Our Mission

The term ‘assessment for learning’ has become commonly used and widely accepted in Singapore, but is it always understood and used for all learners? After all, one of the intended purposes of assessment is to discriminate between learners, and inferring from their demonstrated learning what learners are good for.

However, this does not always align well the educational imperative for wanting and helping all our students to learn and succeed. At times, some of our assessment policies and practices may in fact deter or disempower our students from learning.

Assessment should be fit for its intended purpose, but what if the primary purpose of assessment is to be fit for all learners? What if we challenged ourselves to ensure that every single learner under our care benefits adequately from assessment? What if we were able to rethink and enact assessment in ways that help the least, the last and the lost amongst our learners?

Previously, we had named this bulletin as the “CTL Assessment Bulletin” to signal the importance of understanding the important relationship(s) between Curriculum and Assessment, and underscore the dialectic relationship between assessment and teaching.

Organisationally, the Curriculum, Teaching and Learning (CTL) academic group in NIE has been restructured, and the assessment team is now posited in the Learning Sciences and Assessment academic group.

More importantly, the assessment bulletin is now headlined as a mission and motive – Assessment For All Learners (AFAL), to signal the purpose of the bulletin that its content and advocacy should be fit for. We hope that the expertise, experiences and ideas of the bulletin will address your (assessment) learning needs, and help you ensure that your assessment practices are for all learners under your care. And that your own love and desire for learning will be refreshed in the process.