Chappuis, S., Brookhart, S. M., &
Chappuis, J. (2021). Ten assessment literacy goals for school leaders.
SAGE.
This book provides practical content for school leaders. It covers
ten key topics, including understanding the characteristics of a comprehensive
and balanced assessment system, standards of quality, formative assessment
practices, grading practices, communication and ethical use of assessment. The
companion website includes a list of activities and definitions for the
respective chapter. Overall, it is envisioned that the ten goals, when acted
on, can contribute to assessment literacy at the individual and/or system level.
Relevance: Assessment literacy has been identified by MOE as one
of the six areas of practice in SkillsFuture for Educators. This book is a
useful resource for educators who wish to deepen their understanding on
assessment literacy.
Winstone, N. E., & Carless, D. (2021). Who is feedback for? The influence of accountability and quality assurance agendas on the enactment of feedback processes.
https://doi.org/10.1080/0969594X.2021.1926221
This paper highlights the importance of purpose in assessment
feedback. The data demonstrated that educators often experienced professional
dissonance where perceived quality assurance requirements conflicted with their
own beliefs about the centrality of student learning in feedback processes.
Such dissonance arose from the pressure to secure student satisfaction, and
avoid complaints. Quality enhancement of feedback processes could profitably
focus less on teacher inputs and more on evidence of student response to
feedback.
Relevance: Most teachers
conduct formative assessments in their classrooms. This paper describes how one
can enact formative assessment to improve student learning rather than to
satisfy department indicators or student satisfaction.
Jönsson, A., Balan, A., & Hartell, E. (2021). Analytic or holistic? A study about how to increase the agreement in teachers’ grading.
https://doi.org/10.1080/0969594X.2021.1884041
This paper describes a study conducted in Sweden to increase
agreement in teachers’ grading by comparing analytic and holistic grading.
Findings suggest that analytic grading is preferable to holistic grading in
terms of agreement among teachers. However, teachers in the holistic conditions
provided more references to criteria in their justifications, whereas teachers
in the analytic conditions to a much larger extent made references to grade
levels without specifying criteria. The author emphasised on the inclusion of
moderation where teachers could review each other’s grading.
Relevance: Educators need to
standardise grading so that assessment is reliable, especially so for
assessments that require rubrics. This paper describes differences between
holistic and analytical rubrics that could occur during the assessment process.
Yan, Z., Li, Z., Panadero, E., Yang, M., Yang, L., & Lao, H. (2021). A systematic review on factors influencing teachers’ intentions and implementations regarding formative assessment.
https://doi.org/10.1080/0969594X.2021.1884042
This article reviewed 52 studies to identify factors that
influence teachers’ intentions and implementations regarding formative
assessment. The factors were categorised into personal (e.g. self-efficacy,
education and training) and contextual factors (e.g. external policies).
Relevance: Formative assessment
is prevalent in local schools. When educators and policy makers implement
formative assessment, they would need to be aware of any factors that may aid
or hinder its implementation. This article synthesizes these factors for
evaluation.
Rasooli, A., Razmjoee, M., Cumming, J., Dickson, E., & Webster, A. (2021). Conceptualising a Fairness Framework for Assessment Adjusted Practices for Students with Disability: An Empirical Study.
https://doi.org/10.1080/0969594X.2021.1932736
This paper describes a study that leverages on the multiple
perspectives of secondary school students with disability, their teachers, and
parents to build a multi-dimensional framework of fairness for assessment
adjusted practices. The framework included interactions across elements of
assessment practices, socio-emotional environment, overall conceptions of
fairness, and contextual barriers and facilitators. The interactions across
these elements influence the learning opportunities and academic outcomes for
students with disability.
Relevance: With an increasing
emphasis on inclusive education, teachers may be struggling with adapting
assessment practices to students with special needs. This study provides some
resources on which teachers can adjust their assessment practices to be fair
for all students.
Gorgodze, S., & Chakhaia, L. (2021). The uses and misuses of centralised high stakes examinations-Assessment Policy and Practice in Georgia.
https://doi.org/10.1080/0969594X.2021.1900775
Trust in centralised high-stakes exams in Georgia has grown since
2005. This article describes how these centralised high-stakes assessments have
become an integral part of the education system, cites available evidence on
their impact, accounts for recent changes, and argues that overreliance on
centralised high-stakes exams is due to complex educational, political and
social processes that make it difficult to transform the system.
Relevance: High stakes national
examinations are ingrained within the Singapore education system. There are
constant reviews to improve and/or de-emphasise the reliance of these exams
locally. This paper analyses the impact and challenges of these examinations in
Georgia. Educators and policy makers may want to examine the changes in Georgia
to learn from their journey.