This year the Association met in Naples and I was delighted to be able to represent - and present to our European counterparts - our Institute of Educational Assessors. I was lucky enough to share a workshop session with Jo-Anne Baird and Michelle Meadows of AQA who have carried out research into the selection of reliable makers and the characteristics which make a good examiner. Focussing on the IEA as a body which supports assessors and develops their competencies fitted in very well to this session. I also chaired a session in which a colleague from QCA, Alison Wood, with an independent researcher, Alistair Pollitt, presented a fascinating paper on how to involve students in the development of tests. Who better to judge whether items are easy or difficult than the students themselves?

This year's conference theme, Assessment and Equity, was appropriate to all types of assessment - national, externally set tests as well as assessment by teachers. All of us are aware that some tests favour males rather than females while course work would seem more biased in favour of females. Clearly a balanced approach to assessment is needed to ensure that the assessment regime is fair and to mitigate any unintended effects of the chosen testing instruments. Putting all the eggs into one basket will inevitably favour one group over another.

The theme of equity was developed in a wide range of papers and workshops: one keynote speaker talked of the use of assessment in formulating educational policy; another focussed on Ethical and Equity issues. Workshops dealt with Curriculum Design and Innovation, Standards, Validity and Reliability. The fascination was not just the commonality of the issues which bind together teachers and researchers across Europe but the different contexts in which these issues are played out. In the United Kingdom, for example, there is increasing concern about the onerous nature of our testing regime across the Key Stages and GCSE and a growing awareness of the importance of assessment for learning. However, to move away from testing in favour of assessment rooted in, and informing, teaching and learning requires both new education policies and a culture change. In many other European countries assessment by teachers is already an integral part of national assessment systems and they cannot understand why the United Kingdom is so resistant to teachers as assessors and so wedded to external assessment.

The IEA is, of course, working hard with other organisations to change perceptions of teacher assessment. Our professional framework provides a solid basis for teachers to undertake professional development which will improve their competence as assessors and command public confidence. Interestingly, AEA-Europe is also developing a professional framework, aimed in the main at people involved in research about assessment, but mirroring our own approach. We hope to discuss with AEA-Europe how the two frameworks might work together to enhance the role of assessors and researchers in the United Kingdom and mainland Europe.

All in all, it was a very worthwhile conference for the Institute of Educational Assessors. The work we have embarked on to support examiners, moderators and teachers and the progress we have made to attain our goal of being the foremost professional body for those involved in assessment were greatly admired. It was good to be so well received and to have our work publicised in this well respected European Association for Educational Assessment.

Next year, Stockholm!

Kathleen Tattersall