Formative conceptions of assessment: trainee teachers' thinking about assessment issues in English secondary schools

This paper explores the developing thinking about assessment of graduate trainees preparing for secondary teaching in England. For some years teachers in English schools have worked in a context where the outcomes of formal testing have been used to judge school and teacher performance as well as st...

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Published inTeacher development Vol. 15; no. 2; pp. 171 - 186
Main Authors Taber, Keith S., Riga, Fran, Brindley, Sue, Winterbottom, Mark, Finney, John, Fisher, Linda G.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 01.05.2011
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Academic achievement
classroom assessment
Classroom Observation Techniques
Classroom Techniques
constructivism and teacher learning
Educational evaluation
England
Evaluation Research
Foreign Countries
Formative Evaluation
High Stakes Tests
initial teacher education
Interviews
Learning
Secondary school teachers
Student Evaluation
Student Placement
Student Teacher Attitudes
Student teachers
teacher conceptions
Teacher Education
Teacher Effectiveness
teacher learning
Testing
Trainees
United Kingdom (England)
United Kingdom > UK
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Summary:This paper explores the developing thinking about assessment of graduate trainees preparing for secondary teaching in England. For some years teachers in English schools have worked in a context where the outcomes of formal testing have been used to judge school and teacher performance as well as student achievement. Research evidence that formative modes of assessment contribute more to student learning has in recent years led to strong recommendations that most classroom assessment should be 'Assessment for Learning' (AfL). In reality the new orthodoxy of AfL is being championed in a context where high-stakes testing retains its perceived role in ensuring 'accountability'. Interviews with a sample of trainee teachers at an early stage of preparation for teaching suggest that their preconceptions about the nature and purpose of assessment, and their interpretations of classroom observations on school placement, offer a confused and complex basis for adopting recommended assessment practices in their own teaching.
ISSN:1366-4530
1747-5120
DOI:10.1080/13664530.2011.571500