The study adopted a conceptual framework developed by Saxe, Franke, Gearhart, Howard and Crockett (1997) who studied teachers’ shifting assessment practices in mathematics education reform in the United States. However, the framework adopted was modified to suit the context of the Solomon Islands’ secondary science teachers. This is based on the premise that teachers’ assessment practices are influenced by several factors including their beliefs about teaching and values, classroom realities, external factors, experiences and teacher-decision making rationale and their preparedness to apply assessment knowledge and skills in their teaching practices (McMillan & Lawson, 2001; McMillan & Nash, 2000; Nespor, 1987). In order to explore and understand teachers’ summative assessment practices, four key assumptions were considered for this study.
First, teachers are introduced to the principles and methods of assessment during their initial teacher education (Saxe, et al., 1997, p. 2). It is assumed that the teachers who participated in this study learned about assessment through a variety of educational assessment courses offered in their teacher education curriculum. However, the teacher education institutions that the teachers attended might have placed varying degrees of emphasis and focus on assessment. As a result, the teachers in this study might have acquired different levels of training and developed varying assessment knowledge and skills.
Second, teachers “construct and reconstruct their assessment activities on a daily basis” based on what they know and support received from knowledgeable others in their schools until they can confidently apply assessment skills into their practices as they respond to policy directions, parental expectations and personal conviction for change (Saxe, et al., 1997, p. 2). This means that the teachers develop their own ideas about assessment from past experiences and actual practices, from knowledgeable others and practiced them over time, as well, as adhering to new policies and standards set by individual schools and the school wide assessment system. These factors might have inevitably influenced the science teachers’ summative assessment practices.
The third assumption is that teachers’ assessment practices can be understood over time as “an interplay between the different assessment forms and the functions they serve” (Saxe, et al., 1997, p. 2). This implies that teachers are duty- bound to use assessments for a variety of purposes and functions in their science classrooms. However, the actual assessment practices of teachers are variably dependent upon several factors including the beliefs they hold about assessment, teaching and learning, as well as, assessment policies and guidelines that specify the purposes that assessments should serve at their respective schools.
The fourth and final assumption is that teachers can enhance their assessment knowledge and skills through professional development programs. Professional development activities in assessment have the potential to improve teachers’ teaching and assessment practices which can ultimately improve students’ performance. This study acknowledges that teacher education institutions are responsible for helping pre-service teachers to develop foundational knowledge and skills in teaching, and ensure they are competent in their teaching and assessment skills. Hence, teachers should begin their teaching careers with some degree of confidence. However, the quality of teaching and assessment practiced by teachers in the classroom and school level depends largely on the kind of teaching and learning environment provided in schools. Also, availability of teaching resources, professional support provided for teachers in schools to help them further develop those knowledge and skills they learned during their initial teacher education, and to keep them updated on current best practices in teaching
their specific subjects. This was the key reason for conducting the professional development intervention in assessment in this study. The intent was to support the science teachers build their classroom practices, particularly in performing their roles in using assessment for a summative purpose.
Previous studies have indicated that changing teachers’ assessment practices through professional development does not necessarily change their teaching and assessment practices immediately (Munby & Lock, 2000). Rather, teachers develop their own ideas about teaching and assessment over time, and these and other factors influence them to adopt and practice what they believe would work best for them and in response to school assessment policies and regulations. Briscoe and Wells’ (2002) study indicated that cognitive and contextual factors influenced a teacher’s thoughts and actions in relation to assessment. It is assumed that the science teachers in this study were also at liberty to apply what they learned and applied them into their practice based on what they considered was best in their classroom practices. Therefore, teachers’ summative assessment practices can be influenced largely by their level of preparedness, experiences, beliefs, expectations and standards set by schools and professional development support received during their professional career.
3.7 Summary
The outcome of the literature reviewed indicated that assessment is a process of gathering data that related to what students know and can do. Summative assessment is perceived variously as a process, method, and purpose for obtaining information about students’ overall achievement at the end of a teaching period. Because of the high-stakes nature and consequences it has on students’ motivation for learning, summative assessment is highly criticised and neglected though the literature points out that it is the dominant type of assessment used in many education systems around the world.
Justification for summative assessment as an integral component of the education system has been highlighted in the review. Although there is limited literature that reports on research that supports summative assessment, there is convincing evidence to argue for its role and function. Attention is emerging of its
development in terms of supporting teachers to strengthen the enactment and enforcement of summative assessment in classrooms as a potential tool for not only declaring students’ overall achievements but also to inform decisions that will enhance teaching and learning–particularly in its use in monitoring learning trends and student achievement.
The literature review revealed that an effective assessment system comprised of classroom-based assessment, examination and large-scale survey assessment. It also pointed out that high-performing education system involve a variety of valid and reliable types of assessment, including performance-based assessment open- ended performance tasks and school-based assessments. These types of assessments help students to demonstrate not only students’ knowledge but also higher thinking skills which allow them to seek and organise information to solve problems, design and conduct investigations, analyse and synthesise data and apply what they learn to new situations. High-performing assessment systems focus on data driven approaches whereby students, teacher and schools are provided feedback on students’ performance to shape future learning as well as for decision making that contributes to general improvement of students’ learning. Effective assessment systems also ensure close alignment of curriculum outcomes, subject content, performance criteria and desired learning outcomes.
The review identified several factors that are highly influential on teachers’ assessment practice, which is not restricted to science subject but to all subject areas and disciplines. Among the factors, beliefs teachers have about knowledge, curriculum, learning and assessment have positive and negative consequences on teachers’ assessment practices. These concerns elevate the need for research to explore the relationships between teachers’ beliefs, knowledge about subject, teaching, learning and assessment and the impact they may have on their classroom practices. The literature review reveals the importance of providing ongoing professional development for teachers throughout their teaching career. It indicated that for education systems to be effective and successful, teacher professional development must be of a high quality and relevant to teachers’ assessment needs and students’ learning needs.
From the range of professional development models identified, the Standard Teacher Professional Development (TPD) model was seen to be an appropriate model for studying the professional learning and development experiences of the teachers targeted in this study. The Standard TPD model involves teachers from a school or few schools who attend workshops organised by a facilitator at a central venue to build their skills in areas that the professional development focuses on, based on a teacher needs analysis. In this model, the teachers receive training to improve their classroom practices and return to their respective schools to apply what they have learned.
In view of the key findings of the literature reviewed, there definitely appears to be a great need to conduct the current study to explore Solomon Islands science teachers’ summative assessment practices to determine; (i) the types of assessment they use to assess their students’ learning achievements, (ii) the views and understanding teachers possess about summative assessment and (iii) factors that influence their current summative assessment practices. It is also imperative to assess and evaluate the impact professional development has on science teachers summative assessment practices after receiving training from the facilitator and to determine (i) what and how the science teachers learn, (ii) the assessment strategies teachers implemented when they return to their classrooms, and (ii) the factors that influence the implementation of new assessment ideas and procedures in their post-professional development practices. The questions will certainly reveal Solomon Islands secondary science teachers’ summative assessment practices as there is currently no study conducted and to provide evidence for decision making that will contribute toward improvement and the understanding of education assessment in general.
CHAPTER FOUR: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
4.1 Introduction
This chapter provides an overview of the methodology and methods used in this research. In particular, it justifies the choice of an interpretative-qualitative research approach and the methods of data collection that were used to gather information relating to the key research questions that guided this study.
The chapter is organised as follows: Section 4.2 presents the research questions, Section 4.3 describes the research approach and why it was chosen. An outline of the design and methods for data collection used is in Section 4.4, the data analysis techniques in Section 4.5. A description of how quality assurance for this study was established is given in Section 4.6. The ethical measures that were factored in the research to observe the rights of the participants are discussed in Section 4.7. Section 4.8 summarises the chapter.