Learning to become 'assessment capable' teachers

Project Description

Research has shown that using assessment in the service of student learning (assessment for learning) is essential to improving student outcomes, particularly of those students most at risk of low achievement. This project addresses gaps in our knowledge about how pre-service teachers learn to use such assessment during their teacher education programmes.

Aims

The project aims to enhance our understanding of how pre-service teachers learn to use assessment in the service of (primary) students’ and (early childhood) children’s learning. To achieve this aim the project seeks to:

• identify what pre-service teachers believe and understand about using assessment for learning at entry and exit from their programmes
• document and disseminate how pre-service teachers learn to enhance their use of assessment for learning through their teacher education programmes
• make recommendations to assist teacher educators to increase the likelihood of graduating teachers who are ‘assessment capable’

Why is this important?

Assessment for learning (AfL) practices have been shown to improve student outcomes in a range of ways.

• AfL motivates students to engage in learning and keep them trying;
• It provides timely and sufficient feedback;
• AfL is valid, fair and culturally responsive, and;
• It is purposeful and suited to purpose.

Effective AfL classroom practices create a teaching and learning climate that facilitates learners being actively involved in monitoring their own learning and developing the skills necessary to become autonomous learners. Such student and teacher ‘assessment capability’ is fundamental to new Directions for Assessment in New Zealand.

Data

Over three years we will systematically investigate the assessment knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of the 2010 first year cohorts of pre-service teachers at four NZ universities using questionnaires when they enter their teacher education programme, and at the end of each year of study. Case studies will examine how pre-service teachers at each institution learn to use assessment through their courses and practicum experiences. In addition, case study students (10 in each institution) will undertake ‘assessment task scenarios’ where it will be possible to explore in more depth their emerging understanding and skills with the information gained from an assessment task, and the way they use information to assist learners’ next steps.

Within each institution, professional conversations with teacher educators involved in teaching aspects of assessment will be held on a regular basis. The intention of these conversations is to capture teacher educators’ knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about assessment, to explore the challenges and opportunities for enhancing assessment curriculum and delivery and to disseminate results of the study.

Regular analyses of the quantitative and qualitative data will form the basis of regional as well as national discussions and decision-making about assessment curriculum and delivery, and will inform subsequent phases of the project over the three-year period.

It is intended that a national network of assessment teacher educators-researchers will be established to provide a forum for ongoing professional learning and research regarding assessment pedagogy.

Project Outputs

2013

Publications

Smith, L.F., Hill, M.F., Gilmore, A., & Cowie, B. (In press). Preparing teachers to use the enabling power of assessment. In Klenowski, V., & Wyatt-Smith, C. (Eds). The Enabling Power of Assessment. Victoria, Australia: Springer.

Gunn, A. C., & Gilmore, A. (under review).  Differing positions on assessment: A comparison of first- and third-year student teachers' beliefs about assessment.  Assessment in Education.

Conferences presentations and Workshops

Hill, M. (2013). Learning to be assessment capable teachers. Invited presentation for the Faculty of Education, The University of Auckland. Auckland, 22 February.

Accepted conference presentation abstracts

Posters for presentation at AERA in San Francisco, April 26-May 1 2013
Cooper, B., Edwards, F., Kay, J.M. Tensions in developing assessment capability with and for secondary school student teachers. Interactive poster presentation accepted for the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, April 30.

Gunn, A. C. & Gilmore, A. (2013, April).  Early childhood teacher education curriculum and student assessment learning.  Interactive poster presentation accepted for the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, April 30.

Smith, L.F., & Hill, M.F. (2013). The alignment between teacher educators’ and pre-service teachers’ beliefs about assessment. Interactive poster presentation accepted for the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, April 30.

Gilmore, A. & Cowie, B. (2013). Developing Agility to Respond to Shifting and Competing Policy Requirements.  Interactive poster presentation accepted for the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, April 30.

2012

Conferences presentations and Workshops

Hill, M. & Cowie, B. (2012). The assessment discourses of teacher educators: What do they believe primary teacher candidates should know and be able to do? Invited presentation at the Collaborative Action Research Network Symposium, Palmerston North, 23 October.

