Factors Influencing Teachers’ Choice and Use of Assessment

Abstract

Research on the factors influencing teachers’ assessment conceptions and practices is sparse. There is also a need to explore the complex relationship between personal and school-level factors that influence teachers’ assessment practices. Therefore, this explanatory sequential mixed methods study investigated the levels and types of factors that influenced Jamaican secondary school teachers’ choice and use of assessment and the interactions among the factor levels. 1088 secondary school teachers were surveyed, and the quantitative findings were explored with 32 teachers of English. Standard multiple regression revealed that micro-, meso- and macro-level factors influenced the teacher's frequency of use of traditional and alternative assessment tools and strategies, with the micro-level factors making the greatest unique contribution. Case study analysis also revealed that the assessment and teacher factors influenced teachers to use summative and formative assessment, respectively. The findings also revealed that the micro-level teacher factors mitigated the influence of the meso- and macro-level assessment factors to influence teachers to use assessment for formative purposes. These findings highlight the need for national and school-level policies and interventions to support teachers' formative use of assessment.