Using Highly Effective Student Assessment Practices as the Impetus for School Change: A Bioecological Case Study

ABSTRACT

This study applies a bioecological lens to the examination of school change in the area of classroom assessment. We conducted a case study that examined the processes within a rural secondary school that supported and inhibited change in classroom assessment practices. Data collection included teacher and principal interviews, focus groups, document analysis of teacher unit plans, and classroom observations. The bioecological lens revealed that the principal was key to establishing proximal processes that supported change and that teacher micro-systems and larger exosystem factors both supported and inhibited growth, often creating buffers for teachers against exosystem pressures.

Funding

This research project was funded by the Community of Research Excellence Development Opportunities (CREDO) Grant provided by the University of Lethbridge.

Notes

1. For over a decade, the Alberta Initiative for School Improvement provided substantial funding to local districts and participating schools to support locally-defined and managed school improvement projects.

Additional information

Funding

University of Lethbridge, CREDO Grant.