Enhancing Teacher Assessment Literacy: One Approach to Improving Teacher Knowledge and Skills in Australia

Abstract

Teacher assessment literacy is regarded as one of the most influential factors in improving students’ learning in the classroom, in particular a teacher’s ability to collect, interpret and use a range of assessment information to help students monitor and evaluate their learning needs, set achievable goals, and use targeted feedback from teachers and peers to improve their learning (Black & Wiliam, 1998; Hattie, 2008). This paper will first unpack some of the key concepts underpinning teacher assessment literacy and the development of an assessment for learning culture, building on the author’s work in Hong Kong, Singapore and Brunei. The paper will then focus on a case study of one Australian collaborative approach to building teacher assessment literacy, the Tools to Enhance Assessment Literacy for Teachers of English as an Additional Language (TEAL) project, see http://teal.global2.vic.edu.au/, which is designed to help teachers of students with English as a second or additional language (ESL/EAL) to use assessment tools and techniques more effectively so as to improve learning and teaching. The tools include four main components: first, a set of sequenced teacher professional learning resources about English language learners and assessment designed for small group or self-directed study; secondly, an assessment tool bank containing a range of assessment tools and tasks, including computer-adaptive tests, organized around the three broad macro-skills (oral, reading and writing), three macro-functions (informative, persuasive, imaginative), three stages of schooling (early elementary, mid to upper elementary, and lower secondary) and a range of English language proficiency levels; thirdly, a range of assessment-for-learning and teaching exemplars including a selection of annotated units of work across a range of subject areas and year levels showing assessment tasks with formative feedback embedded within a teaching/learning cycle, and finally, an online teacher discussion forum, including a password-protected area for teachers to share problems and strategies and to moderate work samples in order to build a community of assessment practice. The paper discusses the rationale for the selection of the resources for teacher assessment literacy in English language education and their potential to make a difference to teachers and students. The implications in terms of the process of defining and describing teacher assessment literacy for other systems and settings will also be discussed.