Exploring Teachers’ Language Assessment Literacy: A Social Constructivist Approach to Understanding Effective Practices

Exploring teachers’ levels of assessment literacy in terms of their previous assessment experiences may help teacher educators to better understand the factors which promote or prevent effective assessment, thus contributing to more targeted and empowering teacher education. The research presented in this paper adopts a social constructivist model of learning and meaning-making, with the language classroom representing the community of practice. The first phase of the project consisted of interviews with teachers, in which they were invited to estimate their understanding of individual components of the assessment process and indicate how much they would like to learn about each. Classroom observations then took place followed by post-observation, reflective interviews. Finally, focus group discussions were conducted with further groups of experienced teachers. Four key findings are presented, highlighting the considerable differences in understanding which exist between teachers and those who research and write about language testing/assessment

Beyond surveys: An approach to understanding effective classroom assessment practices

The aim of this project was to provide teachers with training materials that meet their actual, specified needs, based on interviews, classroom observations and focus-group discussions. Findings from the study reveal there are large differences in understanding between teachers and those who research and write about teachers’ language assessment literacy. We conclude by showing an example of materials produced, which were specifically requested by teachers to develop their understanding of the CEFR and its levels

Exploring teachers’ language assessment literacy: a social constructivist approach to understanding effective practice

Jones and Saville (2016) assert that the two key purposes of assessment are to promote learning and to measure and interpret what has been learned. In terms of classroom assessment, this implies that teachers have a central role to play in planning and/or implementing appropriate assessment procedures to monitor and evaluate student progress in their classrooms. But teachers’ attitudes and beliefs, based on their own experiences of assessment, exert a powerful role in shaping their decisions, judgements and behaviour (Borg, 2006). Exploring teachers’ levels of assessment literacy in terms of their own assessment experiences may help teacher educators to better understand the factors which promote or prevent effective assessment, thus contributing to more targeted and empowering teacher education. The research to be discussed in this presentation adopts a social constructivist model of learning and meaning-making, with the language classroom representing the community of practice. Drawing on Davies’ (2008) components of assessment literacy Skills, Knowledge and Principles, Phase 1 of the project consisted of interviews with teachers in which they were invited to estimate their understanding of the individual components of the assessment process and indicate how much they would like to learn about each. Classroom observations then took place which focused on teachers' actual assessment practices, followed by post-observation, reflective interviews. Finally, focus group discussions were conducted with further groups of experienced teachers, which confirmed the findings from Phase 1. Four key findings will be presented relating to teachers’: 1) previous training in assessment; 2) attitudes to language testing and associated theory; 3) understanding of assessment in its broader sense; 4) understanding of ‘language assessment literacy’. It would seem that there are considerable differences in understanding between teachers and those who research and write about language testing/assessment, which may have important implications for the development of future teacher education courses

Mind the gap – bringing teachers into the language literacy debate

Teachers’ attitudes and beliefs are frequently cited as exerting a powerful role in shaping their decisions, judgements and behaviour (Borg, 2006; Kagan, 1992). Consequently, exploring teachers’ levels of assessment literacy may help teacher educators to better understand the factors which promote or prevent effective assessment, and thus contribute to more targeted teacher education. Much previous research into teachers’ assessment literacy has relied on survey data (Fulcher 2012, Plake & Impara 2002)). The research to be discussed in this presentation focuses on the sociocultural context in relation to actual assessment literacy practices in the language classroom, since an investigation into what is happening in classes may be of little value without exploring why it is happening. With the exception of a case study following three Chinese University teachers (Xu 2015), no teachers have been asked directly about their attitudes to assessment or their specific training needs. This project sought to bring teachers more directly into the assessment literacy debate in order to provide them with training materials which meet their actual stated needs. The initial phase of the project consisted of a series of interviews and observations of experienced teachers, conducted at the international study centre of a British university. The interviews drew on Davies’ (2008) components of assessment literacy which, following Stiggins (1991, 1997) he defined as Skills + Knowledge but with the important addition of Principles. In the interviews, teachers were invited to estimate their understanding of the components of the assessment process and asked to indicate how much they would like to learn about each individual component. Observations were then conducted which focused on teachers’ assessment practices in the classroom. Post-observation interviews were subsequently conducted with the teachers, in which they were asked to reflect on their observed classroom practice. In the second phase of the project, focus group discussions were held with experienced teachers at teaching centres attached to a major international organisation in two European countries. These teachers taught a variety of different English language classes across a range of ages and proficiency, including kindergarten, elementary, secondary and tertiary level students, plus special-purpose classes for organisations. These discussions confirmed the findings from the initial phase of the project, culminating in the creation of a set of on-line training materials. Four key findings from the project will be presented relating to the teachers’: 1) previous training in assessment; 2) attitudes to language testing and associated theory; 3) understanding of assessment in its broader sense; 4) understanding of ‘language assessment literacy’. From this research it would seem that the gap between teachers and those who research and write about language testing is considerable. This research project sought to narrow the gap by giving teachers a stronger voice in the debate, which, in turn, may have important implications for the development of future teacher training courses

Assessment: attitudes, practices and needs

This presentation was delivered as a webinar. The webinar was organised by British Council Wider Europe and was available in 15 countries across the region

What do teachers really want to know about assessment?

This presentation will focus on a project which sought to bring teachers more directly into the assessment literacy debate and provide them with training materials which meet their stated needs. With the exception of a single case study following three Chinese University teachers (Xu, 2015), no teachers have been asked directly about their attitudes to assessment or their specific training needs. Following an earlier study which relied on survey data from teachers (Berry and O’Sullivan, 2015), the first part of this project was based on interviews and observations. The interviews drew on Davies’ (2008) categories of testing knowledge, defined as skills, knowledge and principles. In the interviews, teachers were asked to estimate their understanding of components of the assessment process and then to indicate how much they would like to learn about an individual component. Observations were conducted which focused on teachers’ assessment practices. Post-observation interviews were then conducted with the teachers. The observations and interviews were conducted at the international study centre of a British university and the focus group discussions were held at teaching centres attached to a major international organisation overseas. A workshop was also conducted at a major international conference with teachers from many parts of the world. These all served to confirm the earlier findings. The outcome of the project was the creation of a set of on-line training materials for teachers. This presentation will describe the project its findings and conclude with a discussion of the training materials developed. Audience feedback will be welcome

Singing from the same hymn sheet? What language assessment literacy means to teachers

This proposal focuses on a project which investigated language assessment literacy practices in the classroom. The project sought to bring teachers more directly into the assessment literacy debate and provide them with training materials which meet their stated needs. With the exception of a single case study following three Chinese University teachers (Xu 2015), no teachers have been asked directly about their attitudes to assessment or their specific training needs Exploring teachers’ current levels of assessment literacy may help teacher educators to better understand the factors which promote or prevent effective assessment, and thus contribute to more targeted teacher education. However, an investigation into what is happening in classes may be of little value without exploring why it is happening. Teachers’ attitudes and beliefs are frequently cited as exerting a powerful role in shaping their decisions, judgments and behaviour (see for example: Borg, 2006; Kagan, 1992). The first part of the project was based on interviews and observation. The interviews drew on Davies’ (2008) categories of testing knowledge. He defines these as skills, knowledge and principles. The interviews asked teachers to estimate their understanding of components of the assessment process and asked them to indicate how much they would like to learn about an individual component. Observations were conducted which focussed on teacher assessment practices. Post-observation interviews were conducted with the teachers. The observations and interviews were conducted at the international study centre of a British university. