Teachers’ approaches to classroom assessment: a large-scale survey

Classroom assessment has become a cornerstone of today’s standards-based system of education. However, recent policy developments, professional standards, and variable assessment education have led to significant variability in teachers’ approaches to assessment. The primary purpose of this research was to use a new instrument predicated on recently published classroom assessment standards – the Approaches to Classroom Assessment Inventory – to measure teachers’ (a) approaches to assessment, (b) perceived skill in current assessment tasks and responsibilities, and (c) professional learning preferences and priorities. Based on 404 teachers from across North America, this study contributes initial evidence of how teachers approach classroom assessment with respect to four dimensions: Assessment Purposes, Assessment Processes, Assessment Fairness and Measurement Theory. Results from this study point to significant differences based on career stage and previous assessment education. The study concludes with four key implications for assessment research and practice.     

Khanya College Johannesburg: ten years of ‘education for liberation’: an assessment

Khanya College, a small tertiary access programme in Johannesburg, South Africa began operation in 1986. Making use of Freirian methodology and targeting activists involved in the anti‐apartheid struggle, the college has made a serious attempt to embody the notion of education for liberation. However, the college has faced serious constraints due to the conservative nature of the education system within which Khanya was forced to operate. Despite these constraints the college has succeeded in producing a number of politically active professionals as well as developing working relationships with mass organizations in the country. With the advent of democratic rule in South Africa in 1994, the college has been forced to evaluate its strategic orientation. The conclusion of Khanya has been to try to develop into a larger scale, comprehensive community college which still adheres to the ethos and methodology which inspired Khanya's founding.     

Teachers as ‘reform-doers’: developing a participatory curriculum to teach English as a foreign language

Action research concerns action, and transforming people’s practices (as well as their understandings of their practices and the conditions under which they practise). Sometimes we may feel that action research works best when it contributes to our understandings. In this paper, by contrast, I want to explore the ‘happening‐ness’ of action and practice, as they are lived and changed by action research. I want to explore the place of action research in shaping and making history by changing what is done. The central argument of this paper is that, while action research certainly does contribute to theory, it also, and perhaps more importantly, contributes to history.     

Teachers’ experiences with co-teaching as a model for inclusive education

Co-teaching is an instructional strategy that can be implemented by educators in several different ways. This paper considers how frequently co-teachers implement different approaches to co-teaching and what factors are associated with the implementation of these approaches. This study found that teachers most frequently reported implementing an approach to co-teaching in which one teacher designs and delivers a lesson and the other teacher provides individualised support to specific students with disabilities. The approach to co-teaching in which educators co-plan and co-instruct different components of the curricular content occurred the least frequently. The results of logistic regression analyses indicated that structural aspects of co-teaching (multiple years with co-teacher, time spent daily with co-teacher, number of current co-teachers), teacher attitudes, and professional development opportunities (pre-service and in-service) were associated with the use of different approaches to co-teaching.     

Teachers’ intentions to use national literacy and numeracy assessment data: a pilot study

In recent years the educational policy environment has emphasised data-driven change. This has increased the expectation for school personnel to use statistical information to inform their programs and to improve teaching practices. Such data include system reports of student achievement tests and socio-economic profiles provided to schools by various state education departments’ data services. This paper reports on a pilot study that explored factors affecting Mathematics and English teachers’ intentions to engage with the statistical data their schools receive and to consider these data when making decisions about their teaching practices. It was found that most teachers perceived that such data identify weak students and some teachers (mostly mathematics teachers) thought that they can help to identify curriculum topics that need attention. Most teachers felt that the reports were not easy to understand. Confidence in dealing with statistical data was a problem for many teachers, but especially for English teachers.     

Teachers’ views on research as a model of CPD: implications for policy

Teacher research has been identified as a transformative model of CPD. However, as illustrated in the OECD’s TALIS study, while teachers recognise the benefits of classroom enquiry for their own work, their participation in it is low. This paper examines the possible reasons for this discrepancy by considering the views of Irish teachers surveyed during a CPD needs analysis. The data were collected using a national online survey, with both open-ended and closed-ended items, which sought teacher views on different aspects of their engagement in CPD. Following a pilot study, invitations to participate were emailed to all recognised primary and secondary schools throughout Ireland, resulting in a convenience sample of 496 teachers, comprising 227 primary teachers and 269 secondary teachers. The results suggest that the extent to which CPD enables teachers to undertake enquiry that is relevant is key in the minds of teachers. The availability of support for undertaking research, as well as practical issues such as time and cost, are also crucial considerations.     

‘I’m an assessment illiterate’: towards a shared discourse of assessment literacy for external examiners

The quality assurance ‘regime’ that spans the higher education sector internationally is underpinned by a number of unchallenged assumptions. Nowhere is this more apparent than within the external examiner system in the UK, an instrument for the professional self-regulation of higher education. One such assumption is that external examiners are assessment literate. Within higher education assessment literacy is a concept in its infancy, but one that has the capacity to reverse the deterioration of confidence in academic standards. Whilst the concept is becoming integrated into the sectorial vernacular, its fluid and negotiated nature is under-conceptualised. The primary aim of this article lies in investigating the extent of external examiners’ assessment literacy and to use this as a base to initiate a discussion surrounding the development of a shared discourse of assessment literacy, thereby providing a tool for greater conceptualisation.     

