Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
357071 | International Journal of Educational Research | 2011 | 14 Pages |
The beliefs teachers have about assessment influence classroom practices and reflect cultural and societal differences. This paper reports the development of a new self-report inventory to examine beliefs teachers in Hong Kong and southern China contexts have about the nature and purpose of assessment. A statistically equivalent model for Hong Kong and southern China teachers had three factors (i.e., improvement, accountability, and irrelevance). The Chinese teachers very strongly associated accountability with improvement (r = .80). This is consistent with the Chinese tradition and policy of using examinations to drive teaching quality and student learning and as a force for merit based decisions. Small differences between the two groups of teachers are consistent with assessment policy differences in the two jurisdictions.
► We psychometrically validated the Chinese-Teacher Conceptions of Assessment inventory. ► A 3-factor model was statistically equivalent for Hong Kong and South China teachers. ► Assessment for Improvement was highly correlated with Accountability purposes. ► Factor mean score differences were consistent with jurisdictional policy differences. ► Assessment for learning policy reforms unlikely to succeed in Chinese contexts.