The changing nature of assessment in English primary classrooms: Findings from the PACE project 1989–1997

Abstract

The effective use of evaluation is currently hailed as the ultimate tool in raising standards and ensuring accountability for virtually all areas of life. Nowhere has this been more in evidence than in the area of schooling. This increasing emphasis on target setting and the raising of standards through summative assessment has brought with it major changes to the educative experience for both teachers and their pupils. The PACE Project, which began in 1989, was designed to track these changes as they impacted on a representative sample of teachers and their pupils as they progressed through primary schooling. This article highlights some of the major issues which have emerged from the study and goes on to discuss what implications these might have for future policy-making.