Exploring the Views of Teachers' and Students' Conceptions of Classroom Assessment and Grading

• In Event: Classroom Assessment Trends in the United States and Internationally

Abstract

The study concurrently examined the interactions between teachers’ and students’ conceptions of assessment and approaches to grading. 219 teachers and students completed two scales: Teachers’ Conceptions of Assessment (TCOA), and Teachers’ Approaches to Grading (TAG). Factor analysis on the TCOA scale showed four factors: assessment as improvement of teaching and learning, negative or irrelevant, student and school accountability, and inaccurate. Factor analysis on the TAG survey also showed four factors: social-emotional pressures for grade increases/changes, contextually-based grading, achievement-based grading, and situational considerations for grade increases/changes. Discriminant analysis showed that four factors had the strongest effects on teachers’ and students’ membership to their respective groups. The results contributed to more complete understandings of assessment cultures as viewed by teachers and students.

Authors

• David Baidoo-Anu, Queen's University - Kingston

• Amir Rasooli, University of Alberta

• Christopher DeLuca, Queen's University - Kingston

• Liying Cheng, Queen's University