An introduction to research with the teachers' conceptions of assessment: A western construct?

The Teachers’ Conceptions of Assessment inventory has been used in studies with primary and secondary school teachers in New Zealand and Queensland. It has been translated and used in two studies in Chinese contexts (i.e., Hong Kong and China). The Western studies consistently support the existence of four inter-correlated conceptions (i.e., assessment makes schools accountable, assessment makes students accountable, assessment improves teaching and learning, assessment is irrelevant). While similar factors have been found in the two Chinese studies, it was apparent that the factor inter-correlations were quite different. This was especially noted around the relationship of improvement and student accountability factors which were highly correlated in Chinese studies but weakly correlated in Western studies. This suggests that while the British assessment for learning policy is being advocated around the world, there may significant factors in how assessment is understood and used in Chinese contexts that require an alternative policy development. To that end, two studies have been conducted to extend our understanding of what assessment means to teachers in Chinese contexts. Copyright © 2010 The Author.