Elementary Teachers' Classroom Assessment and Grading Practices

Abstract

The authors investigated the assessment and grading practices of over 900 Grades 3-5 teachers representing urban, suburban, and rural schools. Teachers indicated the extent to which they used various factors to grade students, the types of assessments used, the cognitive level of assessments, and the grades awarded. Teachers appeared to conceptualize 6 major factors when they graded students; they placed the greatest weight on academic performance and academic-enabling behaviors, such as effort and improvement, and much less emphasis on homework, comparisons with other students, grade distributions of other teachers, and borderline cases. The teachers used 3 types of assessments—constructed-response, objective, and teacher-made major examinations; they differentiated between recall and higher level cognitive skills. However, there were few relationships between assessment and grade level, subject matter assessed, and grades awarded. Results are discussed in light of other research, indicating that teachers use a “hodgepodge” of factors when assessing and grading students.     

Secondary Teachers' Classroom Assessment and Grading Practices

What variables do secondary teachers use to assign grades? What is the relationship between classroom assessment practices and grading? Is the form of classroom assessment related to grade level, subject area, and student ability?     

Comparing Beginning and Experienced Teachers' Perceptions of Classroom Management Beliefs and Practices in Elementary Schools in Turkey

The primary objective of this study was to investigate whether a difference in teachers' classroom management styles exists based on years of teaching experience. Data were collected from 282 elementary school teachers employed by 11 elementary schools in Turkey. The Attitudes and Beliefs on Classroom Control Inventory was used to collect the data. Research findings were analyzed to help undergraduate programs and educators revise their program or practicum experiences to enhance preservice teachers' conceptual understanding of classroom management for successful teaching.     

培养英语教师的课堂非言语交际能力

在日常生活中人们通常重视言语交际的作用,往往忽视了这样一个事实：在面对面的人际交往中,大多数的信息是通过非言语的方式传递的。当前,既然我们英语课堂教学的最终目的被定义为培养学生的话言交际能力,那么,作为交际能力的重要组成部分,非言语交际能力不应被忽视。英语教师,作为英语知识的传播者,首先应该具备非言语交际能力。     

中小学教师的教育目的观反思与建构

长期以来,许多教师对其自身的教育目的缺乏清醒的认识,对于是否存在教师主体的教育目的存在疑惑。然而教师的教育目的观或显性或隐性地存在于具体的教育教学活动中,体现出基于工具理性主义、经验主义及无目的观念下的发展状态,影响着教师教育教学活动,影响着学生的发展。因此,教师应该基于社会教育目的并超越它,以学生的发展、幸福为导向,以教育理论为辅,构建作为其主体的教师教育目的观。     

Assessing Teachers' Beliefs about Their Science Teaching Context

The primary purpose of this study was to develop and apply a method for assessing teachers' context beliefs about their science teaching environment. Interviews with 130 purposefully selected teachers resulted in 28 categories of environmental factors and/or people who were perceived to influence science teaching. These categories were used to develop items for the Context Beliefs about Teaching Science instrument and provided evidence for content validity. Construct validity was partially confirmed through factor analysis that resulted in 26 items and two subscales on the final instrument. Using Ford's Motivation Systems Theory and Bandura's Theory of Collective Efficacy, additional evidence for construct validity was found in the modest correlation of context beliefs with outcome expectancy beliefs and the low correlation with science teaching self‐efficacy beliefs. The instrument was tested using 262 teachers participating in long‐term science professional development programs. These teachers possessed fairly positive context beliefs and, according to Ford's theory, should be capable of effective functioning in the classroom. It was concluded that the assessment of context beliefs would complement current science teacher self‐efficacy measures, thereby allowing researchers to develop profiles of science teachers' personal agency belief patterns. It could also be used to determine the factors which predict particular personal agency belief patterns, and assess teachers' perceptions of the strengths and weaknesses of school science programs, and could be used in planning and monitoring professional development experiences for science teachers. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 37: 275–292, 2000.     

Investigation of Preservice Teachers' Classroom Assessment Practices During Student Teaching

Abstract

Teachers' evaluation of pupil learning should be consistent with identified learning outcomes at the intended level of performance. To the extent that curriculum and assessment are aligned, the validity of inferences about pupil knowledge is strengthened. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the assessment practices of preservice teachers who have successfully completed coursework in educational measurement. Three hundred and nine lesson plans from 65 preservice (student) teachers were reviewed. The authors found that, during student teaching, preservice teachers do not follow many of the assessment practices recommended in their coursework. Perhaps implementations of recommended classroom assessment practices seem to depend on more than possessing the requisite knowledge.     

对以实践为导向的小学全科教师专业能力培养模式的认识与思考

培养适应小学教育教学需求的优秀小学全科教师,是当前高等师范院校小学教育专业的工作重点,坚持实践导向是小学全科教师专业能力培养的必由之路。对目前小学教师人才培养在实践层面存在问题的研究,可以给小学全科教师专业能力培养模式提供借鉴。在此基础上结合小学全科教师培养目标的特殊性,有针对性地就实践导向的小学全科教师专业能力培养模式给出了自己的思考。     

The Relationship Between Teacher Beliefs and Practices, and Head Start Classroom Quality

Within early childhood research considerable emphasis has been placed on examining teachers' beliefs about developmentally appropriate practices in the classroom. The purpose of this study was to describe Head Start teacher beliefs and self-reported practices as they relate to classroom quality and examine the potential differences in the beliefs of those teaching in high, average, and low quality classrooms. Scores on two subscales, appropriate and inappropriate, for both self-reported beliefs and practices were used as the dependent variables. Analysis of variance was used to examine differences between the self-reported beliefs and practices of teachers in classrooms of differing quality. The results for both the appropriate beliefs and appropriate activities subscales were statistically nonsignificant. However, the results for the two inappropriate subscales were statistically significant. These results would seem to indicate that teachers in the low quality group tended to respond more favorably to statements about inappropriate beliefs and practices than did those teachers in either the high or average quality classrooms. These findings provide important information about offering professional development opportunities for Head Start teachers that focus on providing theoretical perspectives on children's development and instructional practices aimed at changing beliefs about teaching practices.     

