Transforming professional learning and practice in assessment for learning

This article takes the form of a case‐study, outlining the progress of policy and practice in Scotland towards the introduction of Assessment for Learning in pre‐school and schools for children aged 3–14. The period described comprises the launch of 5–14 curriculum and assessment guidelines in the early 1990s, a review and consultation on assessment in pre‐school and 5–14 by HM Inspectorate of Schools, the recent assessment development programme, Assessment is for Learning (AifL), initiated in 2002, and the publication by the Scottish Executive Education Department (SEED) of a set of curriculum and assessment policy documents for education 3–18 in November 2004.The assessment guidelines published in 1991 put considerable emphasis on professional practice in assessment as part of learning and teaching, promoting what would now be recognized as ‘assessment for learning’. However, curriculum guidelines for English language and mathematics and new arrangements for national testing in reading, writing and mathematics were published at the same time. These commanded considerable professional and public attention, so that curriculum content and measurement of attainment levels, rather than the quality of assessment practice in classrooms, became the main focus of schools' planning and action. The increasing emphasis on standards, target‐setting and accountability in the mid‐ to late 1990s ensured that measurement, rather than assessment for learning, remained the main priority.Recognition on the part of ministers that assessment and testing arrangements were not working well for learners, teachers or policy‐makers led to the 1999 review and consultation. This once again asserted the importance for learning and achievement of good professional practice in classroom assessment. At the same time, the emphasis in policy more generally was shifting towards establishing a culture of self‐evaluation in local authorities and schools. The Assessment is for Learning development programme has sought to bring together these various threads in a coherent national system of assessment. It aims to promote excellence in professional assessment practice, the primacy of teachers' judgements and sound arrangements for local quality assurance of those judgements, to ensure consistency. For national monitoring of attainment, there will be a cycle of sample surveys rather than a collection of data for all schools and pupils. The programme has also sought to take account of research on the management of change to ensure that the new system is developed collaboratively with stakeholders and put into effect in all Scottish schools.

Teacher Preparation and Practice: Reconsideration of Assessment for Learning introduces the reader to a collection of thoughtful research-based works by authors that represent current thinking about assessment. What we know is that assessments are designed and implemented in educational settings (both university-based teacher preparation and school-based teacher practice in school classrooms) that serve to inform and guide teaching and learning. We also know that there is a dichotomy between assessment of learning (summative) and assessment for learning (formative) that is recognized on a global level in teacher preparation. Importantly, the reported research examines assessment and the application of professional judgment guided by assessment for learning in contrast to the more normalizing assessment of learning that currently pervades the nature of assessment in teacher preparation and practice. There is a need in the “work of teaching” for assessments that focus on cultural competence and relational sensitivity, communication skills, and the combination of rigor and imagination fundamental to the teaching and learning practices in classrooms. Each chapter focuses on assessment and the preparation and practice of teachers who will enter classrooms to instruct the next generation of students. Chapter One opens the book with a focus on assessment and its relationship to teaching and learning in the classroom, providing the reader with an introduction to the book and an understanding of the role assessment plays in teacher preparation and practice. The authors of Chapters Two–Nine present field-based research that examines assessment in teacher preparation and practice. Each chapter offers the reader an examination of assessment in teacher preparation and practice based on formal research that provides the reader with insight into how the research study was conducted as well as equally important, the findings and conclusions drawn with respect to assessment and teacher preparation and practice. Finally, Chapter Ten presents an epilogue that focuses on the future of assessment in teacher preparation and practice.

