Young Students as a Potential Source of Information About Their Teachers' Formative Assessment Practices

• In Event: Measurement of Classroom Assessment Practices

Abstract

This paper focuses on an aspect of validity that is typically overlooked when students are used as source of information about their teacher’s practices - the degree to which student’s perceptions match what actually happens in classrooms. We designed, implemented, and evaluated a suite of surveys designed to measure student’s perceptions of their teacher’s formative assessment practices. The surveys elicit information about what occurred in their class on a given day. Using carefully developed observation protocols, we observed 101 classrooms on three occasions and compared what actually occurred in these classes to the students’ responses. Based on our findings, we suggest researchers and school districts employ a similar methodological approach before using student survey’s to draw conclusions about teachers’ practices.

Authors

• Heidi Kroog, University of Colorado - Denver

• Maria Araceli Ruiz-Primo, University of Colorado - Denver

• Chao Wang, University of Colorado

• Ashley M. Chrzanowski, University of Colorado - Boulder