Assessment in a Pre-service Teacher Education Programme: The rhetoric and the practice of standards-based assessment

This paper presents findings that reflect one of several themes from a field-based project carried out in a large metropolitan College of Education in New Zealand. Assessment policy statements in the college's School of Primary Teacher Education Handbooks (1993- 1996) gave the impression that a robust system was in place: one in which student teacher performance on required tasks and assignments was compared with clearly prescribed criteria/standards. However, observations in the field identified a significant discontinuity between the rhetoric and practice. Rather than basing judgements on published criteria and standards, a group of assessors grounded their judgements in a different set of 'rules'. These rules suggested a strong commitment to notions of professional and personal autonomy.