In recent times, more attention has been directed towards identifying international trends and ‘best’ practice for assessing pre-service teachers’ classroom performance. Previous attempts to assess Oman’s preservice teachers were based on adopting a psychometric/measurement assessment practice, whereby performance was measured by grades. Such an approach, in recent times, has been viewed as being fundamentally flawed in its attempts to measure pre-service teachers’ classroom practices. This is primarily due to its inability to authentically assess teacher’s learning in the classroom setting. Further underpinning this problem, is that Omani pre-service teachers are expected to undertake an International English Language Testing System (commonly referred to as IELTS), as a measurement of their English proficiency. This approach is problematic, in principle, as it is positioned after graduation and therefore forms no connection to the pre-service teachers’ school experience nor does it add to quality teaching and assessment. This recent shift in thinking, as to the idea that educational assessment should be based on psychometric measurements and grades, has evolved into assessment practices which encourage the integration of assessment into the learning and teaching environment. This thesis is concerned with how the pre-service English Language teacher’s classroom performance is assessed in Oman. Drawing on the work of Gipps (1999, 2002), this thesis adopted a sociocultural perspective to investigate the phenomenon of assessment practices associated with evaluating pre-service teacher’s classroom performance during school-based professional experience (also known as teaching practicum). Understanding assessment practices from a sociocultural perspective and its current practices such as authentic assessment and Assessment for Learning (AfL) assists pre-service teachers to learn so as to become professional, qualified teachers. To achieve the aims of this study, the thesis adopted a qualitative hermeneutic phenomenology approach to investigate the assessment phenomenon and to gain a deep understanding from the key stakeholders involved in the phenomenon. To enable this, the data collected from three higher education institutions, namely Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), Rustaq-College of Applied Sciences (CAS) and Nizwa University and their participating schools. A range of different data sources obtained: assessment texts which position pre-service English Language teachers; three-series of interviews with the different stakeholders: three pre-service teachers, three cooperating teachers and four university supervisors to reveal their experiences; and observing the phenomenon in situ to triangulate with the aforementioned data. Implementing hermeneutic phenomenology, the obtained data analysed using two approaches: Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) so that the existing practices for assessing pre-service English language teachers’ classroom performance in Oman were captured. The analyses revealed that each institution has its assessment practices influenced by its socio-political structure, yet SQU, unlike Rustaq-CAS and Nizwa University, is distinguished in relation to its pre-determined set of professional standards for graduating teachers; explicit assessment criteria that are shared and discussed with pre-service teachers; collaboration between all stakeholders in the assessment process; a clearly defined role for the cooperating teacher as mentor; effective feedback provided to the pre-service teacher; using portfolios to record and document the pre-service teachers achievements; and effective self- and peer-assessment strategies. These practices are mostly experienced by stakeholders at SQU due to its international accreditation under the influence of the standards based on the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). The findings suggest that SQU assessment practices are more aligned with the indicators of international best practice, compared to that of Rustaq-CAS and Nizwa University. Similarly, SQU had a better understanding of assessment practices from a sociocultural perspective. This means that within the context of assessing pre-service teachers’ classroom performance in Oman, the findings are not about each higher education institution but about producing quality teacher graduates by reforming the Omani assessment practices. Having SQU as a model in Oman, the key recommendations for policy and practice from this study are to: 1) set a national professional standards for teachers; 2) have explicit assessment criteria that align with the professional standards; 3) share the assessment criteria for success between all stakeholders in the phenomenon; 4) strengthen the collaboration between schools and universities as well as university supervisors and cooperating teachers,5) make the role of the portfolio more explicit in terms of monitoring and enhancing pre-service teacher development and learning; 6) empower the cooperating teacher to provide a more meaningful mentoring role to pre-service teachers; 7) provide explicit training in effective peer and self-assessment strategies for pre-service teachers in the classroom context and 8) provide explicit training in understanding and delivering quality feedback on classroom performance for all stakeholders.

In this article, we draw upon notions of occupational professionalism and organizational professionalism to interrogate the complex, and sometimes contradictory, teacher learning practices that characterize educational policy enactment. We apply these understandings to the Growing Success assessment and evaluation policy in Ontario, Canada, and in relation to how five educators in varied positions in a regional school district made sense of this policy through professional learning. Our research considers how the interactions between professionalism and teacher learning can be deployed to better understand policy enactment as part of educators’ work and learning. The research reveals that organizational professionalism, characterized by hierarchical modes of decision-making, standardized work practices, external regulation and accountability processes, limited teachers’ learning. However, at the same time more occupational professionalism cultivated forms of professional learning necessary for productive enactment of educational policy. In relation to teacher learning for policy enactment, more occupational professionalism was characterized by, inter alia, commitment to student learning, the generation of dialogue about teachers’ assessment practices, coherence in relation to the whole reform agenda, a focus upon the immediacy of practice, and accountability to one another. The research indicates that even as more organizational professionalism is clearly evident in policy reform, the occupational cultures fostered by districts and schools can have significant beneficial effects for how teacher learning is expressed as a form of policy enactment.

