This paper describes Hong Kong’s borrowing, primarily from the UK, of the assessment for learning policy, in the context of prolonged use of formal summative public examinations. The narrative review and analysis are guided by a social positivist critique of the assessment for learning policy in the Hong Kong context. This paper concludes that Hong Kong’s attempts to implement assessment for learning are ambitious but somewhat futile because of persistent use of public examinations for important decision-making. Change in Hong Kong may only happen through a gradual implementation of assessment for learning practices that takes into account cultural, societal, and historic norms. Critical issues are identified and recommendations are proposed for further implementation of assessment for learning in Hong Kong. Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd.

This paper aims to report a case study of exploring the effect of "assessment for learning" on improving student learning and facilitating teachers' professional development in the examination-oriented context of Hong Kong. By adopting Variation Theory of the Lesson Study approach, data were collected through pre- and post-tests, interviews with students and teacher participants and observation field-notes in order to help diagnose students' learning difficulties and provide evidence for teachers to refine their teaching strategies to enhance students' learning effectiveness. The students' improvement in learning performance informed the teacher participants of the usefulness of 'assessment for learning' in the classroom. Copyright © Sage Publications Ltd.

While assessment for learning (AfL) has gained increasing international prominence, and has been strongly promulgated by an increasing number of education systems, current instruments designed to measure students' assessment for learning experience show a number of methodological shortcomings, such as lacking construct validity and low internal consistency of scales, or structural confirmations of the dimensionality of AfL constructs captured in the questionnaires have not been tested. This paper presents the development and validation of a psychometrically robust measure of assessment for learning experience in the Chinese higher education-the Assessment for Learning Experience Inventory (AFLEI). Two independent samples of 201 and 163 higher education students responded to the AFLEI. The data were then subjected to Exploratory Factor Analyses (EFAs) and Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFAs), respectively. Results from both EFAs and CFAs provided support for a five-factor AfL experience inventory with a strong psychometric basis. The five clusters of AfL experience perceived by the Chinese university students are Teacher formal feedback and support, Interactive dialog and peer collaboration, Learning-oriented assessment, Active engagement with subject matter, and Students taking responsibility for their learning. The correlations between the five clusters of AfL experience and the 'deep learning approach' of the Revised Two-Factor Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) supported the concurrent validity of the AFLEI. The AFLEI can be used both as an evaluation tool to evaluate the extent to which university students experience AfL practices in university curriculum, and as a research tool to explore more deeply the relationships between AfL experience and student learning.
[Copyright of Asia-Pacific Education Researcher is the property of Springer.]

Assessment as learning (AaL) puts students at the centre of learning and is considered a powerful alternative assessment approach that can maximize student learning. How it can be applied as a pedagogical and assessment tool in writing classrooms, however, is not clearly understood. Research on the implementation of AaL as a unitary concept in L2 writing classrooms is scant, particularly at the primary level. To fill these gaps, the study investigates the implementation of AaL in two Hong Kong primary writing classrooms from teachers' and students' perspectives, focusing specifically on the perceived benefits and problems. Using data gathered from interviews with two participating teachers and six selected students, as well as classroom observations, the findings show that the teachers' very first attempt to put AaL into practice reaped benefits for themselves and the students, but a few problems were noted too, which provide useful implications for practice and further research. Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

「用普通話教中文」（普教中）是香港近年基礎教育的中國語文教學新趨勢，課堂的教學媒介語由粵方言（香港人的母語）轉為普通話，同時尚有獨立的普通話科教學，且並不視為母語教學，給判別為第二語言或介於第一二語言間的語言教學。 「普教中」既構成了多方面的困境，也出現了教與學發展的契機。學生、教師由早期對「普教中」的抗拒、不適應，至近年的接受並在教與學方面的素質不斷提升，實超出教育當局、語文教育工作者的預期。多年來，先導者在「普教中」園地裏的開墾和建設，不同層次和角色的語文教育工作者所開展的各類教學和研究的探索，皆以期提升「普教中」這新語境中的語文教學效能。各方先導者積極開發的元素，由實證行動而來的經驗總結，可提供予開始了或仍未開始「普教中」的學校和教師參照和啟示。 「促進評估的學習」是20世紀80年代以後基礎教育改革的世界性取向，在教學實踐中，課堂上的提問、回饋是重要且有效促進學生學習的評估策略。本研究通過觀察及分析一位教師同時任教同一級「用普通話教中文」及「用廣州話教中文」兩班學生的課堂實踐，比較分析教師在「普教中」和「廣教中」不同教學媒介語的影響下，語文課堂的提問和回饋策略的異同，以檢視及提煉「普教中」的有效提問和回饋策略。
[Copyright © 2017 中華書局(香港)有限公司.]

Hong Kong has been implementing a policy of assessment for learning to counter-balance the strong, high-stakes, summative, and examination-oriented practices of the territory. While the purposes teachers have for various classroom assessment tasks are devoted to this learning premise, their views are bounded by the social expectations of assessment for accountability. This paper reports on a study of the types of assessment tasks used by four primary school curriculum leaders, the nature of assessment for learning in Hong Kong primary school context, and their views of how the tasks could support learning improvement in the accountability era. Results indicate that, consistent with official policy, “improvement” was the dominant reason for using the eight assessment tasks discussed in interviews. However, these tasks also met the functions of “accountability,” consistent with the dominant use of assessment in the Chinese context. It appears that assessment for learning in Hong Kong practice is still bounded by the need to demonstrating school quality through the preparation of students for examinations, which raises questions about the policy’s validity. This paper concludes with factors that hinder a formative learning practice and recommends some follow-up strategies under this improvement-accountability tension.
[Copyright © 2017 Education Research Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.]

促進學習的評估是近年香港教育界熱門的專業術語之一。評估能促進學生學習，過程中教師要善用評估學生表現的資料，設計出相應的桝與學的措施。為了瞭解這理念在香港小學施行的情況，本文採用個案研究法，與一所小學數學科科主任作深入訪談，透過解構和整理這些質性資料，勾劃出這所學校近年來在數學科實踐評估促進學習的經驗，並指出其成功原因及需考慮的發展方向。
"Assessment for learning" is a professional term and familiar with the educators in Hong Kong recently. Assessment improve students' learning. Teachers analyse the results of students' performance to design relevant teaching activities and materials. This paper aims to illustrate the practice of this concept in the mathematics subject of a primary school in Hong Kong. The case research method is used and the subject panel of this school has been interviewed deeply. By synthesis the qualitative data of the case, the implementation of the assessment for learning of the mathematics subject in this school is outlined. Meanwhile the main reason of the success of this assessment reform is pointed out and suggestion for further development is enclosed.
[Copyright of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre Journal is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre at http://www.edb.org.hk/hktc]