Assessment for Student Improvement: Understanding Hong Kong Teachers' Conceptions and Practices of Assessment

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Assessment for Student Improvement: Understanding Hong Kong Teachers' Conceptions and Practices of Assessment
Language: English
Authors: Brown, Gavin T. L., Kennedy, Kerry J., Fok, Ping Kwan, Chan, Jacqueline Kin Sang, Yu, Wai Ming
Source: Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice. Nov 2009 16(3):347-363.
Availability: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 17
Publication Date: 2009
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Elementary Secondary Education
High Schools
Secondary Education
Descriptors: School Culture, Structural Equation Models, Student Improvement, Educational Change, Foreign Countries, Educational Assessment, Student Evaluation, Teacher Attitudes, Summative Evaluation, Instructional Improvement, Outcomes of Education, Accountability, Questionnaires, Teacher Surveys, High Stakes Tests, Test Preparation, Barriers
Geographic Terms: Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand
DOI: 10.1080/09695940903319737
ISSN: 0969-594X
Abstract: Hong Kong is seeking to increase the use of "assessment for learning" rather than rely on "assessment of learning" through summative examinations. Nearly 300 teachers from 14 primary and secondary schools answered a Chinese translation of the Teachers' Conceptions of Assessment inventory and a new Practices of Assessment Inventory. Structural equation modelling showed that there was clear alignment between conceptions and practices. Further, there were significant differences in the conceptions of assessment held by Hong Kong teachers as compared to New Zealand and Queensland teachers. This sample of Hong Kong teachers strongly associated (r = 0.91) using assessment to improve teaching and learning with making students accountable through assessment, which, in turn, led to a strong use of examination preparation practices (beta = 0.43). Hong Kong teachers believed learning outcomes were improved by using assessments to make students accountable and by preparing them for examinations. These results suggest that broader Chinese cultural norms concerning examinations are part of school culture and may provide barriers for the assessment reform agenda in Hong Kong and other Confucian societies. (Contains 3 figures and 1 table.)
Abstractor: As Provided
Number of References: 38
Entry Date: 2009
Accession Number: EJ864919
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:Hong Kong is seeking to increase the use of "assessment for learning" rather than rely on "assessment of learning" through summative examinations. Nearly 300 teachers from 14 primary and secondary schools answered a Chinese translation of the Teachers' Conceptions of Assessment inventory and a new Practices of Assessment Inventory. Structural equation modelling showed that there was clear alignment between conceptions and practices. Further, there were significant differences in the conceptions of assessment held by Hong Kong teachers as compared to New Zealand and Queensland teachers. This sample of Hong Kong teachers strongly associated (r = 0.91) using assessment to improve teaching and learning with making students accountable through assessment, which, in turn, led to a strong use of examination preparation practices (beta = 0.43). Hong Kong teachers believed learning outcomes were improved by using assessments to make students accountable and by preparing them for examinations. These results suggest that broader Chinese cultural norms concerning examinations are part of school culture and may provide barriers for the assessment reform agenda in Hong Kong and other Confucian societies. (Contains 3 figures and 1 table.)
ISSN:0969-594X
DOI:10.1080/09695940903319737