The Relationship of Teachers' Instructional Decisions and Beliefs about Alternate Assessments to Student Achievement

In the decade since alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS) were first required, special education teachers have had to develop content knowledge and pedagogical skills to teach academics to students with significant cognitive disabilities. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact that teachers' instructional decisions and beliefs about AA-AAS have on the academic achievement of students with significant cognitive disabilities. A survey of nearly 400 teachers across three states provided evidence of teachers' beliefs, as well as their instructional planning processes for students. Students' learning characteristics were also identified. Survey responses were analyzed in conjunction with students' 2010–2011 scores on their statewide AA-AAS. The results indicated that students with presymbolic communication systems had a lower likelihood of achieving proficiency in English language arts/reading and math than students with abstract symbolic communication. Students with concrete symbolic communication systems had lesser odds of proficiency in ELA/reading but not in math. Teachers who agreed that AA-AAS had an impact on instruction tended to have students with higher achievement proficiency. However, more negative views of the validity of AA-AAS scores were associated with greater odds of proficiency.     

英语教师教师信念与课堂教学行为相关性定性研究

通过半定式访谈及课堂观察法对英语教师教师信念与其教学行为之间相关性定性研究表明:教师信念各异,来源不同,信念侧重也有所不同,由此选择教学行为也有所不同,从而自身在教学中作用各异。但教师关于语言学习核心信念和个人教学信念与教学行为密切相关,教师信念与教学行为通常一致,但某些方面存在矛盾。善于反思和学习可以大幅修正教师信念。     

Promoting Mathematical Communication in the Classroom: Two Preservice Teachers' Conceptions and Practices

Recent reforms in mathematics education have encouraged teachers to engage their students in various forms of communication. Scholars have begun to consider questions such as: In what ways do teachers facilitate and guide classroom discourse? How does the quality of students' reflections impact the development of rich mathematical understanding? In order to address these and similar questions, the authors provide a framework of four constructs that can be used to analyze various forms of classroom communication: uni-directional communication, contributive communication, reflective communication, and instructive communication. Throughout the article,the authors both develop and use these constructs as they consider two preservice teachers concepts of communication and their corresponding classroom practices.     

Study of Science Teachers' Attitudes Toward and Beliefs about Collaborative Reflective Practice

Journal of Science Teacher Education -     

Science Teachers' Beliefs and Intentions to Implement Thematic Units

Journal of Science Teacher Education -     

An Attributional Analysis of Maternal Beliefs about the Importance of Child-rearing Practices

2 principles from attribution theory, covariation and hedonic bias, were employed to examine mothers' attributions for their children's outcomes in the academic, social, and personality domains. Mother of 5–17-year-old gifted, regular, and special education children who were from only-child or multiple-child families made attributions for offspring outcomes to childrearing practices, genetics, and the environment. Based on the covariation principle, it was predicted that mothers of only children would attribute greater importance to child-rearing practices as causes of their children's outcomes than would mothers of multiple children. In addition, predictions based on the hedonic bias led us to hypothesize greater endorsement of child-rearing attributions for gifted (perceived high success) than special education (perceived low success) children. Both hypotheses were supported across all 3 domains. The dilemma of perceived parental responsibility and the usefulness of an attributional approach for understanding parents' causal beliefs are discussed.     

Enhancing Teachers' Technological Knowledge and Assessment Practices to Enhance Student Learning in Technology: A Two-year Classroom Study

This paper reports on a two-year classroom investigation of primary school (Years 1–8) technology education. The first year of the project explored emerging classroom practices in technology. In the second year intervention strategies were developed to enhance teaching, learning and assessment practices. Findings from the first year revealed that assessment was often seen in terms of social and managerial aspects, such as teamwork, turn taking and co-operative skills, rather than procedural and conceptual technological aspects. Existing formative interactions with students distorted the learning away from the procedural and conceptual aspects of the subject. The second year explored the development of teachers' technological knowledge in order to enhance formative assessment practices in technology, to inform classroom practice in technology, and to enhance student learning. Intervention strategies were designed to enhance the development of procedural, conceptual, societal and technical aspects of technology for teachers and students. The results from this intervention were very positive. This paper highlights the importance of developing teacher expertise pertaining to broad concepts of technology, detailed concepts in different technological areas and general pedagogical knowledge. The findings from this research therefore have implications for thinking about teaching, learning and assessment in technology.     

幼儿园教师与小学教师入学准备观的研究

幼儿园教师和小学教师的入学准备观影响着他们的教育行为,进而影响儿童的发展.本研究采取问卷法调查了北京地区幼儿园教师和小学教师的入学准备观,在对幼儿园教师和小学教师入学准备观的特点进行归纳分析的同时,还比较了两者的异同.     

Teachers' Subject Philosophies Related to their Assessment Practices

This paper explores the relationship between the subject philosophy of English teachers and their assessment practices. The research is contextualised within the wider debate about the validity and reliability of course work‐based assessment in English. It examines the history of that debate and then looks at ways in which practitioners and exam boards have sought to grapple with the issue of reliability and validity within English assessment. The research contributes to the debate by suggesting, through a small‐scale indicative study, that English teachers are not influenced by their subject philosophies when assessing pupils' course work but by their understanding or ‘construct’ of grade boundaries.