Abstract
This paper discusses significant examples of the impact of research studies on practice and policy in educational assessment. The discussion focuses on selected issues in three main areas, concerned respectively with formative assessment, with high-stakes summative tests, and with assessment in large-scale surveys. It is concluded that the effects of research have been uneven and weak, in part because of lack of co-ordination of studies and of any one strong institutional centre. However, researchers are also faced with the difficult task of changing the understanding of assessment issues, both amongst the general public and amongst policy makers.

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