Research shows that teachers do not feel competent enough in the assessment of students’ learning (Martineau & Presseau, 2003; Mertler, 2009; Pecheone & Chung; 2006). Given the recent changes in assessment with the education curriculum in the province of Quebec (Canada), this finding is not surprising. In fact, since the adoption of competency-based education programs in 2001, teachers’ feelings of inadequacy in assessment is reported in a number of studies in Quebec (Martineau & Presseau, 2003; Bidjang, Gauthier, Mellouki & Desbiens, 2005). Teachers had to move from assessment of learning to assessment for learning (Stiggins, 2009), which implies a considerable shift in assessment practices, without much preparation, support, knowledge or tools. This research project is embedded in the area of teachers’ development of competency in assessment of/for students’ learning within the current education programs in Quebec.

Since early 1990, scholars have been interested in types of learning that take place in groups, thus stressing the social dimension of professional development. One can think of the concept of learning organization developed by Senge (1990) for example, or the large concept of communities which further evolved into many variations: seminal concept of community of practice (Lave and Wenger, 1991); learning communities (Wenger, 2001); professional learning communities (Dufour & Eaker, 1998); schools seen as learning and research communities (Sergiovanni, 1989; Sirotnik, 1989).  This research proposes a professional learning community (PLC), seen as a rich learning setting, to contribute not only to teachers’ professional development in assessment but furthermore, to students’ success.

Five objectives are pursued in the professional learning communities: 1) to enlarge the repertory of teachers’ strategies in assessment of students’ learning; 2) to support teachers in improving their assessment practices; 3) to encourage teachers to exchange with their colleagues regarding assessment practices and thus, stimulate co-learning; 4) to depict the evolution of the teachers’ competency in assessment of students’ learning and 5) to evaluate the impact of professional learning communities on the development of teachers’ competency in assessment.

The communication addresses three questions in relation to the fifth objective of the study: a) To what level teachers’ competency in assessment was developed?, b) Which assessment practices have they developed or improved?, and c) What kind of integration were they able to achieve in their classroom with their students? The continuous learning evaluation model proposed by Gusky (2000) was used to evaluate the impact of the PLC on teachers’ competency in assessment. Guskey’s model proposes four levels of inquiry: 1) teachers reactions to and learning within the professional learning community; 2) organisational support provided while involved in the learning communities; 3) implementation of the developed competencies in classrooms; and 4) students results in relation to the professional development received by teachers.

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