Leading an Assessment Reform: Ensuring a Whole-School Approach for Decision-Making

Dennis Alonzo,Elisha Obsioma,Jade Leverett

doi:10.3389/feduc.2021.631857

Abstract

The ability of teachers to use assessment data to inform decisions related to learning and teaching defines teaching effectiveness. However, to maximise the benefits of teacher decision-making, there is a need to ensure that all teachers across the school are supported to engage in a whole-school approach to ensuring that all students across different stages are supported. This paper reports on a case study of a school in building an assessment culture with a strong focus on using a range of data for teacher decision-making. We used an auto-ethnography to reflect on our experiences in leading this assessment reform. Using the lens of activity theory, we have identified structural, organisational, social and behavioral factors that contribute to the success of the program.

Highlights

Teacher assessment knowledge and skills are critical for improving student learning (Black and Wiliam, 1999; Hattie, 2008)
We use autoethnography to reflect on our experiences as the University Partner (UP), the Instructional Leader (IL) and one of the Assessment Leaders (AL)
We focus on what processes, products, engagement and commitment have established the current assessment culture in our school where teachers are strategically designing a range of assessment tasks to elicit student learning and using all these pieces of evidence to make informed decisions to support individual students

Summary

Introduction

Teacher assessment knowledge and skills are critical for improving student learning (Black and Wiliam, 1999; Hattie, 2008). The effectiveness of using assessment relies on the ability of teachers to constantly adapt their teaching in response to student learning needs and learning development (Mandinach and Gummer, 2016). Teachers do this by using and making sense of different data sources to inform the design of their learning and teaching activities to support individual students, a process that has been proven to increase student learning and engagement (van Gee et al, 2016). The ability of teachers to use assessment data to inform their decisions related to learning and teaching, commonly known as teacher assessment data literacy, defines teaching effectiveness. There is a problem with of varied understanding of the assessment process, when a common understanding of assessment language and processes is needed for successful implementation of any assessment reform (Davison, 2013)

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion