New Zealand, as in many OECD countries, has governmental policies that are increasingly expecting teachers and schools to demonstrate their competence or value-added through student achievement results. Inevitable outcomes of teaching to high stakes national tests, the narrowing of an otherwise rich and responsive curriculum have been avoided to some extent in New Zealand by adopting assessment practices that are beneficial to students’ learning with a commitment to educational improvement rather than with an intention of accountability only. The New Zealand context includes policy statements that foreground the importance assessment for learning. The Ministry of Education (2011) Assessment Position Paper draws heavily on the DANZ Report (Absolum, et al, 2009). This report argues that “…all young people should be educated in ways that develop their capacity to assess their own learning” (p.5). We suggest that what students learn about their learning is as much about how their learning is assessed as it is about the results of any particular assessment. This paper describes three projects/approaches that work both within and against a national context of raising all students’ achievement, but by placing students at the centre of assessment. Through developing students’ assessment capability by being active participants in understanding their own learning and progress: in essence to become life long learners. The power of assessment to influence students’ educational learning experiences is well understood internationally and the negative consequences of national tests have been well documented. The three projects discussed in this paper illustrate what is possible when assessment focuses on the formative opportunities for shaping and supporting the learning of both students and teachers. These projects have these elements in common: • Recognising learning as something that always occurs as a social process, with implications for how we approach assessment • The power of assessment to drive curriculum and pedagogy • Attending to the social consequences of assessment and the ways students (and their families) experience assessment • Providing assessment opportunities and contexts that support students to demonstrate competence These projects also illustrate ways of resisting privileging accountability and efficiency over other values such as quality relationships, equity and the support of learning communities.

Absolum, M., Flockton, L., Hattie, J., Hipkins, R., Reid, I. (2009). Directions for assessment in New Zealand (DANZ): Developing students’ assessment capabilities. Wellington: Ministry of Education. Accessed at: http:// assessment.tki.org.nz/Assessment-in-the-classroom/Directions-for-assessment-in-New-Zealand-DANZ-report Ministry of Education (2011). Ministry of Education Position Paper: Assessment. Wellington, NZ: Learning Media. Accessed at: http://www.minedu.govt.nz/theMinistry/PublicationsAndResources/AssessmentPositionPaper.aspx