Teachers’ reasons for using peer assessment: positive experience predicts use

Peer assessment (PA) is one of the central principles of formative assessment and assessment for learning (AfL) fields. There is ample empirical evidence as to the benefits for students’ learning when AfL principles are implemented. However, teachers play a critical role in mediating the implementation of intended policies. Hence, their experiences, beliefs, and attitudes towards PA are important factors in determining whether the policy is actually carried out. A survey of over 1500 primary, secondary, and higher education teachers in Spain elicited their beliefs and values around PA as well as other aspects of formative assessment; only 751 teachers provided complete responses to all PA items. Teachers reported occasional use of PA in their classrooms but with positive experience of it. The vast majority did not use anonymous forms of PA and half of the teachers considered the students were accurate when assessing peers. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to examine relationships of attitudes and beliefs to self-reported frequency of using of PA. The self-reported frequency of using PA was strongly predicted by teacher experience of PA which included positive reasons for using PA, rather than negative obstacles for avoiding, prior use, and beliefs that students should participate in assessment, and willingness to include PA in grading.     

Teachers and testing: an investigation into teachers’ perceptions of formative assessment

Research conducted within the past decade contributes much to an understanding of the role and potential value of formative assessment in learning. As an Advisory Teacher within a local authority, the researcher was interested to find out how teachers actually perceive formative assessment. This study therefore set out to investigate the range and nature of such perceptions and whether any relationships exist between them and independent variables such as school phase and length of teacher experience. The sample was drawn from teachers working in 24 lower and middle schools within one local authority and the research was conducted in two phases. This paper will focus on Phase 1, during which data was drawn from a questionnaire survey which elicited both quantitative and qualitative responses from 67 teachers. Analysis of this data revealed a range of perceptions about formative assessment among teachers. In particular, they acknowledged the value of formative assessment in promoting learning. However, these findings suggest that perhaps teachers were less confident than they claimed to be in putting actual strategies in place, supporting the findings of Black, Harrison, Lee, Marshall, and Wiliam (2002 Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B. and Wiliam, D. 2002. Working inside the black box: Assessment for learning in the classroom, London: Department of Education and Professional Studies, King’s College.  [Google Scholar]). Statistical analysis revealed some significant relationships between some of these perceptions and both school phase and length of teacher experience. Both theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed and recommendations made for future policy and practice.     

’There's no such thing as society . . .’: some problems with an individual approach to creating a Learning Society

This article reviews the current enthusiasm for an individual approach to creating a Learning Society in the UK, particularly as typified by the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) Campaign for Learning. While accepting that there are good reasons for policy makers wanting to place a greater emphasis upon the role of the individual learner, the article warns that major problems confront a more learner‐centred approach. These difficulties are reviewed on three fronts. First, parts of the vocational education and training (VET) system's institutional framework are not geared to meeting the needs of the individual user, and their governance structures afford little weight to the views of individuals and their representatives. Second, the economic case for individual upskilling is much weaker than many policy makers wish to believe. Third, an undue emphasis upon individual responsibility for learning runs the risk of ignoring the major structural and societal barriers that confront many adult learners. The article concludes that while an individual focus is important, it needs to go hand in hand with wider structural change ‐‐ aimed at reforming the VET system, stimulating greater demand for skill in the UK economy, and at tackling structural barriers that impede access to learning opportunities.     

Exploring formative assessment as a tool for learning: students’ experiences of different methods of formative assessment

This study aims to provide a greater insight into how formative assessments are experienced and understood by students. Two different formative assessment methods, an individual, written assessment and an oral group assessment, were components of a pathology course within a medical curriculum. In a cohort of 70 students, written accounts were collected from 17 students and group interviews were carried out to explore the students’ experiences of these two forms of assessment. All students were engaged in both assessment methods, which were conducted a few weeks apart, and data were collected soon after each assessment. Our findings suggest that formative assessments motivate students to study, make them aware of what they have learned and where they need to study more. Thus, formative assessment can act as a tool for learning, contributing to the process and outcomes of learning. A closer look at students’ experiences of each form of assessment reveals interesting differences.     

Understanding Candidates’ Learning Relationships with their Cooperating Teachers: A call to Reframe my Pedagogy

Abstract

This self-study frames the influences of cooperating (or mentor) teachers on teacher candidates in my teacher education classroom as an action-at-a-distance on my pedagogy of teacher education; that is, a tacit set of influences and expectations that teacher candidates develop about my course before it even begins. Interviews with teacher candidates enabled me to develop two conceptual metaphors to think about the relationships candidates develop with cooperating teachers on practicum. The first, freedom with foundation, reflects the fact that teacher candidates hope to have considerable autonomy in their practicum placements while simultaneously having the support from their cooperating teacher to receive meaningful, regular, feedback. The second, power and performance, names the tensions teacher candidates feel in experiencing the practicum as a site of performance rather than as a site of learning. I offer some specific pedagogical ways in which I have responded to these issues before making a turn to self. I examined journal entries from my own experiences as a teacher candidate 20 years ago with a view to understanding the ways in which the two metaphors may have played a role in my own development as a teacher. This research compels me to attend explicitly to action-at-at-distance forces in my teacher education classroom, such as candidates’ relationship with cooperating teachers and my relationships with my former cooperating teachers.     

Online self-assessment and peer-assessment as a tool to enhance student-teachers’ assessment skills

Self-assessment and peer-assessment are strategies employed to encourage students to take more responsibility for the learning process. Although the advantages are not obvious, the process has the potential to empower learning and to assist the development of assessment skills, which are so important for future teachers. The research aimed to identify student-teachers' attitudes concerning the contribution of self-assessment and anonymous peer-assessment to the quality of their assignments and improvement of their assessment skills, using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The sample included 300 students studying for bachelor’s or master’s degrees. Texts that were analysed included: responses to a questionnaire, self and peer-assessments, word comments on the assignments and written blog content relating to students’ activities and their performance of peer evaluations. The students noted that they significantly benefitted from the process, learned various methods of assignment and assessment performance and it positioned them in relation to others, noticing how others evaluated them. Anonymous evaluation allowed students to overcome inhibitions in evaluating peers' works and improved their assessment skills.     

Teachers’ resilience and well-being: a role for educational psychology

The retention and resilience of teachers are subject to many influences. Children’s behaviour is often cited as a major source of stress for teachers and a challenge to their resilience. We suggest that an understanding of teachers’ attributions and efficacy beliefs may provide the foundations for work to support teachers. We outline findings from research that has examined teachers’ attributions for the causes of children’s misbehaviour, teachers’ beliefs in their efficacy as classroom managers of children’s behaviour as well as how, in principle, such beliefs may be supported and enhanced. We also relate these findings to those associated with educational and developmental outcomes for children. We conclude with some illustrative evidence of ways (involving consultation and other interventions) that applied psychologists have contributed to the professional well-being and resilience of teachers.     

A model for personal and professional support for nurture group staff: to what extent can group process consultation be used as a resource to meet the challenges of running a nurture group?

This article details a mixed methods study designed to examine the impact of a group process consultation model in helping staff manage challenging behaviour in the nurture group setting. It relates to two geographical clusters of staff, including teachers and teaching assistants, running 11 nurture groups in a major metropolitan area in the UK, facilitated by an educational psychologist (EP). For 32 consultation referrals, teacher-rated levels of concern were compared before and after each session revealing a consistent drop, which was maintained throughout the intervention (p < 0.001). Measures of self-confidence and self-efficacy collected at the beginning of the group process consultation programme, and at the end of the first year of operation, revealed that teacher and teaching assistant self-confidence had improved significantly (p < 0.001) along with aspects of teacher self-efficacy (p = 0.023). A focus group, comprising eight teachers and teaching assistants, identified several themes and provided further elaboration on the outcomes of involvement.     

Quantitative analysis of the rubric as an assessment tool: an empirical study of student peer‐group rating

Although the rubric has emerged as one of the most popular assessment tools in progressive educational programs, there is an unfortunate dearth of information in the literature quantifying the actual effectiveness of the rubric as an assessment tool in the hands of the students. This study focuses on the validity and reliability of the rubric as an assessment tool for student peer‐group evaluation in an effort to further explore the use and effectiveness of the rubric. A total of 1577 peer‐group ratings using a rubric for an oral presentation was used in this 3‐year study involving 107 college biology students. A quantitative analysis of the rubric used in this study shows that it is used consistently by both students and the instructor across the study years. Moreover, the rubric appears to be ‘gender neutral’ and the students' academic strength has no significant bearing on the way that they employ the rubric. A significant, one‐to‐one relationship (slope = 1.0) between the instructor's assessment and the students' rating is seen across all years using the rubric. A generalizability study yields estimates of inter‐rater reliability of moderate values across all years and allows for the estimation of variance components. Taken together, these data indicate that the general form and evaluative criteria of the rubric are clear and that the rubric is a useful assessment tool for peer‐group (and self‐) assessment by students. To our knowledge, these data provide the first statistical documentation of the validity and reliability of the rubric for student peer‐group assessment.     

Teaching Approaches of Beginning Teachers for Jewish Studies in Israeli Mamlachti Schools: A Case Study of a Jewish Education Teachers’ Training Program for Outstanding Students

This article presents findings from a longitudinal qualitative study that examined teaching approaches of neophyte teachers in Israel during their 4-year exclusive teachers’ training program for teaching Jewish subjects and first two years of teaching. The program wanted to promote change in secular pupils’ attitudes toward Jewish subjects. We found a high incidence of teaching using positivistic approaches of knowledge transmission and the teachers adopted a particular teaching approach early into their training program that they continue to employ. Can teaching oriented in the transmission of central cultural value knowledge, with pupils as passive receptacles, create a meaningful encounter?