Cooper, B., Ussher, B., & Cowie, B. (2012). Tracing student teacher thinking about assessment. AARE-APERA 2012. Sydney, Australia; 2-6 December.

Gilmore, A. & Gunn, A. C., (2012, December).  What did they learn?  Student teachers' learning about assessment in initial teacher education.  Paper presentation to the Australian Association for Education Research Conference, Sydney, December 2-6.

Smith, L.F., Cowie, B., Gilmore & Hill, M. (2012). Student and Teacher Educator Perceptions of Becoming Assessment-Capable Teachers. Paper presented at the European Association for Learning and Instruction Assessment Special Interest Group Conference, Brussels, August 28.

Hill, M. F., Gilmore, A., Smith, L., & Cowie, B. (2012). The impact of a dedicated assessment course on developing teacher education studentsí assessment capability. In European Association for Learning and Instruction Assessment SIG. Brussels, Belgium. August 28.

2011

Conferences presentations and Workshops

Smith, L.F. (November 2011). Developing assessment-capable teachers. Public seminar, University of Otago College of Education, Dunedin, New Zealand.

Smith, L.F. (July 2011). Reflecting on current research: Teaching and Learning Research Initiative findings on assessment. Invited presentation to the Teacher Education Forum of Aotearoa New Zealand, Dunedin.

Smith, L.F. (June 2011). Initial teacher education for effective assessment in New Zealand primary schools. Invited presentation to the International Seminar on Assessment. Bergen, Norway.

Cowie, B., & Hill, M. F. (2011, April). The assessment discourses of teacher educators. In American Education Research Association (AERA) Annual meeting. New Orleans, USA.
Hill, M. F., Gilmore, A., Gunn, A., Smith, L. F., Cowie, B., Ussher, B., & Grudnoff, A. (2011). Researching together: Negotiating access and sustaining participation under challenging circumstances. In New Zealand Association of Educational Research Annual Conference. Tauranga, New Zealand.

2010

Publications

Hill, M., Cowie, B., Gilmore, A. & Smith, L.F. (2010). Preparing assessment capable teachers: What should pre-service teachers know and be able to do? Assessment Matters, 2, 43-64.

Conferences presentations and Workshops

​Smith, L. F., Gilmore, A., Cowie, B., & Hill, M. F. (2010, July). Assessing how pre-service teachers learn to become "assessment capable". In The 7th Conference of the International Test Commission. Hong Kong.

Ussher, B., Cowie, B., Cooper, B., Hill, M. F., Smith, L. F., & Gilmore, A. (2010, July). Preparing assessment capable teachers: First steps in a national project. In Australian Teacher Education Association. Townsville, Australia.

Smith, L. F., Gilmore, A., Hill, M. F., & Cowie, B. (2010, October). Teacher education students' knowledge and beliefs about assessment at entry to their teacher education programme. In Teacher Education Forum of Aotearoa New Zealand (TEFANZ) Biennial Conference. Auckland, NZ.

Smith, L. F., Gilmore, A., Hill, M. F., & Cowie, B. (2010, December). Assessment capable teachers: Initial findings from a multi-university study of student teacher development and learning. In New Zealand Association for Research in Education (NZARE) conference. Auckland, NZ.

Gilmore, A., Smith, L.F., Hill, M., & Cowie, B. (May 2010). Beliefs About Assessment: Towards a Conceptual Framework and Initial Findings. Invited presentation to the Assessment and Evaluation Group Faculty of Education at the Queens International Symposium on Classroom Assessment, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada.

Cowie, B., Hill, M., Smith, L.F., & Gilmore, A. (May 2010). The Power of Mixed-Methods in Examining the Preparation of Assessment Capable Teachers. Invited presentation to the Assessment and Evaluation Group Faculty of Education at the Queens International Symposium on Classroom Assessment, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada.

Hill, M., Cowie, B., Gilmore, A., & Smith, L.F. (May 2010). Learning to become assessment capable teachers: A Teaching and Learning Research Initiative Project (2010-2012). Invited presentation to the Assessment and Evaluation Group Faculty of Education at the Queens International Symposium on Classroom Assessment, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada.