Level descriptions and teacher assessment in England: towards a community of assessment practice

Abstract

This paper presents findings from a study of the implementation of level descriptions in teacher assessment in England. Previous, theoretical work on assessment criteria suggests that interpretation and application are not straightforward and that practitioners need mechanisms to support consistent application of criteria, and the criteria themselves need to be made meaningful to teachers, pupils and parents. The extent to which a community of assessment practice, in which there are shared experiences through which professional judgements are problematized and contested, is evident in English primary schools is the subject of this study. The empirical analysis reveals that there are indications of such a community in some schools, although there are factors that threaten its survival and growth. A distinction is drawn between those schools that exhibited many of the features associatedwith a community of assessment practice and those where the stylewas of individual teachers tending to work largely in isolation from their colleagues. The conclusion locates the findings in a broader policy context that is marginalizing teacher assessment.