Development Of Assessment Literacy Research Articles

Developing University Students’ Assessment Literacy - Theory and Practice

Assessment literacy skills are increasingly recognized as being important for student success in higher education. However, as a field of study, it is not well-researched except in the context of language assessment. This paper delves into critical theoretical underpinnings and practical strategies that can be used to develop assessment literacy among university students. Based on a constructivist view, this paper discusses how social interactions and cultural practices interplay to shape students’ conceptual understanding of assessment. It argues that effective assessment literacy embodies understanding the purposes of assessment, interpreting criteria, and using feedback to improve constantly. This means integrating the development of assessment literacy into curriculum design using experiential learning and developing self-regulated learning strategies. The goal is to provide a primer for university educators and instigate reflection and debate on how best to support students when engaging with diverse assessment practices to enhance their academic achievement and skills for lifelong learning.

Perceived need for a teacher education course on assessment literacy development: insights from EAP instructors

Classroom assessment, as a crucial element of the teaching journey, plays a significant part in enhancing student achievement, student learning, and teacher instruction. As such, teachers should possess a good grasp of assessment literacy. This study aimed to explore the EAP teachers’ perceptions regarding the demand for in-service training in various areas of language assessment, in particular, examining how a language testing and assessment (LTA) teacher education course would impact the EAP instructors’ Language Assessment Literacy (LAL). In this qualitative study, pursuing a descriptive narrative design, 60 EAP instructors were selected through purposive sampling from those who have been working in state universities in Tehran. From these participants, 30 EAP teachers were asked to write narratives regarding their needs for training on LAL, and the other 30 participants were involved in an online semi-structured interview to determine how such a course could promote or inhibit their perceptions and practices of LA and LAL. Using MAXQDA to do content and thematic analysis, the research findings revealed that EAP instructors highly perceived a need for further training especially a practice-based one. In particular, the instructors thought of teacher education courses as contributing to their theoretical and practical knowledge of LAL. Hence, teacher education courses with a specific focus on LAL are highly required, changing EAP teachers’ perspectives on LTA, from being taught solely in theory to being taught practically in real classroom environments.

Language Assessment Literacy Development of a Novice University English Teacher in the Chinese Context

To date, most studies on language assessment literacy (LAL) have focused on how to improve language teachers’ LAL through external inputs (e.g. assessment training, courses), but much remains unknown with regard to how individual teachers develop their LAL over time in their teaching contexts. To fill this void, the current study explored the lived experience of a novice university English teacher's LAL development over an extended period in the Chinese context. It was found that the teacher witnessed her LAL development throughout one academic year. Specifically, she developed more conceptual knowledge of language assessment, became more aware of the importance of learning in relation to assessment, accessed more assessment skills and became more student centred in assessment practices. This improvement, following an individualised developmental trajectory in a bottom-up way, was mediated by contextual (e.g. institutional support), experiential (e.g. assessment training or learning) and personal (e.g. agency and reflection) factors, in all of which the teacher's self-agency contributed substantially to her LAL development. Based on the findings, implications for university English teachers’ professional development in language assessment have been provided.

Teachers’ made writing assessment instrument: Pedagogical insight from process to product

Despite the urgency of assessment instruments in teaching foreign language writing, evidence regarding how teachers develop assessment instruments and maintain their quality, particularly for comparison and contrast essay writing based on a genre-based approach to teachers’ classroom practices, is scantily reported. To address this empirical need, this article showcases how a set of teacher-made assessment instruments for a comparison and contrast essay based on a genre-based approach in a writing essay course at a public university in East Java was carefully and deliberately developed. To attain the research objective, this research enacted design-based research (DBR) inspired by Cavallaro and Sembiante (2021). In addition to content validity, face validity and inter-rater reliability were ensured by involving ten students, three fellow writing teachers, and two trained raters. This assessment instrument development project produces a set of valid formative assessment instruments, comprising a writing prompt and scoring rubric. The inter-rater reliability shows a high degree of positive correlation with a reliability coefficient of 0.862 from a correlational analysis based on Pearson correlation coefficient. This in-practice assessment instrument development can be used as a reference, contributing to the teachers’ assessment literacy development. It also serves as a valuable model for future researchers to develop and expand nested classroom assessment scholarship. A well-structured validity and reliability process of assessment instrument development will practically enhance the teaching practices in the essay writing course in particular and EFL teaching in general.

