Teacher beliefs about the cognitive diagnostic information of classroom‐ versus large‐scale tests: implications for assessment literacy

Abstract

Classroom teachers are in the front line of introducing students to formal learning, including assessments, which can be assumed to continue for students should they extend their schooling past the expected mandatory 12 years. The purpose of the present investigation was to survey secondary teachers’ beliefs of classroom and large‐scale tests for (a) providing information about students’ learning processes, (b) influencing meaningful student learning, and (c) eliciting learning or test‐taking strategies for successful test performance. Secondary teachers were surveyed because a majority of large‐scale tests are developed for secondary students (e.g., PISA, TIMSS). Results suggested that in comparison to large‐scale tests teachers believe classroom tests provide more information about student learning processes, are more likely to influence meaningful student learning, and are more likely to require learning over test‐taking strategies. The implications of these results for assessment literacy are explored.

Acknowledgement

Preparation of this article was supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Grant No. 410‐2003‐0210). Grantees undertaking such projects are encouraged to express freely their professional judgement. This article, therefore, does not necessarily represent the positions or the policies of the Canadian government, and no official endorsement should be inferred. We are grateful to the Alberta teachers who participated in the study, Carol Okamoto, and Amanda Stalwick who participated in data collection.

Notes

1. While we recognise that researchers often make a distinction between the terms ‘assessment’ and ‘test’, these terms are used interchangeably in the present article to indicate formal measurement of student knowledge and skills that count for marks. Teachers in the present study used these terms interchangeably as 95% of them reported using their classroom assessment results to compute students’ final grades in the course.