National Curriculum Assessments and Programmes of Study: validity and impact

This paper has been written as a contribution to the debate about the possible directions that might be taken in the light of the current review of the role of assessment in the National Curriculum of England and Wales. The paper is presented in two parts. The first part outlines a theoretical framework—a simplified version of the four‐facet framework proposed by Samuel Messick—within which the relative demands of evidential and consequential aspects of validity can be considered. The second section presents a selection of issues which will need to be addressed (either explicitly or implicitly) in order to illustrate how the four‐facet model can be applied to the analysis of issues that need to be resolved. The selected issues are not intended to be representative of all the issues that will need to be addressed, but do illustrate the use of the theoretical framework presented in part 1 in a variety of contexts. It is also intended that the framework here will be relevant to all assessments, not just those related to the National Curriculum of England and Wales.