Kim Koh

Authentic and conventional assessment in Singapore schools: an empirical study of teacher assignments and student work

This is an empirical examination of the quality of teacher assignments and student work in Singapore schools. Using a theoretical framework based on principles of authentic assessment and intellectual quality, two sets of criteria and scoring rubrics were developed for the training of expert teachers to judge the quality of assignments and student work. Following rigorous training, the inter‐rater reliability of expert teacher scoring was high. Samples of teacher assignments and student work were collected in English, social studies, mathematics, and science subject areas from a random stratified sample of 30 elementary schools and 29 high schools. For both grade levels, there were significant differences for the authentic intellectual quality of teachers’ assignments by subject area. Likewise, the differences of authentic intellectual quality for student work were significant and varied by subject area. Subject area effect was large. The correlations between the quality of teachers’ assignment tasks and student work were strong and significant at both grade levels. Where teachers set more intellectually demanding tasks, students were more likely to generate work or artefacts judged to be of higher quality. The findings suggest that teacher professional development in authentic intellectual assessment task design can contribute to the improvement of student learning and performance. It is argued that this will be a key requisite of educational systems like Singapore that are seeking to expand pedagogy and student outcomes beyond a focus on factual and rote knowledge.

Comparability of Bilingual Versions of Assessments: Sources of Incomparability of English and French Versions of Canada's National Achievement Tests

This research examined the degree of comparability and sources of incomparability of English and French versions of reading, mathematics, and science tests that were administered as part of a survey of achievement in Canada. The results point to substantial psychometric differences between the 2 language versions. Approximately 18% to 36% of the items were identified as differentially functioning for the 2 language groups. Large proportions of these differential item functioning (DIF) items, 36% to 100% across age groups and content areas, were attributed to adaptation related differences. A smaller proportion, 27% to 33% of the DIF items, was attributed to curricular differences. Twenty-four to 49% of DIF items could not be attributed to either of the 2 sources considered in the study.

Improving teachers’ assessment literacy through professional development

This study examined the effects of professional development on teachers’ assessment literacy between two groups of teachers: (1) teachers who were involved in ongoing and sustained professional development in designing authentic classroom assessment and rubrics; and (2) teachers who were given only short-term, one-shot professional development workshops in authentic assessment. The participating teachers taught Year 4 and 5 English, science, and mathematics. The findings showed that the assessment literacy of teachers who were involved in ongoing, sustained professional development had increased significantly during the second year of study. These teachers had also gained a better understanding of authentic assessment.

Examining the Construct Comparability of the English and French Versions of TIMSS

The objective of this research was to examine the comparability of constructs assessed by English and French versions of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). The differences in constructs observed in our analyses indicate serious limitations of using TIMSS results for making comparisons that use overall performance in mathematics and science. In particular, large differences between constructs were observed between the U.S. and French scales. Such limitations include rank ordering of performance of countries such as the United States and France, as well as conducting research using TIMSS data to compare factors associated with performance. The results from this study point to differences in constructs assessed by TIMSS in different countries and the importance of empirical evidence to support construct comparability before TIMSS results can be meaningfully used for research.

Developing the assessment literacy of teachers in Chinese language classrooms: A focus on assessment task design

A teacher’s assessment literacy refers to her or his demonstrated understanding of the principles behind selecting and designing tasks, judging student work, and interpreting and using assessment data to support student learning. This study examines the development of the task design aspect of assessment literacy in 12 Chinese language teachers as they participated in a two-year authentic assessment professional development program. By analysing the quality of assessment tasks designed by the teachers over time, we found that, although teachers quickly grasped many aspects of task design, they found it difficult to incorporate certain knowledge manipulation criteria into their assessments. The study provides insights into the contextual and discipline-embedded challenges that face language teachers with regard to assessment.

The Use of Video Technology in Pre-service Teacher Education and In-service Teacher Professional Development

This chapter provided a review of the western literature on the use of video technology in teacher education and professional development. The importance of using videos in building pre-service and in-service mathematics teachers was discussed in the context of digital literacy and current movements in teacher education and professional development. The role of video in teacher education and professional development has evolved since the 1960s based on both prevailing learning theories and technological innovations. Following the review, a rubric was constructed to evaluate the effectiveness of video technology used in pre-service and in-service mathematics teacher education and professional development in six Asian countries: Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines.

Authentic Assessment, Teacher Judgment and Moderation in a Context of High Accountability

As we enter the second decade of the twenty-first century, the use of authentic assessment as a school-based assessment has become increasingly important in various educational systems that are working towards realigning their desired educational outcomes to meet twenty-first century skills and competencies. Using clearly stated success criteria and standards in authentic assessment has enabled the practices of assessment for learning to occur in daily classroom instruction. One of the key conditions for using school-based authentic assessments as an effective leverage point in education reform is that teachers need to possess not only a high level of assessment literacy, but also additional agency and autonomy in their roles as competent assessors and moderators of the quality of students’ work. This chapter uses the country of Singapore to illustrate how teachers need additional agency and autonomy in their professional judgment of students’ work, if the enabling power of school-based authentic assessments is to be used to promote student learning of twenty-first century skills and competencies in a high-accountability context. Some recommendations for teacher professional development in using assessment criteria and standards to judge the quality of students’ work through social moderation practice are also discussed.

Improving Teachers’ Assessment Literacy in Singapore Mathematics Classrooms: Authentic Assessment Task Design

In this chapter, we present a school-based, practice-oriented professional development approach to mathematics authentic assessment task design and examine its impact on elementary mathematics teachers’ assessment literacy. The quality of teachers’ assessment tasks used in the day-to-day mathematics instruction was used as an indicator of teachers’ assessment literacy. We believe that authentic assessment tasks provide rich learning opportunities for students to develop their mathematical literacy, which was evident in students’ work. In addition, teachers’ active involvement in the design and implementation of mathematics authentic assessments has the potential to increase their diagnostic competence. Singapore, one of the high-performing education systems in the world, was used as an example to demonstrate the importance of improving mathematics teachers’ assessment literacy in the context of twenty-first century teaching and learning. The chapter ends with some recommendations for using mathematics authentic assessments to increase teachers’ diagnostic competence. It also includes some suggestions for future research.

Promoting reflection in pre-service teachers through problem-based learning: an example from Canada

Abstract This article discusses the process, benefits, challenges and recommendations associated with the adoption of the Problem-based Learning (PBL) approach to promote reflection for pre-service teachers. Drawing upon Schön’s concept of reflection, this article explains how a pre-service course in Canada aims to promote the participants’ ‘reflection in action’ of assessment content knowledge and professional competence through PBL. The article points out that PBL enables the pre-service teachers to critically reflect on assessment issues and make meaningful connections between their reflections and real-life teaching. The key challenges are the facilitators’ inadequate understanding of using PBL to promote reflection, as well as the pre-service teachers’ struggle with time constraint and juggling between their need for teacher guidance, group collaboration and self-directed study. To address these challenges, the article recommends formal professional development sessions for the PBL instructors, and the achievement of a balance between learner autonomy and teacher guidance.