Background In the last few decades, a focus on school accountability at the state and federal levels has created expectations for teachers to attend to data in increasingly structured ways. Although professional learning is often cited as an important facilitator of effective data use, research that focuses on the intersection of professional learning and data use is scarce. Examining teacher perceptions of data use supports, and contrasting assertions of what is desired in data-related professional learning with accounts of the ways in which this professional learning actually happens provide an avenue for exploring these issues and for building a research base that can inform the work of district and campus leaders as well as support providers. Focus of Study This study aimed at examining teacher needs specific to data-related professional learning through a lens informed by knowledge-based organizational learning. We were guided by two broad questions: (a) What knowledge and skills do teachers need in order to engage in data-informed practice? (b) How do professional learning supports address these needs? Research Design The qualitative study draws on document analysis as well as interview and focus group data collected from n=110 participants (teachers, school leaders, and district support staff) in three school districts in central Texas. Flexible a priori coding rooted in our conceptual framework was employed to examine data for themes common across district settings and across school levels (e.g., elementary, middle, high). Code counts were used to further examine areas of professional learning focus and/or apparent imbalance. Findings Educators articulated professional learning needs related to data use in six main areas: (a) asking appropriate questions of data (to guide analysis and use); (b) accessing and operating district data systems; (c) data literacy/interpretation; (d) fitting data use with day-do-day practice; (e) sharing information via collaboration; and (f) knowledge codifica-tion. Of these, data capture via computer data systems was by far the most prominent focus reported by educators in each district. Clear plans for addressing data use capacity through professional learning supports were lacking. Recommendations Taking into account teacher perspectives on what professional learning for data use was needed and on how such supports were, in reality, structured, we make three recommendations: (a) purposefully embed professional learning for data use in ongoing organizational routines; (b) mitigate the district level silos that separate training-on-computer-systems from professional learning focused on turning data into action at the classroom level; and (c) seek balance in supporting the constellation of knowledge and skills that contribute to data use capacity.

Professional learning is critical for teachers to enhance teaching quality and student learning and deal with uncertainty and challenges in modern education environments. Recently, the complexity of teacher professional learning has attracted the attention of many scholars, which has stimulated a rethinking of the nature of teacher professional learning. However, there is a shortage of empirical research focused on the complexity of professional learning for health and physical education (HPE) teachers. Thus, this study explores the nature of professional learning for HPE teachers by examining the professional learning journeys of two HPE teachers from a secondary school in New Zealand. Using an ethnographic approach, the lead researcher collected data through participant observations over 20 weeks, semi-structured interviews, and analysis of relevant artefacts and documents about teacher learning. Data analysis via thematic analysis was conducted during and after the data collection. Informed by complexity thinking as a theoretical framework, the findings suggest that professional learning for HPE teachers can occur in different spaces that afford them various professional learning opportunities and possibilities. In addition, participants’ learning experiences reveal that the professional learning of HPE teachers is non-linear, unpredictable, multifaceted, and self-organised due to individual experiences, roles, needs, preferences, backgrounds, and people and environments they interact with. This study provides empirical evidence to understand the nuanced and complex nature of professional learning for HPE teachers.

This article attempts to unpack the complexity of teachers’ professional knowledge construction in Assessment for Learning (hereafter, AfL). It presents a qualitative study of a school‐based AfL Project which took place in a secondary school in Hong Kong. Thirty lessons video‐recorded in the AfL Project and nine teacher interviews conducted after the Project were analyzed. The findings enrich our understanding of professional knowledge construction in four aspects: (1) personal nature of teachers’ practical knowledge construction in contrived situations; (2) confined integration of AfL into pedagogical content knowledge in terms of ‘skill progression that accompanies experience’; (3) more sophisticated integration of AfL into pedagogical content knowledge as ‘practicalizing theoretical knowledge’; and (4) reflection, conscious deliberation, and ‘theorizing practical knowledge’ associated with more sophisticated professional knowledge integration. Implications for enhancing teachers’ professional learning are discussed.

