Developing Assessment for Learning Practice in a School Cluster: Primary and Secondary Teachers Learning Together

The nature of professional development for the sustained implementation
of assessment for learning (AfL) is a pressing and perennial challenge. So too is
pupil transfer between schools. This chapter explores how cross-phase collaborative learning supports the development of AfL practice. Teachers from a secondary school and its seven feeder primary schools worked together using three principles of AfL derived from previous research to assist analysis of existing practices, to plan developments, and to scaffold discourse. The value of this approach was revealed by data gathered through questionnaires and interviews with teachers in the working group, along with observations of workshops at which participant teachers shared their work with other teachers, who were also invited to complete a questionnaire. It is suggested that AfL, underpinned by the principles of making learning explicit, promoting learning autonomy, and focusing on learning, can act as a pedagogical unifier across age ranges and subjects and thus aid pupil transfer. Recommendations are proposed for teachers, policymakers, and particularly school leaders.