Teachers’ conceptions of assessment literacy

ABSTRACT

Teachers’ assessment literacy affects the quality of assessments and is, therefore, an essential part of teachers’ competence. Recent studies define assessment literacy as a dynamic, contextual and social construct, situated in practice and mediated by teachers’ identity and conceptions of assessment. This study provides a further elaboration of assessment literacy by exploring teachers’ conceptions of assessment literacy from a sociocultural perspective. Eleven online focus group interviews were conducted within the context of Dutch higher professional education between June and December 2020. A template analysis method was used to analyse the data. Seven interrelated aspects of assessment literacy were identified, namely ‘continuously developing assessment literacy’, ‘conscientious decision making’, ‘aligning’, ‘collaborating’, ‘discussing’, ‘improving and innovating’, and ‘coping with tensions’. This representation of assessment literacy, based on teachers’ conceptions, may guide teachers’ development of assessment literacy in practice.

KEYWORDS:

• Teachers’ assessment literacy
• teachers’ professional development
• higher professional education
• focus groups
• template analysis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kitty Meijer

Kitty Meijer is a PhD student at Open University of the Netherlands. Her research focuses on teachers’ assessment literacy within the field of higher professional education. She also works as a teacher at HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht and is affiliated with the Research Group Vocational Education.

Liesbeth Baartman

Liesbeth Baartman is a specialist in research on assessment and evaluation in higher professional and vocational education. She holds a professorship at the HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht and is affiliated with the Research Group Vocational Education and the Teaching & Learning Network for university-wide learning and development.

Marjan Vermeulen

Marjan Vermeulen is a specialist in research on professional learning and development of teachers with a special interest in human resource development for teachers. She holds a professorship on teacher professionalisation at the Open University of the Netherlands and has a special professorship regarding collective learning between organizations funded by the University of applied sciences de Kempel and the education consultancy organisation OMJS.

Elly de Bruijn

Elly de Bruijn is a specialist in research on teaching and learning processes in the context of vocational education. She holds a professorship on Vocational Education Research at the HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht and is also honorary professor of vocational education at the Open University of the Netherlands.