Dreams, Strategies and Systems: Portraits of assessment past, present and future

Systems of testing and assessment are shaped in part by personalities and institutions who pursue research insights and technical innovations. Out of these they fashion 'dreams' which drive their efforts to improve these systems. This paper develops this perspective, whilst acknowledging that it overlaps with and complements analyses of assessment systems from social and cultural perspectives. Four different examples are considered. Two from past and current history are the growth, from an origin in IQ testing, of standardised multiple choice tests and the dream of raising standards by external testing. The other two, nascent with their influence yet to be determined, are the dream of improvement by formative assessment and the dream that recent developments in psychology can provide a basis for new and improved assessment practices.