Primary school teachers' assessment profiles in mathematics education

PLoS One. 2014 Jan 23;9(1):e86817. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0086817. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to contribute to knowledge about classroom assessment by identifying profiles of teachers' assessment of their students' understanding of mathematics. For carrying out this study we used data of a nationwide teacher survey (N = 960) in the Netherlands. The data were collected by an online questionnaire. Through exploratory factor analyses the underlying structure of what is measured by this questionnaire was uncovered as consisting of five factors: Goal centeredness of assessment, Authentic nature of assessment, Perceived usefulness of assessment, Diversity of assessment problem format, and Allocated importance of assessing skills and knowledge. By using a latent class analysis four different assessment profiles of teachers were identified: Enthusiastic assessors, Mainstream assessors, Non-enthusiastic assessors, and Alternative assessors. The findings suggest that teachers with particular assessment profiles have qualitatively different assessment practices. The paper concludes with discussing theoretical implications of these assessment profiles and indications these profiles can offer both for designing material for professional development in classroom assessment and for evaluating changes in teachers' classroom assessment practice.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Faculty*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mathematics*
  • Netherlands
  • Perception
  • Professional Competence*
  • Schools*
  • Students*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Teaching / methods*

Grants and funding

The study reported in this article was carried out in the ICA (Improving Classroom Assessment) project that is supported by a grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO MaGW/PROO: Project 411-10-750). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.