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Leong, W.S., Ismail, H., Costa, J.S., & Tan, H.B. (2018). Assessment for learning research in east Asian countries, Studies in Educational Evaluation, 59, 270-277.

Educational agencies in East Asia have heeded the advice of research findings and therefore acknowledge the value of assessment for learning (AfL) practices through various policy initiatives. At definitional level, the evolving conceptions and theories of AfL have consistently streamed in from overwhelmingly European and Anglophone-based research. We present a review of mainly peer-reviewed journal articles on selected AfL research in East Asian countries. The findings show that the current implicit and atheoretical approach towards defining and implementing AfL suggests opportunities for further deliberation and theorisation about what constitutes AfL in East Asian countries. It is conceivable that teachers who understand the principles and frequently prepare students for summative assessment in the East Asian classroom are concurrently practising a particular process and practice of AfL. We conclude that the practices of AfL can therefore not just be variable; they will also be very situated and contested.

Leong, W. S. (2018, August 29). Assessment for Learning research in East Asian countries: A systematic review. Paper presented at European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI) SIG 1 Biennial Conference 2018, Helsinki, Finland.

In East Asia, educational agencies have heeded the advice of research findings and acknowledge the value of Assessment for Learning (AfL) practices through policy initiatives. At definitional level, the multiple evolving conceptions and theories of what constitutes AfL have consistently streamed in from overwhelmingly European and Anglophone-based research. The implementation of AfL in East Asian classrooms may therefore encounter barriers such as deeply rooted learning traditions that conflict with current mainstream AfL methodology and an unfamiliarity with, or distrust of, specific AfL practices. This paper presents the findings of a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed journal articles from ISI-indexed journals, on select AfL research in East Asian countries. From the findings of the articles, the current implicit and a-theoretical approach towards the definition and implementation of AfL suggests opportunities for further deliberation and theorization about what constitutes AfL in East Asian countries. It is conceivable that teachers who understand the principles and frequently prepare students for summative assessment in the East Asian classroom are concurrently practising AfL. Specifically from a policy evaluation viewpoint, further research is critical to affirm the wider strategy of certain East Asian countries of first developing a rigorous summative assessment system that minimizes the negative backwash effects of learning. We therefore conclude that the practices of AfL cannot simply be variable; they must be situated and contested, particularly if we are oriented towards social–cultural and situated theories of learning.