Kerr, D. et al. (2009)

Kerr, D., Keating, A., Ireland, E. (2009) ''Pupil assessment in citizenship education: purposes, practices and possibilities. Report of a CIDREE Collaborative Project''. Slough: NFER/CIDREE. https://www.nfer.ac.uk/publications/PCE01/PCE01.pdf


 * "Internal assessment is designed and moderated by teachers within schools for their own purposes. The outcomes of this assessment are therefore not always shared with pupils, parents and external actors, such as government examination agencies. External assessment, by contrast, is designed and/or moderated by a national organisation or regulating body. This mode of assessment establishes national standards of assessment, against which pupils’ work is to be assessed."
 * "In summative assessment models, assessment takes place at the end of a course or section of work, and aims to grade or rank pupils’ progress. Formative assessment, however, takes place during the learning process, and aims to enable the individual pupil and teacher to identify areas of strength and weakness and, by extension, to improve future teaching and learning."
 * "Yet, while assessment is viewed as primarily an internal matter in England and the Netherlands, both countries have nonetheless established attainment targets for pupils to achieve, and against which schools can measure pupil progress. In the Netherlands, for example, and as noted in Chapter 3, the attainment targets at secondary level include the following: The pupils learn to ask meaningful questions about social issues and phenomena, take a substantiated point of view concerning these, defend it, and deal with criticism in a respectful way. The pupils learn about agreements, differences and changes in culture and religion in the Netherlands, learn to connect their own, as well as someone else’s lifestyle with these, and learn that respect for each other’s views and lifestyles will enhance society. The pupils learn the essentials of the way the Dutch political system operates as a democracy, and learn how people may be involved in political processes in different ways."
 * "It is argued by some that formative assessment is more compatible with the ideals of citizenship as it focuses on the quality of the learning experience and can have democratic and transformative purposes (Jerome, 2008). In contrast, summative assessment is more traditionally competitive and hierarchical and, as such, is less suited to assessment of a subject with a participative, community emphasis. In addition, it has been commented that it is against the principles of citizenship to grade a pupil’s qualities as a citizen, particularly in relation to those pupils who do not do well in summative tests as they may be labelled a ‘failed citizen’. Finally, summative assessment makes the pupil more concerned with the mark rather than the application of the knowledge and skills."