Events

Conference Updates

🌟Videos of keynote addresses and workshops from our April 2026 conference are on our website now! Find them here. Where possible, they are accompanied by presentation slides. Dive in and enjoy at your leisure. And don’t forget that there are videos of presentations from previous conferences here on our site,

🌟Save the date for our 2027 conference. We’re on to it early! Put Wednesday April 21 and Thursday April 22 in your calendar for next year. Details will be up on this page as they come available. We’ve already started planning for another exciting lineup.

Curriculum and Assessment Roadshow

NZAI President, Professor Jenny Poskitt was invited to provide a research and assessment expert perspective to the recent MoE Curriculum and Assessment Roadshow in her capacity as President of NZAI and university academic.

The purpose of the  Roadshow was to inform secondary school leaders (Principals, Deputy and Assistant Principals, Deans) about the latest information on curriculum, assessment and qualification changes happening in NZ.

Download the presentation slides from Jenny’s address here: Poskitt Roadshow Presentation You can find more information here.

We’re using social media to talk about assessment!

NZAI is keeping busy on Facebook and LinkedIn, using the networks to spread the word about effective assessment.

Every week we’re highlighting a quote from a well-known assessment expert, intended simply to make you think about good teaching and learning practice. So far we’ve featured quotes from Dylan Wiliam, Carol-Ann Tomlinson and Michael Absolum. And we’ve just started! Keep an eye out every Friday for a new quote and thought provoker. 

Follow us, like and share our posts, spread the word!

Assessment Conference April 2025

Our conference aim was to bring clarity to the many changes in education, offering keynote speakers and workshops to give the heads-up on the why and the what and the how of the changes. So we were delighted to welcome around 200 educators at the conference, taking valuable time out of their holidays to talk all things assessment, all education professionals interested in discussing how effective assessment practice is a vital component of learning, teaching and system improvement.

Thank you:

• to all delegates who were interested to attend our conference, attentive to the issues raised by our speakers and workshop presenters.
• to all our keynote speakers and workshop presenters, who made their knowledge and experience available to others so that we can add to the our growing body of understanding of what makes good assessment practice.
• to our sponsors, Evaluation Associates | Te Huinga Kākākura Mātauranga and  Massey University who contributed in many ways to making the conference a success, 
• to Ormiston Junior College for generously allowing us to use the school as a wonderful venue, to NZCER for their ongoing support for NZAI and to The Conference Company for running our conference with their usual friendly and professional efficiency.

We’re so happy you joined us for this abundance of assessment knowledge and innovation.

STOP PRESS!!

NZAI’s new (ish) initiative, what we’re calling NZAI Collaborative Improvement Community, has reached a milestone already. At the April 2026 Assessment Conference NZAI had much pleasure in introducing our first CIC report, called Solving problems, improving outcomes, moving forward. 

The report brings together eight school improvement stories. While the initiatives differ in size, setting and focus, they share a commitment to deliberate problem-solving, evaluative thinking and strengthening outcomes for their learners. 

The first section presents the eight case studies. The accounts describe how schools defined problems or focus areas, designed and implemented change strategies and gathered emerging evidence of impact. 

The second section synthesises insights across the eight stories, identifying recurring patterns and common themes.

You can find out about CIC and download the report on our Collaborative Improvement Community page here on our website.

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 Please feel free to dive into our archive of keynote addresses and workshop presentations from previous years. There’s a storehouse, in fact a treasure trove of illustrations of effective assessment practices that support improved learning.

And while you’re on our website, go to our publication Assessment to Improve Learning: Principles, practices and proof, distributed to all schools in 2021 and available online through the link.  You’ll be able to make connections with conference themes. 

Please don’t hesitate to be in touch if you have queries. Email us at info@nzai.org.nz.