Nested contexts that shape assessment for learning: School-based professional learning community and classroom culture

The study investigated the relationships between assessment for learning (AfL) and attributes of two school-related contexts – the classroom assessment culture (CAC) in which AfL is embedded, and the larger context in which CAC is nested, namely the school-based professional learning community (SBPLC). The research design comprised two layers – quantitative and qualitative; the former, using rating-response questionnaires, investigated the association between attributes of SBPLC and AfL in a sample of in-service teachers. The latter, a multiple case study, examined AfL practices of six elementary school teachers, the assessment culture in their classrooms, and characteristics of their SBPLCs. Taken together, the findings of both layers pointed to meaningful relationships among AfL, CAC, and SBPLC highlighting similarities between SBPLC and CAC with regard to cultural attributes and to AfL/inquiry practice. Contextual attribute patterns conducive to proper implementation of AfL and those that impede it were discerned and discussed.