The ASSURE+ project (Assess Students' Success Understanding and Running an Erasmus+) aims, essentially, to examine how other education systems define and implement assessment and what characteristics exist among them. Additionally, it seeks meaningful experiences that lead to the experimentation of new and diverse assessment instruments and criteria, fostering practices of effective feedback and modes of work that contribute to teachers using assessment formatively and integrating knowledge, not as an end but as part of a whole and the foundation for the development of the teaching and learning process.

The theme that underpins this project presents itself as a strong "brand" that brings together, beyond the idea and its content, all those involved and will have a projected timeframe from June 1, 2020, to May 31, 2023.

The Sousa Nascente Association of Schools' Training Center (CFAE SN), headquartered at Lousada Secondary School, acts as the consortium coordinator with all its associated schools. This initiative was presented during a meeting of its Pedagogical Commission and was immediately accepted by all 10 associated school directors, which gives it a strong support base and a great sense of unity and collaboration.

Following that, a project team was formed, composed of two representatives from CFAE, the director, and the advisor/representative for AFC (Assessment for Curriculum), the eTwinning ambassador for the northern region, who is a teacher from one of our associated schools, and two Erasmus+ project coordinators, also from two associated schools, with a long tradition of project presentations. These five individuals, who worked together in solidarity during the preparation of this application, understood and embraced the idea and nature of the project to be developed and will be responsible for its implementation and monitoring throughout all its phases.

The project's usefulness and relevance are acknowledged, given that the schools are in the initial phase of developing the MAIA project (Project for Monitoring, Accompaniment, and Research in Pedagogical Assessment), a strong commitment of the authorities. It appears as the final piece of a reformative normative puzzle that includes, among others, the DL (Decree-Law) No. 54 and No. 55 of 2018 (Inclusive School, Autonomy, and Flexible Curriculum), Education for Citizenship, and the Profile of Students at the End of Compulsory Schooling. The goal is to work with schools on a new vision for pedagogical and formative assessment of students, reflecting on the practices used in assessing learning, analyzing and altering assessment criteria, and their respective instruments. This presents a perfect opportunity to provide some of the involved actors with the possibility of learning more from the experiences and different working methods of our European school partners, offering them a much-needed European projection that the CFAE and the schools have long desired.

(updated on 01-03-2020)