviews and document collection in one Auckland primary school classroom. The findings illustrate the value of informal formative assessment and provide a perspective on the use of formal assessment tools grounded in classroom practice. They suggest some barriers to greater student involvement in assessment, and identify trust, perceptions of validity, control and definitions of quality as key considerations in how teachers enact formal assessments.