The role of a professional development program in improving primary teachers’ formative assessment literacy

ABSTRACT

Successful implementation of formative assessment in classrooms relies on teachers’ formative assessment literacy, which is typically supported by professional development programs. This study reports on the impact of a professional development program on a group of in-service primary teachers in Hong Kong. The authors investigated the effectiveness of the program in developing teachers’ formative assessment literacy and how far the program assisted them in addressing the challenges they faced when implementing formative assessment in classrooms. With a mixed-method design, quantitative data were collected with a pre- and post-program survey (N = 27); qualitative data were collected with open-ended survey questions and a focus group with six participating teachers. The results provide evidence of the program’s success in developing teachers’ formative assessment literacy and equipping them with the necessary skills to address the challenges in implementation. The features of professional learning communities embedded in the program contributed to the positive impact of the program.

KEYWORDS:

• Formative assessment
• assessment literacy
• professional development
• professional learning community

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. A coding system was used to label respondents. For example, T4PRE refers to the fourth teacher responding to the pre-program survey; T4PST refers to the fourth teacher responding to the post-program survey; T4IN refers to the fourth teacher responding to the interview.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a General Research Fund (GRF) [project no.: EDUHK 18607118] from the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong. 

Notes on contributors

Ziqi Li

Ziqi Li is a Masters graduate of The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Research Assistant in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at The Education University of Hong Kong. Her research interests include educational assessment, early childhood education, and the sociology of education.

Zi Yan

Zi Yan is a Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at The Education University of Hong Kong. His publications and research interests focus on two related areas, i.e., educational assessment in the school and higher education contexts with an emphasis on student self-assessment; and Rasch measurement, particularly its application in educational and psychological research. A recent book is entitled Student Self-assessment as a Process for Learning.

Kinnie Kin Yee Chan

Kinnie Kin Yee Chan is an Assistant Professor in Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration at The Hong Kong Metropolitan University. She graduated from James Cook University with the degree of Doctor of Philosophy cum laude and received the University Medal for Excellence in Doctoral Research and an Award for Doctoral Research in Education from Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE). She has a strong research interest in automated essay scoring, Many-facets Rasch Measurement and English writing assessment.

Ying Zhan

Ying Zhan is an assistant professor at Assessment Research Centre and the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, The Education University of Hong Kong. She has published more than 30 papers in international academic journals. Her research focuses on assessment for learning, feedback literacy and online peer assessment.

Wu Yuan Guo

Wu Yuan Guo is a PhD graduate from the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at The Education University of Hong Kong. Her research interests focus on educational assessment and educational psychology.