In this section, you will find a number of articles, which have been written to help you develop your skills and knowledge as a teacher in the professional practice 'Assessing learning'. From primary-aged students to adult learners of English, the articles you will find here are practical, insightful and full of ideas to support your teaching and planning for all kinds of classrooms.

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Teenagers and exams

Progress tests, end-of-term exams, end-of-year exams and official exams to name a few. Most educational systems around the globe require us to constantly assess and evaluate our teenage students’ level of English. 

Student progress

Assistants are not usually expected to carry out formal assessment of their learners with tests or marking. However, students need feedback as they come towards the end of their time with you.

Error Correction

One of the main dilemmas for teachers giving conversation groups is error correction. It’s always tricky to know when and if to correct students and how to go about it.

Ongoing assessment - fun not fear!

In my experience of teaching juniors (6-11) and seniors (11-16) I have found that there is a notable difference in their attitudes to assessment.
Evaluating speaking - Part 2 - speaking article

Evaluating speaking - Part 2

This article is in three parts. The first part has already looked at what a speaker needs to be able to do to use spoken English as an effective form of communication. This second part now looks at whether these different elements can be evaluated formally, and what ways there are to do this.

Young learner testing - methodology article

Young learner testing

Tests for people of any age can seem a threat or, at the very least, an obstacle that needs to be overcome. Testing children is even more fraught with sensitivities.

Test question types - methodology article

Test question types

In my previous article Test writing I looked at some of the difficulties of writing good tests and how to make tests more reliable and useful.

Research and insight

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