Views from the chalkface: English language school-based assessment in Hong Kong

Abstract

The Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) has recently moved from norm-referenced to standards-referenced assessment, including the incorporation of a substantial school-based summative oral assessment component into the compulsory English language subject in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE). Starting in Form 4, teachers now assess their own students' oral English language competencies through a range of classroom-embedded activities over 2 years (SBA Consultancy Team, 2005). This high-profile assessment initiative marks a significant shift in policy as well as in practice for the HKEAA. Although school-based assessment (SBA) is in line with the Education and Manpower Bureau's general move to align assessment with curriculum reforms, in the early stage of implementation the reforms raised a number of concerns in the wider school community, including sociocultural, technical, and practical concerns. This article first describes the specific content and structure of the HKCEE English Language SBA component. It then reports on the result of the initial analysis of teachers' and students' responses to the initiative in the first stage of its implementation, including the perceived benefits for learning and teaching. The article concludes with a brief overview of how this initial analysis led to the development of a number of subsequent research studies aimed at monitoring and developing teacher knowledge and skills and evaluating more systematically the impact of the reform on teachers, students, and schools in Hong Kong.