The Hong Kong Education Reform, which calls for a realignment of assessment practices, addresses the assessment theories of the early 21st century and tries to move Hong Kong from an educational culture of “Assessment of Learning (AoL)” to a culture of “Assessment for Learning (AfL)”. This paradigmatic shift of culture, addresses the assessment theories formulated during the past decade that call for assessment practices which should drive both teaching and learning (Biggs and Watkins, 1999). However, most Hong Kong classrooms currently still use assessment as a tool for measuring learning instead of a mean for facilitating learning (Berry 2005). In view of this, an investigation was initiated in the purpose of achieving a better understanding of the assessment actions in the classroom. The investigation included twenty-seven teachers from nine secondary and primary Hong Kong schools which focused on assessment used in the classroom as seen from lesson observations of the participating teachers. The data collected was analyzed by using Torrance & Prior’s divergent (AfL) and convergent assessment (AoL) framework (1998). It was found that there were key tensions and important opportunities in the assessment and learning processes in the classrooms. The paper will first give some background information about the paradigm shift of assessment culture, followed by a presentation of the findings of the investigation and a discussion on the key tensions and important opportunities in the assessment and learning processes in the classroom.

One of the main focuses of education is to empower learners with the abilities of learning how to learn. The Curriculum Development Council (2000, p. 54) points out that “Assessment could facilitate learning to learn”. This kind of facilitation, however, can only be achieved by using a “right” form of assessment. The less effective of the forms of assessment, suggested by the Curriculum Development Council, are the ones that inhibit or narrow learning opportunities and therefore, their use should be reduced to a minimum. The “right” forms, accordingly, are the ones that provide learners with plenty of learning opportunities. This paper first highlights the problems of the assessment practices in Hong Kong education contexts by reporting the criticisms made by a review team and the findings of a small-scale study into the assessment practices in Hong Kong schools. Then it stresses the close relationship of assessment and learning and discusses the place of alternative assessment in this kind of relationship. Ten assessment strategies have been developed to bring the concept of assessment for learning into practice in educational contexts.
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