A scoping review on the notions of Assessment as Learning (AaL), Assessment for Learning (AfL), and Assessment of Learning (AoL) (Schellekens et al, 2021).

The Assessment Deep Dive: AfL vs. AoL vs. AaL: What is Assessment as Learning?

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The Context

During my interview for the Oxford Master’s in Learning and Teaching, I was asked to look at a 2021 paper by Schellekens et al. As I read it, I was immediately struck by its relationship to the 'canonical' literature of our profession. If Black and Wiliam's 1998 paper is the Shakespeare of assessment literature—setting the foundational rules of formative feedback—then Schellekens provides the modern critical lens that forces us to look at the exact same concept from a radically different perspective.

We all know the traditional drill: we teach, we test, we grade. We have even mastered the concept of 'Assessment for Learning', diligently writing learning targets on our whiteboards. But what happens when the student remains an entirely passive recipient in this process, simply waiting for the teacher to dispense the feedback?

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The Theory, Simplified

To clear up the confusing terminology surrounding modern assessment, Schellekens et al. conducted a massive scoping review of 131 independent studies. They categorised assessment into three distinct paradigms:

i.         Assessment of Learning (AoL): This is your classic summative assessment. It is formal, often graded, and happens at the end of a unit to certify a student's competence or report to stakeholders. The student is merely the subject being measured

ii.         Assessment for Learning (AfL): This is our 'canonical' formative assessment. It happens during the learning process to provide evidence that informs the teacher's next instructional steps, ultimately supporting and improving student learning. However, the power dynamic remains top-down; it is still largely teacher-driven.

iii.         Assessment as Learning (AaL): The paradigm shift. This is where the assessment becomes a collaborative learning activity in itself. The student takes on the active role of the assessor, engaging in self-regulation, metacognition, and self-evaluation. They are no longer just receiving feedback; they are generating it to guide their own learning journey.

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The ECT Translation: What This Looks Like on Friday Period 5

Understanding the theory is one thing, but how do we transfer this agency to a room full of Year 9s? Here is how to transition from AfL to AaL this week:

i.         Hand Over the Mark Scheme: Stop marking every practice paragraph yourself. Translate the exam board’s marking criteria into plain English, give it to the students, and ask them to highlight exactly where they think they hit the marks before they hand the work in.

ii.         Elevate Peer Assessment: Move beyond 'swap books and tick the spelling errors'. Teach students how to evaluate each other’s work against specific, shared success criteria. The cognitive effort required to judge a peer's work often teaches them more than the feedback they eventually receive.

iii.         Delay the Teacher's Voice: When handing back a piece of formative work, do not immediately tell the student what they did wrong. Ask them, "Which paragraph are you most proud of, and which one needs work?" Force them to exercise their own evaluative judgment first.

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Everyone’s a critic!

The glaring blind spot in 'Assessment as Learning' is cognitive architecture. If we view this through the lens of Cognitive Load Theory, novices simply do not possess the mental schema to accurately judge their own work. Asking a Year 8 student to 'self-regulate' and assess their own analytical essay when they haven't yet mastered basic paragraph structure is essentially the blind leading the blind.

Furthermore, AaL relies heavily on the assumption of a highly motivated, mature student. In reality, 'peer assessment' can quickly devolve into a superficial tick-box exercise or mates simply giving each other full marks. True AaL requires months, if not years, of rigorous scaffolding and explicit instruction—a hurdle that sweeping literature reviews often gloss over

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The Verdict

We spend so much of our careers worrying about how we are assessing our students that we often forget to teach them how to assess themselves. Schellekens reminds us that if we want to create truly independent, self-regulated learners, assessment can no longer be something we simply do to them; it must be a collaborative process we engage with them.