Teacher assessment literacy in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms: A Norwegian case study

This study investigated inclusive teacher assessment practices in culturally and linguistically diverse Norwegian lower secondary schools as well as tensions in and the potential of teacher assessment literacy. Case study data gathered through interviews with 21 teachers in five schools were analysed to examine the schools' assessment policies, teacher assessment practices, adaptions and challenges teachers face when assessing diverse student groups. We found that teacher assessment literacy development benefitted from collective and shared whole-school practices and that, while teachers had multiple strategies for assessment and adapting those to their students’ needs, these were not specifically targeted at cultural diversity.

Developing Language Assessment Literacy of Teachers: needs, effective factors, and constraints

In recent years, developing language assessment literacy (LAL) has become crucial for teachers in enhancing their teaching practices and improving students’ learning outcomes. Empirical research reported that there was a training need for formal education and professional development programs in assessment (Berry et al., 2017; Vogt & Tsagari, 2014). Therefore, this paper reports a systematic review of teachers’ language assessment literacy development: training needs, training effective factors, and language assessment practice constraints. The purpose of the review is to provide an updated overview of the empirical research on language assessment development. I utilized systematic review for social studies using the following steps: forming research questions, choosing the appropriate search terms and strategy, starting the literature search, developing inclusion criteria, determining relevant studies, and extracting data (Petticrew & Roberts, 2006). The search was limited to the 12 years’ publications because there was an increase attention on developing teacher’s language assessment literacy in these years. The selected studies were analyzed using the content analysis approach. The results suggested that teachers needed in-service training in different LAL content areas that varied according to the educational context needs in their countries. The results also revealed that teachers' experience and self-reflection needed to be considered in development programs and teachers should be involved in collaborative learning communities. The collaborative learning communities provided the needed professional support and give the chance for teachers to share their experience. Furthermore, the reality and constraints needed to be recognized as they influenced teachers' assessment practices. Finally, research implications and future research directions on teachers’ language assessment literacy are discussed.

Teachers’ conceptions of assessment literacy

ABSTRACT Teachers’ assessment literacy affects the quality of assessments and is, therefore, an essential part of teachers’ competence. Recent studies define assessment literacy as a dynamic, contextual and social construct, situated in practice and mediated by teachers’ identity and conceptions of assessment. This study provides a further elaboration of assessment literacy by exploring teachers’ conceptions of assessment literacy from a sociocultural perspective. Eleven online focus group interviews were conducted within the context of Dutch higher professional education between June and December 2020. A template analysis method was used to analyse the data. Seven interrelated aspects of assessment literacy were identified, namely ‘continuously developing assessment literacy’, ‘conscientious decision making’, ‘aligning’, ‘collaborating’, ‘discussing’, ‘improving and innovating’, and ‘coping with tensions’. This representation of assessment literacy, based on teachers’ conceptions, may guide teachers’ development of assessment literacy in practice.

Assessor in action: assessment literacy development in a biochemistry context

Instructors make assessment decisions based on their knowledge and experiences. Assessment practice is an essential element of instruction, and the outcomes of assessments have a broad impact on both students and instructors. Efforts to provide strengths-focused, relevant professional development support regarding assessment are enhanced by greater understanding of the complex nature of assessment practices. In this study, the Teacher Assessment Literacy in Practice (TALiP) framework was used to guide our investigation of one biochemistry instructor's assessment literacy, relevant to her integration of a biochemistry threshold concept, the physical basis of interactions (PBI), into her course. Qualitative framework analysis was used to examine classroom artifacts and interview data to reveal that community support and self-reflection influenced the instructor's enactment of specific assessments aligned with her instructional goals. Additionally, the instructor was seen to leverage assets to develop her assessment literacy within a single semester.

