How Do Teachers Use National Test Results? Exploring Testing Policies, Teacher Practice, and Principals' Facilitating

• In Event: Poster Session 17
  In Poster Session: Division L Graduate Student Poster Session

Abstract

Whether the stakes are high or low, teachers and school leaders have varied experiences, knowledge, and beliefs about how to use national test results to benefit individual student learning. This paper addresses how teachers experience school leadership and policy requirements for using national test results. The study is based on survey data from lower secondary teachers (N=176) in one Norwegian municipality. Micro-policy perspectives and crafting policy coherence serve as analytical tools. A close relationship between the principals’ facilitation of national tests and the teachers’ practices of utilizing them was found, as also differences between policy intentions and the local schools’ practice of using the results. This study contributes to knowledge about micro-policy work in local schools in a low-stakes context.

Authors

• Ann Elisabeth Gunnulfsen, University of Oslo

• Astrid Roe, University of Oslo