Assessment for Learning: Understanding Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices Edmund Song Zhonghua Secondary School Kim Koh Nanyang Technological University Abstract Assessment for learning in the day-to-day classroom instruction is critical in bringing about students’ mastery of 21st century competencies such as learning how to learn, thinking about own thinking and knowing how to plan, monitor and evaluate own thinking and understanding. However, teachers’ assessment practices are often influenced by their beliefs about student learning. This study aims to examine teachers’ beliefs about student learning and its relationship with their formative assessment practices. Two self-report questionnaires are developed to measure teachers’ beliefs about student learning and their formative assessment practices, respectively. Our preliminary findings show that teachers who believe that students are active participants of learning and who acknowledge students’ need to evaluate and monitor their own understanding tend to use formative assessment practices such as questioning and eliciting evidences of understanding, formative feedback, peer-self assessment, and clarity of task and success criteria. Semi-structured interview data are used to further deepen our understanding of the various factors that underpin teachers’ beliefs about student learning and their formative assessment practices. Three themes emerge from the interview data: teachers’ personal interest in developing student learning, belief about feedback and diagnosis of learning needs, and tensions between assessment of learning and assessment for learning. Keywords: assessment for learning, teachers’ beliefs, formative assessment practices, 21st Century competencies, student learning Correspondences: Mr Edmund Song edmund_song@hotmail.com Dr Kim Koh kimhong.koh@nie.edu.sg