Feedback Flows: How Teachers’ Experiences Receiving Feedback Shape Their Classroom Practices

• In Event: Division H VP Session: Past Designs, Present Tensions, Future Paths: Reimagining Educational Assessment Across Contexts

Abstract

Assessment is a central component of education systems worldwide, with numerous studies demonstrating its positive impact on student learning (Leahy & Wiliam, 2009). In particular, assessment for learning (AfL) provides valuable feedback that enables teachers to adjust their instruction and foster more engaging learning experiences for students (Black et al., 2004). Despite its benefits, AfL implementation remains challenging (Deenen et al., 2019; Jonsson et al., 2014; Liu & Xu, 2017; Yan & Brown, 2021), with the broader school environment playing a critical role in its adoption (Yan et al., 2021). Because culture shapes unconscious assumptions and behaviors of its members (Kaplan & Owings, 2013), AfL practice should be embedded within it for sustained meaningful change (Admiraal et al., 2021; Lee & Louis, 2019; Liggett, 2024). When school administrators understand and actively promote formative assessment, teachers are more likely to integrate AfL practices into their instruction (Moss et al., 2013; Yan et al., 2021).

Therefore, this study investigates whether teachers who receive meaningful assessment for their teaching are more likely to implement AfL in their classroom and whether this relationship is mediated by their perception of school leadership as a reflection of school culture. Using data from the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the sample includes 68,054 teachers from 18 countries, with the largest groups from Australia (16.7%), United Arab Emirates (14.8%), and Brazil (8.3%). Participants were predominantly female (56.8%), aged 20–70 years (M = 43.26, SD = 10.75), mostly teaching general subjects (77.1%), and largely employed on a permanent basis (69.5%).

Results indicate that teacher’s receptance of assessment for their teaching significantly predicted their degree of use of AfL in practice (B = 0.192, SE = 0.003, z = 73.34, p < .001, 95% CI [0.187, 0.197]). Moreover, teachers’ perceptions of school leadership were found to mediate the relationship between the rate at which teachers reported receiving teaching assessments and the rate of their AfL use in the classroom. When teachers’ perception of school leadership was included as mediator, the direct effect of teacher’s receptance of assessment for their teaching to their classroom’s AfL remained significant (B = 0.151, SE = 0.003, z = 56.45, p < .001, 95% CI [0.146, 0.156]). In addition, there is also an indirect effect of teacher’s receptance of assessment for their teaching on their classroom’s AfL through perception of school leadership (B = 0.041, SE = 0.001, z = 39.44, p < .001, 95% CI [0.039, 0.043]). The indirect effect accounted for approximately 21.4% of the total effect, suggesting partial mediation. The model explained 17.2% of the variance in teacher's classroom AfL (R² = .172).

Results of our study imply that efforts to enhance teachers’ use of AfL should not only focus on providing meaningful assessment for their teaching but also on fostering strong school leadership that cultivates a supportive culture for formative practices. The school-wide reforms aimed at embedding AfL into practice are more likely to succeed when administrators actively champion and model formative assessment values.

Authors

• Brendha Christie Tanujaya, Purdue University

• Shahnaz Safitri, Purdue University

• Nielsen Pereira, Purdue University/Gifted Education Research & Resource Institute