In this issue:

• Iranian university students’ conceptions of assessment
• Singaporean teachers’ views of classroom assessment
• The standards–curriculum alignment for Learning Languages and its reception by teachers 
• Using Rasch measurement to improve analytical marking keys 
• Using annotations to inform an understanding of achievement standards
• The assessment-capable teacher: Are we all on the same page? 
• Book reviews

Formative assessment has been a matter of central interest for assessment researchers and policy makers internationally for several decades now. But as authors in this issue of Assessment Matters remind us, becoming skilful in the use of formative techniques is a challenging and sometimes lonely endeavour. In many jurisdictions, such as the United States, and at some levels of schooling in particular, formative assessment has been, and often still is, understood and implemented as interim tests.

In secondary schools within New Zealand “formative assessments” are seen as practices, tests, or activities to judge achievement towards meeting standards or to diagnose gaps so that students might be readied for final tests and examinations. Authors in this issue of Assessment Matters challenge these views and uses of the term “formative”. They investigate ways in which teachers and school leaders work to improve their use of assessment to support and include learners in the learning process.

In particular, the articles in this issue address how quality evidence is collected and used in the service of learning while also acknowledging how challenging this can be.

Assessment Matters 4 explores questions of assessment practice and how assessment practices known to support learning might be facilitated. Articles discuss:

• implementing assessment for learning
• maintaining a community of practice around moderation processes
• making overall teacher judgements
• incorporating likeability in low-stakes performance tasks
• assessing learning for summative and accountability purposes without resorting to national testing
• using exemplars to make assessment judgements about learners with special educational needs
• setting a big-picture policy direction for building teacher and student assessment capability.

This edition of Assessment Matters contains articles from educational settings in New Zealand, Australia and Canada. They explore the multiple and often competing roles that assessment plays in schools and the complexity of teachers’ roles as a result.