There has been a critical discussion on top-down education policy and the consequences
of this policy on teachers’ assessment activities and use of the assessment data for making
improvements to teaching and learning in the classroom (Baird, 2009). An example of a
top-down policy is an outcome-based approach where assessment has been originally
argued to increase the quality of teaching and learning. As a part of an outcome-based
approach, intended learning outcomes are described and external nationwide assessment in
order to evaluate how well the students have achieved these learning outcomes are
organised (e.g., Spady, 2003). However, the simplistic idea of externally guided assessment
through testing is seen as an approach that does not consider learning as a process.
Furthermore, defining intended learning outcomes and having testing consolidates the
phenomenon of ‘teaching for the test’ and refers to the unwanted and largely unintended
consequences of testing. Selecting particular content areas or skills to be trained, having bias towards the whole set of goals of the curriculum, and the teaching of knowledge and
skills that are easy to test are among the unwanted outcomes.