Assessment in deeper learning schools: Teacher perceptions and implementation

• In Event: Excellence in Education Research: Early Career Scholars and Their Work

Abstract

Sociocultural education theories posit assessment as a socially-mediated judgment process of student ability in school-related domains. Central to this understanding of assessment is how teachers experience assessment in their schools and the implications of various assessment practices enacted against both the local school and state-level policy context. This study examined the assessment culture within Deeper Learning classrooms and schools, how teachers integrated their classroom and school assessment practices with their educational values, and the relation between teacher assessment attitudes, the schools' assessment culture, and assessment policies. The mixed methods study primarily used interview data supplemented with surveys collected through the Study of Deeper Learning that examined US schools committed to teaching critical, complex student competencies through collaboration and communication. While most schools could be described as having a culture open to alternative assessment designs, schools demonstrated variability in implementing alternative assessments. School assessment culture was found to vary from inward-facing to outward-facing. Inward-facing assessments included formative assessment used by the students and portfolios of academic work assessed by teachers. Outward-facing assessments ranged from student creation of authentic products viewed by community members to traditional tests created and graded by districts or states. Differences in implementation resulted at a classroom level due to the subject area and teacher philosophy and at a school level due to assessment requirements, such as state or district competency exams. The research demonstrated how more complex conceptions of assessment and assessment literacy could inform changes in teacher practice.

Author

• Karen Moran Jackson, Soka University of America