Professional learning on assessment design through teacher collaboration

Abstract

Background: Using assessment to support instructional planning is a substantial focus on professional learning (Carless, 2017). The growing interest in assessment design suggests its functional significance in shaping opportunities to learn. Aims: This study explored how teacher collaboration influenced professional learning experiences on assessment design in the context of educational innovation. It was part of a bigger project aimed to examine the professional learning process for development of 21st-century competencies. Methodology: Guided by an interactional ethnographic approach (Bridges et. al., 2012; Green et. al., 2003), this study investigated the 42 collaborative meetings from a team of five teachers in Hong Kong. From a situated discourse perspective, the two workgroups of this team were compared and analyzed on how teachers collectively interpreted their original assessment design. The multiple sources of evidence for data triangulation included video records, interviews, and textual materials. The actual course of teacher collaboration on assessment design was used to formulate causal inference within and across time and events. Results: The two workgroups adopted different assessment design approaches. Teachers from the first workgroup applied the designers’ perspective and demonstrated their situatedness towards students by coordinating three aspects of assessment, i.e., cognition, observation, and interpretation. On another hand, teachers from the second workgroup applied the performance-based assessment in the pursuit of a more profound meaning through curriculum alignment which supported the instructional practice. Although the two workgroups belonged to the same school and implemented the same subject, they adopted different logics in assessment design based on their corresponding institutional boundaries. Overall, their routine of work produced and confined the opportunities for professional learning. Theoretical and practical significance: The comparison of their assessment design process in considering students’ need extends the assessment triangle and curriculum alignment model. This study provides a better understanding of professional learning in the alignment process between classroom assessment and instructional practice through teacher collaboration. It highlights the interpretation of assessment supporting learners through teacher collaboration for curriculum development (Fung, 2016). In conclusion, assessment design with flexibility relies on teachers’ professional noticing, understanding, and acting. Implications for cultivating teachers' assessment literacy to support instructional improvement are derived, which provided a space to explore the issue of assessment equity for professional learning.