Language assessment course at Iranian state universities: An evaluation of the incorporation of assessment principles into the course content

Upon perceiving the development of assessment literacy as a critical requirement for teachers' professional growth, the effectiveness of assessment training programs has been investigated from various perspectives. To add more to the research on this area, this study evaluated the efficacy of language assessment course at Iranian state universities in raising prospective teachers' awareness of the principles underlying language assessment. Accordingly, the course syllabus for English majors at the BA level, issued by the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology (MSRT [1]), was content-analyzed. In addition, 92 language assessment course instructors' areas of content focus were explored through some Likert-scale items, and two instructors' teaching practices were observed throughout the course. Although the study did not claim that the course students lacked language assessment literacy (LAL), results cast doubts on the quality of their LAL concerning the principles of assessment. Overall, it seems that the assessment principles are given low priority by the syllabus designers and course instructors, which is contrary to the general debates on LAL. Concerning the underlying sub-components, reliability and validity qualities seemed to be incorporated into the course content, whereas other central themes (e.g., ethical considerations, fairness in assessment, test washback, etc.) were excluded. Finally, a set of key actions have been suggested to be taken by the course instructors and policymakers/syllabus designers to raise the course students’ awareness of the principles of assessment.

Developing Language Assessment Literacy of EFL Pre-service Teachers through Classroom Assessment Course

The study reports on how Classroom Assessment Course changed the perspectives of EFL pre-service teachers related with language assessment and contributed to their language assessment literacy development. The participants included 48 junior students in an English language teacher education program of a state university in Turkey. All the participants enrolled in a course named Classroom Assessment and the data were collected through reflection reports and a focus group interview within the scope of this course that was conducted in a 14-week period. The coding phase of the data analysis was carried out through in-vivo coding and the codes were combined under more general themes to be presented. The findings revealed that the participants’ perspectives in language assessment significantly changed at the end of Classroom Assessment Course. While their initial thoughts included some negative connotations regarding assessment itself, its purpose and the role of teachers in language assessment, they turned to be just the opposite towards the end of the semester. Moreover, the participants also expressed that they started to feel themselves more competent in language assessment as prospective teachers and got more enthusiastic to study on this topic in the future. Demonstrating the contribution of Classroom Assessment Course to language assessment literacy development of pre-service teachers, the study offers some policy and research suggestions to improve assessment literacy of EFL teachers in similar contexts.

Enhancing the development and understanding of assessment literacy in higher education

ABSTRACT Enhancing students’ assessment literacy is essential in enabling all students to manage their learning successfully. Understanding of the assessment standards required and how to meet them impacts students’ learning outcomes within higher education (HE). However, there are many different conceptions of what assessment literacy comprises, making it difficult to provide guidance on the most effective approaches to enhancing student and academic understanding of this complex and multifaceted concept. With this concern in mind, we investigated the psychometric properties of an assessment tool and its suitability for use within the context of implementing and evaluating pedagogical interventions aimed at enhancing students’ and academics’ assessment literacy skills. The validity of the tool was confirmed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Furthermore, the identified relationship between assessment literacy and feedback elements of the tool confirms the importance of an integrated approach to assessment. Drawing on extensive piloting of the tool across disciplines we highlight the importance of pedagogical co-construction approaches that promote shared understandings of assessment literacy between students and academics. Suggestions for further enhancement of this measure are proposed with the aim of supporting academics’ and students’ shared understandings and development of assessment literacy.

Assessment literate teachers in Slovakia: the requirements for assessment literacy of teachers

The general aim of the educational process is to continuously support and guide the learner to knowledge and to provide him with the best possible conditions and diversity of strategies to acquire the necessary competencies, as well as to create learning habits that are the basis of the lifelong learning. However, this has an expectation of the competence of teachers in the field of assessment too. The question arises as to whether teachers are prepared for a given challenge, whether they have adequate assessment literacy to perform their task at a given professional level. In the paper, based on a theoretical analysis of literary sources, we characterize the concept of assessment literacy, present the results of selected foreign studies, which focus on the analysis of teacher competence in the field of assessment and the development of assessment literacy in the training of future teachers. At the same time, we characterize the requirements for assessment literacy in the case of primary and secondary school teachers in Slovakia.

