Assessment reforms in an era of change

Since the early 1990s, assessment reforms in Hong Kong have been conceptualized and implemented to enable students to develop ownership of and responsibility for their learning. To achieve this aim, a school-based assessment (SBA) component in a high- stakes public examination was introduced for secondary education in 2007. It incorporated teachers‟ continuous assessment of students‟ oral performance in schools over two years. Although teachers recognized its value in reducing examination pressure on students, they criticized and resisted this SBA component for its perceived violation of traditional concepts about the function of a public examination. This paper will present findings generated from semi-structured interviews and lesson observations on teachers‟ perceptions of the SBA reform and the impacts of learning-oriented assessment on student learning. Based on the findings, it will propose a framework for closing achievement gap through classroom-based learning-oriented and student involved assessment within the examination-oriented culture of Hong Kong. Copyright © 2011 The Association of Science, Education and Technology (TASET).