Teachers' Views on Conducting Formative Assessment within Contemporary Classrooms (original) (raw)
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This study explores the perspectives of professors and instructors using formative assessment strategies in the classroom. A qualitative phenomenology was used to utilize the data from nine (n=9) questionnaires and three (n=3) in-depth semi-structured interviews with UNBC School of Education professors and instructors. The questionnaire and the interview questions regarding the use of formative assessment strategies were drafted based on the strategies identified by Black and Wiliam (1998). The findings from the questionnaire revealed that professors and instructors were aware of the purpose of assessment, the importance of student-focused assessment, and the various ways of implementing formative assessment. Additionally, the interviews showed that professors and instructors were aware of the importance and impact of formative assessment when implemented in teaching and learning, which, in turn, could move students ' learning forward by providing effective and continuous feedback. The findings from this research can increase understanding of assessment in post-secondary settings and may benefit educators who implement formative assessment practices, through continuous and regular professional development (Brancato, 2003).
Teachers’ Perceptional Changes on Formative Assessment Practices
This chapter describes a case study carried out with two experienced ELT teachers. It mainly reports how these teachers’ personal theories relating to assessment practices, particularly formative assessment practices, have changed over a 15-week period. During that period some practices and applications of these practices have been discussed in regular meetings. The study is based on eliciting teachers’ understanding of assessment practices using the Repertory Grid Technique, a derivative of Kelly’s Personal Construct Theory. Results indicate that eliciting the personal constructs of teachers about assessment practices helps them become aware of their own and others’ personal views on assessment, which, in turn, might result in effective formative assessment practices.
Exploring primary school teachers’ use of formative assessment across fee and no-fee schools
South African Journal of Childhood Education
Background: Recent initiatives by the Department of Basic Education to support teachers to enhance their use of formative assessment are positive steps for improving teaching and learning. However, the nature and type of support required by teachers is unclear given the dearth of information on teachers’ current pedagogical practices, and the extent to which formative assessment approaches are applied.Aim: This article explores teachers’ pedagogical practices in relation to five key formative assessment strategies: introduction of lesson objectives and assessment criteria, questioning and learner engagement, feedback practices and peer and self-assessment.Setting: This study was conducted in two districts involving 96 foundation and intermediate phase teachers selected from 54 fee- and no-fee-paying schools.Methods: Data were obtained using lesson observations and document review schedules. The analysis comprised descriptive and chi-square statistics.Results: Some evidence of all th...
Analyzing Teachers’ Experiences and Attitudes towards Formative Assessment in Schools of Pakistan
This paper studies the role of Formative Assessment in systematic teaching. It focuses on the significant steps used in formative assessment to cater for effective teaching strategies. Formative assessment provides day-to-day feedback that can be applied immediately. This study explores the perceptions of some teachers of formative assessment in schools in Peshawar, KPK (Khyber Pukhtoon Khwa), Pakistan. It is developed in response to the discussion by Black and Wiliam on the effectiveness of formative assessment in raising classroom standards (1998). Data was gathered through a questionnaire, which was followed up with semi-structured interviews. The data were analyzed, resulting themes were discussed and some conclusions were drawn. The paper is divided into the following sections: Introduction; Literature review; Methodology; Results; Discussion; and Conclusion. In recent decades, many classrooms have adopted formative assessment as a significant part of effective learning in their curricula. This study was motivated by the review of previous literature. An explanatory mixed methods two-phase research design was used in the study which used both quantitative data collection and analysis, followed by qualitative data collection and analysis.
The Nature and Impact of Teachers' Formative Assessment Practices. CSE Technical Report 703
National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing, 2006
Theory and research suggest the critical role that formative assessment can play in student learning. The use of assessment in guiding instruction has long been advocated: Through the assessment of students' needs and the monitoring of student progress, learning sequences can be appropriately designed, instruction adjusted during the course of learning, and programs refined to be more effective in promoting student learning goals. Moving toward more modern pedagogical conceptions, assessment moves from an information source on which to base action to part and parcel of the teaching and learning process. The following study provides food for thought about the research methods needed to study teachers' assessment practices and the complexity of assessing their effects on student learning. On the one hand, our study suggests that effective formative assessment is a highly interactive endeavor, involving the orchestration of multiple dimensions of practice, and demands sophisticated qualitative methods for study. On the other, detecting and understanding learning effects in small samples, even with the availability of comparison groups, poses difficulties to say the least. Long-standing theory and research suggest the critical role that formative assessment can play in student learning. With roots in Ralph Tyler's curriculum rationale (1949), B.F. Skinner's behaviorism and programmed instruction (1953, 1960),
Effective Use of Formative Assessment by High School Teachers
Practical Assessment, Research and Evaluation, 2017
The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to gain insights and understandings of high school teachers’ perceptions and use of formative assessment to enhance their planning, individualization of instruction, and adjustment of course content to improve student learning. The study was conducted over two years in a midwestern high school of approximately 1,000 students. Crucial to the three project teachers’ understanding of formative assessment was developing and using preset curriculum road maps that tightly aligned course goals, learning objectives, activities, instructional methods, and assessment. The in-depth case studies of the sample’s three teachers revealed that, when provided with specific information about formative assessment through staff development, they became more positive toward such assessment, and their implementation skills were greatly improved. The staff development had an especially positive impact on the teachers’ understanding and skill sets for individuali...
Primary school teachers use of formative assessment across fee and no fee schools
South African Journal of Childhood Education, 2020
Background: Recent initiatives by the Department of Basic Education to support teachers to enhance their use of formative assessment are positive steps for improving teaching and learning. However, the nature and type of support required by teachers is unclear given the dearth of information on teachers’ current pedagogical practices, and the extent to which formative assessment approaches are applied. Aim: This article explores teachers’ pedagogical practices in relation to five key formative assessment strategies: introduction of lesson objectives and assessment criteria, questioning and learner engagement, feedback practices and peer and self-assessment. Setting: This study was conducted in two districts involving 96 foundation and intermediate phase teachers selected from 54 fee- and no-fee-paying schools. Methods: Data were obtained using lesson observations and document review schedules. The analysis comprised descriptive and chi-square statistics. Results: Some evidence of all the formative assessment strategies as well as the range of steps that characterised each strategy was observed in the pedagogical practices of teachers sampled for this study. However, only a minority of teachers were able to demonstrate effective use of any specific strategy. No significant differences were detected between teachers in fee-paying and no-fee-paying schools as well as between the foundation and intermediate phases. Conclusion: Evidence of various aspects of the formative assessment approach in teachers’ pedagogical practices provides a positive platform for enhancing their formative assessment knowledge and skills. The key challenge pertains to ensuring the effective implementation of the formative assessment approach to address the specific learning needs of all learners, in both fee and no-fee schools. Keywords: assessment for learning; formative assessment; no-fee schools; fee-paying schools.
Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics
Ministries of Education in many countries have adopted various forms of school-based assessment (SBA) to replace (for example, New Zealand) or complement (for example, England, Australia and Malaysia) more conventional forms of assessment such as tests and examinations. Central to these alternative approaches to SBA is formative assessment. In recent years, a body of research has been built investigating various aspects of SBA in Malaysia, but there has been a dearth of studies exploring what practising teachers believe and do regarding implementing formative assessment in their own classrooms. The present article reports some of the findings of a case study in which ten Malaysian primary school teachers of English were interviewed to identify the extent of their understanding of formative assessment and their reported practices of providing feedback in an SBA environment. Initially, the teachers revealed a general lack of understanding of the difference between formative and summat...
A Study of the Implementation of Formative Assessment in Three Large Urban Districts
American Educational Research Journal, 2019
In this study, we examined the enactment of formative assessment by administrator-selected master teachers in large, urban, public school districts in three regions of the United States. Furthermore, this study also included an investigation of the perceptions and frequency of use for all teachers within the same districts to gather a snapshot of the state of use of formative assessment within those settings overall. Currently, the research base is limited regarding how effective teachers implement formative assessment strategies in their classrooms and how teachers in general perceive formative assessment. Thus, the purpose of this study was to gain a broader understanding of how teachers conceptualize and enact formative assessment strategies in their classrooms with the aim of providing guidance to teacher educators, professional development providers, and policy makers about gaps in teachers’ understanding of and use of formative assessment. Findings from classroom observations ...