Education reform in Kazakhstan: Ways of teacher assessment literacy development

Introduction. The reform of many national education systems is associated with a growing focus on assessment as the dominant aspect of the modern educational process. One of the directions of the reform of the Kazakh school system is focused on the transition to criteria-based assessment of the educational achievements of schoolchildren. In this regard, for Kazakhstan, as well as for many countries of the world, the problem of developing evaluative literacy of both practising teachers and today’s students studying in pedagogical educational programmes has become especially acute.Aim. The aim of the current research is to reveal the essential characteristics of assessment literacy as an important quality of a modern teacher, to actualise the problem of its development in the situation of reforming the school education system, to outline possible directions for solving this problem.Methodology and research methods. The present research is based on the complex use of theoretical and empirical methods. The theoretical research was carried out using a comparative aspect analysis of scientific and methodological sources and normative documents on the problem of the formation of teacher assessment literacy. Empirical data were obtained when conducting a survey of school teachers, systematising and summarising its results.Results and scientific novelty. In the course of theoretical analysis, the authors identified the factors, which actualise the problem of teacher assessment literacy development; its main characteristics are summarised, which made it possible for the authors to formulate the definition of this concept. The results of the survey of school teachers demonstrated that shortterm professional development courses for teachers provide a knowledge component of their assessment literacy, but do not solve the problem of developing practical skills, which are in demand in the course of assessment activities. The development of teacher assessment literacy to the behavioural level is a multi-stage and complex process that involves not only theoretical training, but also the independent design of one’s own assessment activity, taking into account the subject characteristics and other contexts accompanying educational practice. Particular attention should be paid to the formation and development of assessment literacy of future teachers during their studies at the university. An integrated approach to solving this problem should provide: the formation of deep knowledge in the chosen subject area, participation in various assessment practices within the framework of methodological courses and pedagogical practices, interaction with practising teachers.The practical significance of the study lies in the recommendations that determine possible directions for solving the problem of developing school teacher assessment literacy in the context of reforming the educational assessment system.

Classroom Assessment Literacy Levels of Mathematics Teachers in Ghanaian Senior High Schools

The mathematics teacher’s ability to assess and integrate assessment data into instructions is a function of their assessment literacy. While the teacher’s assessment literacy level is a determinant of quality of mathematics education delivery, research in the domain is limited. The study employed a descriptive survey design to explore perceived levels of assessment literacy of mathematics teachers in implementing classroom assessment within the school based assessment framework. A 35-item classroom assessment inventory was adopted, modified and administered to a purposive sample of 96 mathematics teachers from eleven Senior High Schools in Ghana. Seven other items were included to further collect data on their self-efficacy beliefs about their assessment literacy. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Mann Whitney U test and correlation analysis. The result shows that majority of the participants did not attain the required assessment literacy standards for quality assessment in mathematics classroom. Moreover, there was a mismatch between participants’ assessment literacy and their self-efficacy beliefs in assessment in mathematics education even when gender and teacher experience were controlled. The study recommends that institutions training mathematics teachers or providing professional development should accentuate assessment literacy development to ensure standard assessment practices and quality instruction in mathematics at senior high schools. The assessment inventory used in this study could be adapted for use in college of education in Ghana to measure mathematics teachers’ literacies in assessing students.

Scoring Judgment of Pre-Service EFL Teachers: Does Writing Proficiency Play a Role?

The current study explores how the scoring judgments of pre-service English-as-aforeign-language (EFL) teachers relate to their levels of writing proficiency in the context of the Chinese mainland. Eighty one pre-service EFL teachers from a national normal university participated in the study. Three groups of teachers were then identified in terms of their levels of writing proficiency. Four teachers in each group were selected to rate a selected sample of twelve student scripts holistically while conducting think-aloud protocols for the scores assigned. Many-Facet Rasch Model and non-parametric tests were performed to evaluate the differences in the both the scores and scoring behaviors across groups. Qualitative analysis of the data was conducted to provide further explanation of the scoring judgment. The findings of the study highlighted the particular role of EFL teachers’ writing proficiency in assessing student writing. Pedagogically, the study serves to inform teacher training and the development of assessment literacy in the context of both high-stake and classroom assessments.

국내 교사 평가 전문성 기준과 측정도구 분석

Recently, interests to teachers’ assessment literacy, which influence to quality of the assessment, have been increased as assessment has been emphasized as the bridge between teaching and learning. 24 standards and instruments of teacher assessment literacy in Korea were analyzed by a framework of four identified classifications: purpose of assessment; contexts of assessment; aspect of assessment; scale of assessment literacy instruments. Most of the standards and instruments were not specified by purpose and contexts. Knowledge and skills related to assessment processes were revealed the most. However, proportion of item related to formative assessment, classroom culture, and collaboration in instruments of assessment literacy were somewhat increased under the influence of curriculum revision. Development of assessment literacy was analyzed by scale of assessment literacy instruments. As result of that, most of the instruments could measure the level of literacy and development quantitatively through average of Likert-type scale. However, the result had limit to suggest direction to teachers to develop assessment literacy. The result of study would suggest implication in terms of aspect and development of assessment literacy for teachers who implement assessment.

