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Improving and Evaluating Assessment Literacy in Preservice and Practicing Teachers
Research Team
Principal Investigator: Anthony Albano
Funding Information
Funding Agency: Office of Research and Innovation—Layman Award
Award Date: Jun 1, 2015
End Date: May 31, 2016
Abstract
Accurate assessment of students’ knowledge, skills, and abilities is critical to effective teaching and learning. Teachers who effectively utilize assessment in the classroom are more likely to have a positive impact on student learning outcomes.
However, teachers are often unprepared to utilize assessment in the classroom because they lack resources and practical experience developing and implementing valid assessments. Professional development opportunities in assessment literacy, i.e., the ability to develop and use assessments effectively in the classroom, have become critical for in-service teachers, especially teachers in districts that lack local support and resources to provide these opportunities.
This project will develop and pilot test an open-source web-based professional development tool for training and evaluating teachers in the basic principles of classroom assessment development and use. The professional development will build upon a tool currently used in graduate-level courses on assessment at the University of Nebraska. A limitation of the current tool is its focus on pre-service teachers and assessment specialists in training.
This study will extend and pilot test the tool with in-service math and science teachers. Results will be analyzed to determine (a) the preliminary efficacy of the tool for measuring and improving teachers’ abilities with assessment and (b) the feasibility of implementing the tool in authentic settings.
Specific project goals are to:
- Survey teachers to better understand their individual assessment literacy needs.
- Create engaging online content targeting teachers’ needs.
- Develop a collaborative web application where teachers create and receive feedback on their assessments.
- Construct and collect validity evidence on a new measure of teachers’ assessment literacy.