Journal
CEFR Journal - Research and Practice
Volume: CEFR Journal - Research and Practice Volume 8 (February 2026)
Date: 2026
Title: “Every teacher was an island”: Teacher perceptions of a CEFR alignment project to implement a standardized approach to assessment
Page: 55 - 66
Authors: Carolyn Westbrook (British Council, Great Britain), Aidan Holland (British Council, Great Britain)
https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTSIG.CEFR8-7
NOT YET ACTIVATED
This article is open access and licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.
Abstract: Implementing fair and valid assessment is a fundamental part of a teacher’s job as assessments enable learners to demonstrate progress as well as highlighting strengths and weaknesses (Rahman 2018). Results should be reported in an accessible way so learners and other stakeholders understand the outcomes and learners’ progress. This article reports on a collaboration between assessment researchers and teachers to standardize the approach to assessment in a global secondary language programme. Teaching materials were mapped to the CEFR, standardized set-up notes were created for assessment tasks, assessment tools and training were developed, and teachers implemented the approach in a practical way. Feedback showed the system improved objectivity and clarity in assessment, though challenges around feasibility and alignment with the CEFR Companion Volume (CEFR/CV) (Council of Europe [CoE] 2020) remained.
Keywords: CEFR alignment, classroom-based language assessment, teacher assessment, teacher researcher collaboration, standardized approach to assessment
Click here to download the PDF
* * * * * *
(Update March 10th, 2026 MGS)
