This essential text offers a practical approach to assessment, mixing good practice in the classroom with current theory and research. Assessment is central to teaching and learning, yet is one of the most difficult areas of professional practice. This book guides trainee secondary teachers through its complexities and provides practical strategies, exemplified by case studies. It examines issues such as diagnosing problems, sharing learning objectives, assessment as a tool for motivation, effective planning, using evidence to adapt teaching, peer and self-assessment, learning through dialogue and understanding formative assessment. Targeted specifically at trainees, this text links explicitly to the new QTS Standards, and its tasks provide opportunities for reflection and for practising the range of skills involved in assessing pupils. Book jacket.