These 2 presentations are the introduction and concluding presentations in a symposium entitled "Classroom realities that need to be understood to make good assessments” at the 2017 National Council for Measurement in Education annual meeting in San Antonio Texas. Four other presentations were given by: 1. James H. McMillan, Virginia Commonwealth University; 2. Susan M. Brookhart, Duquesne University; 3. Helen S. Timperley, University of Auckland; and 4. Guillermo Solano-Flores, Stanford University.recommended citation for this presentation is:Brown, G. T. L., & Harris, L. R. (2017, April). Reflections on the future of assessment as a human and social endeavour. Paper presented in Symposium “Classroom realities that need to be understood to make good assessments” at the National Council for Measurement in Education annual conference, San Antonio, TX.