The way in which we assess students, the assessment tasks we choose, and the
context of the questions chosen all influence the performance and achievement of
students. "Assessment tasks have social consequences… (which) manifest
themselves in the form of differential performance between different sub-groups"
(Elwood & Murphy, 2002, p. 396). In my view like Gipps (1994), I would argue
that “assessment does not stand outside teaching and learning but stands in
dynamic interaction with it” (p. 15). This view is also stated by the teachers who
participated in the study. A male teacher from a boys’ Junior Lyceum talks about
the way in which he uses the principles of assessment for learning (Black &
Wiliam, 1998) such as constant questioning, self-assessment and qualitative
feedback: