AEA Europe 2026

Assessment Literacy: Building Capacity for Quality Assessment Across Educational Systems and Assessment Providers

The Association for Educational Assessment – Europe (AEA-Europe) invites proposals for its 27th Annual Conference to be held in Rome, Italy, from 25 to 28 November 2026. This conference will bring together researchers, practitioners, policymakers, students, and assessment professionals, and representatives of evaluation, accreditation, and quality assurance agencies from across Europe and beyond to engage with the critical and timely theme of assessment literacy.

Assessment literacy—defined as the knowledge, skills, beliefs, and practices that enable practitioners, professionals and stakeholders in education to design, implement, interpret, and utilise assessment effectively (Stiggins, 1991; Xu & Brown, 2016)—has emerged as a fundamental competency for improving educational quality and outcomes. As educational systems worldwide grapple with rapid technological advancement, growing concerns about equity and social justice, and evolving demands on learning and teaching, the capacity of educators, leaders, students, and policymakers to engage meaningfully with assessment has never been more essential.

The development of assessment literacy represents a multidimensional challenge that extends beyond technical knowledge to encompass professional judgement, ethical responsibility, and the ability to translate assessment evidence into meaningful action (Elwood, 2013; Pastore, 2023; Pastore & Andrade, 2019). Improving stakeholders’ understanding of assessment can yield numerous advantages, according to experts in educational measurement and evaluation (Popham, 2009). For policy makers, examination boards and psychometricians, this includes a critical understanding of validity and reliability issues in assessment and certification processes, as well as awareness of how assessment results are used by institutions and evaluative agencies for accreditation, certification, and quality assurance purposes. It also requires keeping abreast of new developments in the discipline of educational assessment, such as new theoretical and measurement paradigms, and an informed approach to the application of digital and A.I. methods in assessment. From a teacher’s perspective, being assessment literate encourages them to employ a greater range of assessment techniques to gauge students’ mastery of complex, cognitively demanding learning objectives. Furthermore, aligning assessment with learning objectives and teaching activities would enhance the internal coherence of instructional design, support greater conceptual specificity in the formulation of learning objectives, and facilitate the operationalisation of a systematic quality‑assurance cycle (Biggs, 1996; Biggs & Tang, 2011). These same initiatives, however, may also lead to teachers becoming more adept at test preparation and restricting both instruction and classroom assessments to concentrate primarily on raising student performance on required, yearly high-stakes tests under the current framework of educational accountability in schools (Stobart, 2008). From classroom formative assessment practices (Black & Wiliam, 1998) to large-scale international evaluations, from the assessment of emergent AI literacy competencies to the promotion of equitable and inclusive assessment systems, contemporary educational contexts demand sophisticated understanding and application of assessment principles across diverse stakeholder groups.

This conference provides a platform to examine assessment literacy from multiple perspectives, to share research findings and innovative practices, to address persistent challenges, and to envision pathways towards enhanced assessment capacity that serves learning, equity, and educational improvement. Particular attention will be given to dialogue across sectors, including schools, higher education, policy contexts, and evaluative agencies, in order to foster shared understandings of assessment quality and responsibility.

The conference theme encompasses five interconnected focal points that reflect current priorities and emerging developments in the field of assessment literacy:

1. Foundations of Assessment Literacy: Knowledge, Skills, and Beliefs

Understanding what constitutes assessment literacy across different stakeholder groups forms the foundation for capacity building. This focal point invites contributions that examine theoretical frameworks, competency models, and empirical research on the knowledge, skills, and dispositional dimensions that are encompassed in assessment literacy (DeLuca et al., 2016; Willis et al., 2013). Topics may include conceptualisations of assessment literacy for teachers, school leaders, policymakers, students, and families; the relationship between assessment knowledge and assessment practice; measurement literacy, testing literacy, and data literacy as distinct yet interconnected domains; and cross-cultural perspectives on assessment literacy.

2. Assessment Literacy in Practice: From Classroom to System

Effective assessment literacy must translate into practice across educational contexts. This focal point encourages submissions addressing the enactment of assessment literacy in classrooms, schools, and educational systems. Areas of interest include formative assessment practices and feedback processes (Black & Wiliam, 1998); design and implementation of classroom-based assessments; peer assessment, self-assessment, and student involvement in assessment (Andrade, 2019); the use of assessment evidence to inform teaching and learning; assessment practices in diverse disciplinary contexts; authentic assessment approaches aimed at capturing complex learning outcomes in real-world or meaningful contexts (Wiggins, 1990); and the role of assessment in curriculum design and instructional planning.

3. Assessment Literacy, Equity, and Social Justice

Assessment practices carry profound implications for equity, inclusion, and social justice in education (Correia, 2025; Elwood, 2013; Tai et al., 2023). This focal point seeks contributions examining how assessment literacy can advance or hinder equitable educational outcomes. Relevant topics include culturally responsive and culturally sustaining assessment practices; assessment for inclusion and accessibility; addressing bias and fairness in assessment design and interpretation (Stobart, 2008; Tierney, 2014); language considerations in assessment; assessment literacy as a tool for educational equity; and the ethical dimensions of assessment practice and policy (Reay & Wiliam, 1999).

4. Assessment Literacy in the Digital Age: Technology, AI, and Innovation

Digital technologies and artificial intelligence are fundamentally reshaping assessment landscapes, creating both opportunities and challenges for assessment literacy development (Educational Testing Service, 2024). This focal point welcomes research and practice addressing the intersection of assessment literacy and technological innovation. Topics may include AI literacy assessment and frameworks; the use of digital technologies in assessment design and delivery; assessment of digital competencies; process data and learning analytics; authentic assessment in technology-rich environments; ethical considerations in AI-enabled assessment; and the changing nature of assessment literacy in digital contexts.

5. Developing Assessment Literacy: Professional Learning, Policy, and Systemic Capacity

Enhancing assessment literacy requires deliberate investment in professional learning, supportive policies, and systemic capacity building (Andrade et al., 2019). This focal point invites contributions examining strategies, programmes, and policies for developing assessment literacy at individual, institutional, and system levels. Areas of interest include pre-service and in-service teacher education in assessment; professional learning models and communities of practice; leadership development for assessment; the role of policy in supporting assessment literacy; international large-scale assessments and their contribution to assessment capacity; approaches to balancing authenticity and reliability in assessment practices; assessment literacy standards and frameworks; the role of evaluative and accrediting agencies in shaping assessment practices and certification processes; and evaluation of assessment literacy interventions.

Bibliography

Andrade, H. L. (2019). A critical review of research on student self-assessment. Frontiers in Education, 4, Article 87. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2019.00087

Andrade, H. L., Bennett, R. E., & Cizek, G. J. (Eds.). (2019). Handbook of formative assessment in the disciplines. Routledge.

Biggs, J. (1996) Enhancing teaching through constructive alignment. Higher Education 32, 347–364. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00138871

Biggs, J., & Tang, C. (2011). Teaching for Quality Learning at University. 4th Edition. Open University Press.

Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Assessment and classroom learning. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 5(1), 7–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/0969595980050102

Correia, C. F. (2025). Assessment literacy and critical consciousness. Oxford Review of Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2025.2533238

DeLuca, C., LaPointe-McEwan, D., & Luhanga, U. (2016). Teacher assessment literacy: A review of international standards and measures. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 28(3), 251–272. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-015-9233-6

Elwood, J. (2013). Educational assessment policy and practice: A matter of ethics. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 20(2), 205–220. https://doi.org/10.1080/0969594X.2013.765384

Educational Testing Service. (2024). Opportunities and challenges for assessing digital and AI literacy. https://www.ets.org/pdfs/rd/ets-digital-literacy-ai-full-report.pdf.

Pastore, S. (2023) Teacher assessment literacy: a systematic review. Frontiers in Education, 8, 1217167. https://doi: 10.3389/feduc.2023.1217167.

Pastore, S., & Andrade, H. L. (2019). Teacher assessment literacy: A three-dimensional model. Teaching and Teacher Education, 84, 128–138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2019.05.003

Popham, W. J. (2009). Assessment literacy for teachers: Faddish or fundamental? Theory Into Practice, 48(1), 4–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405840802577536

Reay, D., & Wiliam, D. (1999). ‘I’ll be a nothing’: Structure, agency and the construction of identity through assessment. British Educational Research Journal, 25(3), 343–354. https://doi.org/10.1080/0141192990250305

Stiggins, R. J. (1991). Assessment literacy. Phi Delta Kappan, 72(7), 534–539.

Stobart, G. (2008). Testing times: The uses and abuses of assessment. Routledge.

Tai, J., Ajjawi, R., Boud, D., Jorre de St Jorre, T. (2022). Promoting equity and social justice through assessment for inclusion. In D. Boud, R. Ajjawi, P. Dawson, & J. Tai (Eds.), Developing evaluative judgement in higher education (pp. 9–18). Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9781003293101-3.

Tierney, R. D. (2014). Fairness as a multifaceted quality in classroom assessment. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 43, 55–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2013.12.003

Wiggins, G. (1990). The case for authentic assessment. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 2 (2).

Willis, J., Adie, L., & Klenowski, V. (2013). Conceptualising teachers’ assessment literacies in an era of curriculum and assessment reform. The Australian Educational Researcher, 40(2), 241–256. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-013-0089-9

Xu, Y., & Brown, G. T. L. (2016). Teacher assessment literacy in practice: A reconceptualization. Teaching and Teacher Education, 58, 149–162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2016.05.010

For the Annual Conference of the Association for Educational Assessment Europe 2026, in Rome, Italy, we encourage submissions that delve into various aspects of assessment. We are excited to invite practitioners, researchers, students, and policymakers to submit research proposals in particular that relate to the conference theme.