Assessment Literacy and Item Development in Higher Education: A Thematic Systematic Review

Abstract

Assessment literacy has become a central concern in higher education, particularly as institutions seek to ensure that assessment practices validly and fairly represent student learning. In particular, educators’ capacity to develop high-quality assessment items remains a critical yet underexplored dimension of assessment literacy. This review synthesises existing literature on assessment literacy in higher education, with a specific focus on item development practices and related competencies. A thematic systematic literature review was conducted using four academic databases: Scopus, Web of Science, ERIC, and Google Scholar. The review prioritised recent empirical and review studies, while also incorporating seminal works foundational to assessment literacy and cognitive alignment. Relevant studies were selected based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria and analysed using thematic synthesis. The findings identify four dominant themes: (1) conceptualizations of assessment literacy; (2) core assessment literacy competencies encompassing knowledge, skills, and attitudes; (3) principles of item development and cognitive alignment; and (4) challenges and gaps in higher education assessment practices. The review highlights a limited availability of structured, practice-oriented frameworks that explicitly support educators in developing cognitively aligned and valid assessment items. Overall, the findings underscore the need for clearer, practice-oriented guidance and targeted professional development initiatives that support educators in translating assessment literacy principles into cognitively aligned assessment items.