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The opportunity offered by the Umea Symposium to probe the intersection of quality and assessment immediately brings into focus a wider issue -- that of the quality of education which assessment aspires to support. Prompted by recent research into formative assessment in Scottish primary school contexts, the paper explores how formative assessment has become associated with an overly benign understanding of learning which misrecognises the possibility of undesirable learning and does not seem to address the inherently political nature of education. Having illuminated the potential inequities of formative assessment practices, the paper then asks what role formative assessment might play to support an understanding of education that is not simply about the transmission of traditional social norms, but also aspires to illuminate their social construction and their political nature.

This article focuses on the discursive characteristics of peer assessment interactions, drawing upon recent research into formative assessment within a task design involving extended project-based work tackled in groups by pupils. Case studies were conducted within two schools in socially deprived areas of Scotland. They included classroom observation, digital video and audio data collection, and a series of interviews with pupils and teachers. The task design created opportunities for interdisciplinary, collaborative learning and generated strong pupil engagement. However, a disjuncture is seen between the conflictual characteristics of peer assessment, which are suggested to have gendered and social class dimensions, and the discourses of teamwork and community-building that were privileged in the classrooms observed. Although recognised more in research conversations, the article argues that teachers could be better supported in considering how social class and gender are implicated in peer assessment and in developing classroom discourse that addresses social equity issues. (Contains 1 note.)

This article reports on research into formative assessment within a task design that produces multiple opportunities for teacher and pupil dialogue. It draws upon in-depth case studies conducted in schools in socially deprived areas of Scotland, using policy and documentary analysis, video-observation, and an iterative series of interviews with pupils and teachers. The research confirmed the power of this task design, and teachers' skilfulness in deploying it, but raises questions about the understandings of assessment that supported teachers' criteria development, and the ways criteria were brought into classroom dialogue. A large disjuncture is identified between assessing the complexities of these tasks and the assessment vocabularies inherited by teachers. Relational understandings of teaching, learning and assessment that better address teacher "positionality" are suggested as useful for supporting a standards-based approach to assessment, as well as for addressing issues of social equity. (Contains 1 note and 1 figure.)