There is much rhetoric around the notion that schools educate for the future. This research is an interrogation of the ways in which explicit futures time perspectives exists within school practices. This study investigates the ways in which these perspectives appear within curriculum documents and do/do not influence the ways that teachers think about, and plan for, student learning. Moreover, through ongoing and supported professional learning, this research identifies the ways in which teacher practice and student learning is transformed through increased temporal consciousness. This study has sought to identify and examine the ways in which futures and temporality influence schools and school curricula and the ways in which schools and school curricula influence teachers' perceptions and enactment of futures and temporality. It was framed within the contexts of: Invisible fields of study within mainstream educational practices: futures education and futures studies; Psychological understandings about how human capacities of temporality and time perspectives develop; Curriculum documents which demonstrate temporal bias in the ways they are traditionally oriented towards the past, yet simultaneously claim a role in educating for the future; A school with a time machine which did not go to the future (Wooranna Park Primary School). This research is based on an individual case study undertaken at Wooranna Park Primary School, Dandenong North, Victoria, Australia. It incorporates the perspectives and experiences of six teachers situated within the Grade 5/6 Autonomous Learning Unit [ALU]. In this study, the participant action researcher facilitated two types of targeted professional learning to increase the teachers' futures consciousness and understandings of how futures studies could occur within a learning environment.;In the first instance, through directed Professional Development [PD] the teachers were introduced to the field of futures studies. Through this PD they participated in focused activities intended to raise their futures consciousness and in turn their capacity to reflect upon their teaching through these increased futures perspectives. In the second instance, the teachers participated as a professional learning team [PLT]. With ongoing support, as a PLT the teachers collaboratively planned and reflected upon what occurred as they enacted their futures learning within their classroom practices. They also participated in cyclical action research and evaluative interviews in identifying the ways in which futures time perspectives affected their curriculum practices. Analysis of the data in this research has been undertaken through analytic brackets which identified the ways teachers spoke about the future (discourse?in?action), in comparison with the ways in which they 'did' the future within their work (discursive practices). It is clear from this research that, prior to the commencement of this study, the teachers had given little thought to the ways in which they 'educate for the future'. Further, amongst the 25 key findings which have emerged from this research, there can be little doubt that the introduction of futures time perspectives within the classroom curriculum was transformative. This research suggests many directions for further research, much of which has not been undertaken previously. Most of the research previously undertaken in regard to futures education has been completed by people from outside the school environment noting what should be done. In contrast, this study draws upon practitioner as well as theoretical understandings in order to explore what can occur in educating for futures.

Despite the importance of reasoning and proving in mathematics and mathematics education, little is known about how future teachers become proficient in integrating reasoning and proving in their teaching practices. In this article, we characterize this aspect of prospective secondary mathematics teachers’ (PSTs’) professional learning by drawing upon the commognitive theory. We offer a triple-layer conceptualization of (student) learning, teaching, and learning to teach mathematics via reasoning and proving by focusing on the discourses students participate in (learning), the opportunities for reasoning and proving afforded to them (teaching), and how PSTs design and enrich such opportunities (learning to teach). We explore PSTs’ pedagogical discourse anchored in the lesson plans they designed, enacted, and modified as part of their participation in a university-based course: Mathematical Reasoning and Proving for Secondary Teachers. We identified four types of discursive modifications: structural, mathematical, reasoning-based, and logic-based. We describe how the potential opportunities for reasoning and proving afforded to students by these lesson plans changed as a result of these modifications. Based on our triple-layered conceptualization we illustrate how the lesson modifications and the resulting alterations to student learning opportunities can be used to characterize PSTs’ professional learning. We discuss the affordances of theorizing teacher practices with the same theoretical lens (grounded in commognition) to inquire student learning and teacher learning, and how lesson plans, as a proxy of teaching practices, can be used as a methodological tool to better understand PSTs’ professional learning.

