Enacting Assessment for Learning in a Summative Climate: Lessons from the Network of Schools for Assessment Innovation in Chile

• In Event: Assessment to Support Learning Across Borders and Systems of Education: Examining Enactment at Scale

Abstract

Purpose and perspective
Chile has a market-oriented education system where high-stakes standardized testing and the summative function of assessment are at the core (Mena et al., 2018; Mesa Inter-Universitaria, 2021). This paper presents results from the “Network of schools for Assessment Innovation” in Chile, a professional and learning community of schools who are attempting to change their assessment cultures towards a formative focus in dialogue with Assessment for Learning theory (Black et al., 2003; Stobart, 2010; Azúa, 2012). Originating in 2018, the network involves a research-practice partnership between schools and academics, with currently more than 40 schools voluntarily affiliated to its work. The aim of this study is to explore facilitators and tensions in the process of changing assessment cultures based on the experience of the network.

Methods and Results
Two rounds of data collection were conducted within the network. A first phase (2018-2019) involved working with teachers from one school. Six focus group sessions were carried out with 8 early primary education teachers, who collectively constructed a narrative of the process of change with the guidance of a moderator. Three major themes were agreed upon with the participants as the main areas to be addressed in the sessions: construction of meaning in the process of change, meaningful elements of the process, and uncertainties/projections. The second round of focus groups was undertaken in 2020 with teachers from schools with at least two years in the network representing distinct administrative and geographic settings. 4 sessions were conducted with teachers and leaders from different schools (n = 32), along with a fifth session with school leaders (n = 6) from different communities. Questions were structured around the following areas: broader political meaning of the network in the Chilean system; meaningfulness of each element of AfL; professional development and learning in the network; difficulties/challenges; changes of perception in relation to childhood and learning. Table 1 offers a summary of the participants’ characteristics in both rounds of data collection.

Data were analyzed through successive coding processes (open, axial and selective coding) (Bonilla-García & López-Suarez, 2016) that led to broader categories to understand the main features in the process of transformation of assessment cultures. To ensure transparency, we make extensive use of quotations from the data set (examples are provided in Table 2).

Findings offer positive perceptions of the network as an autonomous space of professional development that facilitated change through collaborative learning between school communities and with academics, along with changes in the understanding of children, their well-being and their relationship with learning and their peers. Challenges included resistance to change stemming from long-standing beliefs around assessment; the involvement of parents in the assessment process; teaching workload to give feedback; time and working conditions for reflection and collaboration; and tensions between contradictory assessment policies.

Significance
The experiences of the network can contribute to overcoming common obstacles in the enactment of AfL, particularly related to teachers’ knowledge of AfL, effective professional development, and contradictory assessment policies (Authors, Year).

Author

• Maria Teresa Florez Petour, Universidad de Chile