Engaging tertiary educators in the development of their assessment literacy

Using assessment to inform teaching and to measure learning outcomes is of critical importance in higher education. However, many tertiary educators are not sufficiently knowledgeable or prepared to do this confidently. This paper suggests that tertiary educators could be given tools and encouraged to exert agency in their own assessment literacy development. It examines the application of one potential tool, the SALRubric (Edwards, 2017), which describes stages of development in ten dimensions of summative assessment literacy. The tool’s structure and intent make it possible for the rubric to be modified to incorporate other content and context-dependent dimensions of assessment within a tertiary setting. A process through which appropriate dimensions could be identified is described so that the resulting co-constructed rubric could be used for both peer assessment and self-assessment by tertiary educators. Initial work using the SALRubric indicates that this has the potential to lead tertiary educators to an increased awareness of dimensions of assessment literacy and more active engagement in their teaching, thereby enhancing learning for their students.

Assessment thresholds for academic staff: constructive alignment and differentiation of standards

This qualitative study utilized episodic narrative interviews to investigate assessment thresholds involved in the development of assessment literacy. The goal of the study was to inform efforts toward quality improvements in higher education. Thirty-five academic staff from universities in Australia, Canada and Sweden shared stories of significant changes they made to their assessment practice. Thematic analysis found troublesome aspects to include instructor expectations, lack of consistency, differentiation of performance, student expectations, time constraints/workload, logistical/technological constraints and assessment policy. A belief in meaningful learning, embracing constraints and the desire to meet the needs of students, added to other enablers for assessment change, such as resources, support and strategic use of technology. Findings suggested assessment thresholds of constructive alignment and differentiation of standards. Reflection, collaboration and professional development were found to support the integration of assessment knowledge and build conceptual understanding of assessment thresholds. Authors recommend that higher education institutions provide academic staff with a foundation of conceptual understanding of these key areas to promote moves toward quality assessment practices.

LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT LITERACY DEVELOPMENT: A STUDENT-TEACHER�S EXPERIENCES IN TEACHING PRACTICE PROGRAM

The development of a student-teachers language assessment literacy was viewed through her experiences in conducting teaching practice in one of the senior high schools in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. An interview was conducted to explore the experiences taking place in the teaching-practice in relation to the language assessment literacy development. It was found out that the experiences were understood as mostly dealing with administrative tasks and there is a need of more knowledge in administrative matter in teaching and assessment. From the results of the study it was obvious that further studies need to be conducted to explore the role of teaching-practice in the development of student-teaching language assessment literacy. More participants and multiple data collection methods in a longitudinal study are needed to help student-teachers to be more assessment literate, which in turn helps them to be better teachers.DOI:doi.org/10.24071/llt.2018.210209

Understanding Chinese EFL teachers’ conceptions and practices of assessment

AbstractThis paper reports on findings from an ongoing research project exploring Chinese EFL teachers’ conceptions of assessment and their classroom assessment practices, as well as to examine the relationship between these two. The sample for the study consisted of 107 EFL teachers from 18 secondary schools who completed a Chinese version of the Teachers’ Conceptions of Assessment inventory (Brown, Hui, Yu, & Kennedy, 2011) and the Classroom Assessment Practices Questionnaire modified from Assessment Practices Inventory (Zhang & Burry-Stock, 2003). This study found that Chinese EFL teachers strongly associated assessment as a means of improving students’ EFL learning’ with assessment as a means of cultivating positive moral and personal character contributing to students’ lifelong learning and good citizenship. Results also showed that although there existed some level of alignment of teaching and assessment in the classroom, traditional assessment practices rather than alternative assessment such as student self-assessment were seen by the EFL teachers as contributing to students’ learning and making individual and school accountable, which is potentially a matter of some concern if innovative assessment reform that avoids using mandated external examinations is to be carried out in the Chinese EFL classroom. Implications of the results for Chinese EFL teacher assessment literacy development are also discussed