A Systematic Review of Online Assessment Research to Grow Teacher Assessment Literacy and Inform Practice

• In Event: Reconsidering Teacher Assessment Literacy: Evolving Trends and Practices in Education

Abstract

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, digital or virtual learning was gaining traction and popularity, but relatively small percentages of K-12 and post-secondary students engaged in virtual learning environments. The pandemic forced emergency remote learning, altering the landscape of education. While the long-term plans of K-12 school districts and families to engage in virtual learning environments remain unknown, prompt investments to districts’ and universities’ technological infrastructure improved teacher and student experiences with remote learning, and data suggest that meaningful percentages of students remain enrolled in virtual learning environments. For instance, the National Center for Education Statistics (2022) reported that in May 2021, approximately half of fourth and eighth graders remained enrolled in remote or hybrid instructional environments.

Initially, the lack of available large-scale K-12 assessment data obscured the full impact of the pandemic on this population. However, recent data suggest significant learning losses during the pandemic that have not been fully recovered (USDE, 2022; Zota & Granovskiy 2021). Virtual tutoring and online technologies are being used to mitigate learning losses. Additionally, the integration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools is an ongoing development that will likely further change the landscape of classroom assessment. Because teacher assessment literacy is becoming even more important with these developments, the current paper examines literature related to online classroom assessment.
While both the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and staying power of remote learning remain unknown, shifting to remote learning and advances in technology changed teacher and student practices. The purpose of this extensive systematic review paper is threefold: 1) to examine, summarize, and synthesize research related to online assessment in the K-12 and post-secondary environments; 2) to discuss implications from this synthesis for improving teacher and student online assessment practices; and 3) to make literature-based recommendations for growing teacher assessment literacy for online assessments.
This paper conceptually analyses online classroom assessment research, summarizing the characteristics, strengths, and weakness of classroom-based online assessment from an assessment-literacy perspective. The literature includes peer-reviewed journal articles, government agency reports, policy briefs, and open-access articles. The research questions examined were:
1. How are online assessments are being utilized in K-12 and post-secondary settings?
2. What factors contribute to and detract from quality online classroom assessment systems and practices?
3. What level of teacher assessment literacy underlies effective online classroom assessment?

The full paper summarizes the systematic literature review processes, including inclusion/exclusion criteria and characteristics of reviewed articles. Preliminary classifications of articles include setting (post-secondary versus K-12); purpose (summative, formative, mixed, other); teacher and student roles / reflexivity; engagement; content focus; access; technology requirements; quality; cautions; and assessment literacy components (Coombs et al., 2018; Darling-Aduana, 2021; Foster et al., 2021; Pastore & Andrade, 2019; Veugen et al., 2022).
Many principles from in-person classroom assessment systems apply, but additional considerations exist when implementing effective online assessment systems (Correia, 2020; Ferretti et al., 2021; Hickey & Harris, 2021). The paper offers a comprehensive and systematic summary and analysis of current practices and crucial considerations for online assessment, grounded in existing literature.

Author

• Mary A. Hansen, Robert Morris University