Teachers' conceptions of assessment can be understood in terms of their agreement or disagreement with four purposes to which assessment may be put, specifically, (a) improvement of teaching and learning, (b) school accountability, (c) student accountability, or (d) treating assessment as irrelevant. A 50‐item Teachers' Conceptions of Assessment (COA‐III) questionnaire was completed by New Zealand primary school teachers and managers (n=525). The COA‐III, based on the four main purpose‐defined conceptions of assessment, was analysed with structural equation modelling and showed a close fit of the data to a hierarchical, multi‐dimensional model (χ²=3217.68; df=1162; RMSEA=.058; TLI=.967). On average, participants agreed with the improvement conceptions and the school accountability conception, while rejecting the view that assessment was irrelevant. However, respondents disagreed that assessment was for student accountability. Improvement, school, and student accountability conceptions were positively correlated. The irrelevance conception was inversely related to the improvement conception and not related to the system accountability conception. Surprisingly, no statistically significant differences were found in mean scale scores for each conception regardless of teacher (age, gender, role, assessment training, or assessment practices) or school (size, location, or socio‐economic status) variables. Implications for the use of the COA‐III for policy implementation and teacher professional development are discussed.

While significant progress has been made on understanding the effects of student self-assessment, the processes by which these effects occur are much less studied. The present research identified the actions involved in a cyclical self-assessment process. In this qualitative study, 17 undergraduate students from a teacher education institute took part in in-depth interviews focusing on the common actions students normally undertake to self-assess. The findings identified the following three actions that are commonly undertaken in the self-assessment process: (1) determining the performance criteria, (2) self-directed feedback seeking and (3) self-reflection. The paper discusses the implications of the findings and concludes with suggestions for promoting student self-assessment.

Hong Kong is seeking to increase the use of ‘assessment for learning’ rather than rely on ‘assessment of learning’ through summative examinations. Nearly 300 teachers from 14 primary and secondary schools answered a Chinese translation of the Teachers’ Conceptions of Assessment inventory and a new Practices of Assessment Inventory. Structural equation modelling showed that there was clear alignment between conceptions and practices. Further, there were significant differences in the conceptions of assessment held by Hong Kong teachers as compared to New Zealand and Queensland teachers. This sample of Hong Kong teachers strongly associated (r=.91) using assessment to improve teaching and learning with making students accountable through assessment, which, in turn, led to a strong use of examination preparation practices (β=.43). Hong Kong teachers believed learning outcomes were improved by using assessments to make students accountable and by preparing them for examinations. These results suggest that broader Chinese cultural norms concerning examinations are part of school culture and may provide barriers for the assessment reform agenda in Hong Kong and other Confucian societies.