Foreword by Stephanie Hirsh Publisher's Acknowledgments About the Author Introduction 1. An Overview: Collaborative Curriculum Design as Professional Learning 2. Establishing Assumptions About Student and Staff Learning 3. Determining Complex Curriculum Standards and Concepts 4. Mapping the Curriculum 5. Assessment of Student Learning 6. Designing Instruction 7. Analyzing Student Work and Monitoring Student Learning to Inform Instruction 8. Using Effective Grading and Parent Reporting Practices 9. Leading Schools to Sustain the Effort and Fulfill the Promise Appendix 1. Our Assumptions About Student and Staff Learning Appendix 2. The Principles of Professional Learning Appendix 3. Our Vision of Our School: Iduma Elementary School, Killeen ISD, Killeen, TX Appendix 4. A Learning Walk Appendix 5. We are a School Community That Values Learning Appendix 6. Template for Developing Our Learning Community's Norms Appendix 7. Quakertown High School Goals Appendix 8. Sample Letter to Parents Appendix 9. Critical Attributes of a Performance Task Appendix 10. Template for Culminating Demonstrations Appendix 11. Example of a Task Analysis of a Culminating Demonstration Appendix 12. Example of a Task Analysis of a Culminating Demonstration (Term III) Appendix 13. Precision in Adverbs Appendix 14. Middle Ages Scoring Guide Appendix 15. Culminating Demonstration Rubric for First Grade Students at Heritage Elementary Appendix 16. Kindergarten Literacy Lesson Plans References Index

This paper reports research findings relating to a recent initiative to build capacity and support professional learning among educators to meet the needs of English language learners in Ontario schools. Drawing on data from case studies of educator teams in 16 school districts, the paper explores whether and how collaborative inquiry promoted effective professional learning and enhanced student learning. In particular, these findings suggest that engaging in collaborative inquiry shifted teacher attitudes, perspectives, and beliefs about language in education, deepened understanding of students’ bilingual learning processes, and generated openness to the value of home languages and translanguaging for content curriculum learning. The findings are illustrated with examples from classroom practice, and implications for teacher professional learning are discussed.

In recent years, educational assessment policies in Canada have expanded to include explicit mandates towards assessment for learning (AfL). These mandates emphasize the continuous use of assessments to support student learning through an integrated approach to teaching and assessment. In this chapter, we explore the emergence and implementation of AfL practices and policies in the education systems of several English-language provinces, with a specific focus on the Ontario context. We focus our argument on the critical role of in-service teacher learning for successful AfL policy implementation. Based on a three-year professional learning project in Ontario, we describe and analyze structures to support teachers’ integration of AfL within their classroom contexts. Our findings highlight the value and role of responsive, scaffolded, and embedded structures that move teachers toward greater AfL integration. The chapter concludes with a discussion of implications for future professional learning and for policies supporting greater AfL integration in classrooms and schools.

BackgroundProfessional self-concept is one of the important outcomes of nursing professionalism. There is a lack of adequately planned curriculum may limit nursing students’ practical knowledge, skills and professional self-concept in providing comprehensive geriatric-adult care and promoting nursing professionalism. Professional portfolio learning strategy has allowed nursing students to continue professional development and enhance nursing professionalism in professional clinical practice. However, there is little empirical evidence in nursing education to support the use of professional portfolios in blended learning modality among internship nursing students. Therefore, this study aims to examine the effect of the blended professional portfolio learning on professional self-concept among undergraduate nursing students during Geriatric-Adult internship.MethodsA quasi-experimental study two-group pre-test post-test design. A total of 153 eligible senior undergraduate students completed the study (76 in the intervention group and 77 in the control group). They were recruited from two Bachelor of Sciences in Nursing (BSN) cohorts from nursing schools at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (MUMS), in Iran, in January 2020. Randomization was undertaken at the level of school via a simple lottery method. The intervention group received the professional portfolio learning program as a holistic blended learning modality, though the control group received conventional learning during professional clinical practice. A demographic questionnaire and the Nurse Professional Self-concept questionnaire were used for data collection.ResultsThe findings imply the effectiveness of the blended PPL program. Results of Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) analysis was indicated significantly improved professional self-concept development and its dimensions (self-esteem, caring, staff relation, communication, knowledge, leadership) with high effect size. The results of the between-group comparison for professional self-concept and its dimensions at different time points (pre, post and follow up test) showed a significant difference between groups at post-test and follow up test (p < 0.05),while at pre-test there was no important dissimilarity between two groups (p > 0.05).The results of within-group comparison for both control and intervention showed that there were significant differences in professional self-concept and for all its dimensions across the time from pre-test to post-test and follow-up (p < 0.05), and also from post-test to follow-up it was significant (p < 0.05) for both groups.ConclusionThis professional portfolio learning program demonstrates as an innovative and holistic blended teaching-learning approach to improve professional self-concept during professional clinical practice among undergraduate nursing students. It appears that the use of a blended designed of professional portfolio can promote a link between theory and the advancement of geriatric adult nursing internship practice. The data obtained from the present study can be useful for nursing education to evaluate and redesign a curriculum for development of nursing professionalism as a quality improvement process and groundwork to develop new models of teaching-learning and assessment.

Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) is one of the most prominent frameworks that outlines the types of knowledge teachers need to teach effectively with technology. Recent research on TPACK has emphasised Contextual Knowledge (XK), which accounts for teachers’ understanding of where teaching and learning are situated. Aiming to contribute to advancing research on XK, this case study investigated teachers’ development of XK and the challenges they faced in the process. The participants were five English language teachers across two secondary schools in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The data were primarily gathered through in-depth interviews, informed by teachers’ lesson plans and digital teaching artefacts. Three layers of context –micro (classroom level), meso (school and community levels), and macro (national and global levels) –were used as a framework for analysing the data. Derived through thematic analysis, the findings highlight that participating teachers benefitted from informal engagement with students at the micro level, as well as collegial collaboration and professional learning at the meso level. At the macro level, they talked about the usefulness of technology-mediated professional learning, particularly through social media. Time constraints due to teacher workload were identified as a key barrier to their XK development. The study highlights the implications of different spaces and modes of professional learning for XK development and calls for policies to regulate teacher administrative burdens.

Despite considerable expenditure by school systems on ICT in terms of hardware, software, and related professional development programs, the impact on classroom practice remains disappointing to many. Current models of teacher professional learning in ICT appear to have had minimal impact. Based in the interpretative paradigm, this thesis describes the experience of the participants in a unique professional development program in which students in Grades 3 and 4 mentored teachers in their school in the use of ICT. The study was undertaken in two schools in Melbourne, Australia, and involved the professional development of teachers in the use of digital cameras and related software. Following their initial training with the researcher in one school and a focus teacher in another, the children worked in pairs to conduct three semi-structured sessions with a teacher, mentoring them in the use of the technology. The children were also available to the teachers for further consultation or assistance. It was intended that the mentoring program would enhance teachers' knowledge of the technology and also their classroom practice. This thesis reports the benefits of student mentors in ICT as seen by teacher mentees involved in the project. In particular, the focus of this study is on the teachers' perceived effect of the student mentoring approach to professional development in relation to their skills and confidence with ICT, their classroom practice with ICT and their recognition of other values inherent in the program. Data were collected throughout the project in the form of surveys, interviews, observations and student and teacher journals. Using NVivo, these data were analysed into themes to ascertain teachers' reported benefits of the program in relation to their skills, confidence and classroom practice with ICT.;Findings of the project included the improvement in teachers' skills and confidence and an impact on their thinking and practices with technology in the classroom. As well as these intended outcomes, teachers also reported a greater knowledge of their personal learning preferences, which influenced the way they saw the children's learning and therefore their classroom practice. Child mentors flourished in the mentoring relationships, showing their prowess in mentoring teachers with ICT, with several surprising their teachers with their capabilities. Overall, the teachers were very positive about the mentoring experience and the influence it had on their confidence, skills and classroom practice. This study showed the potential impact of children as mentors of teachers in ICT, and offers a model for consideration by schools and school systems in the way in which they approach professional learning in ICT of their teachers.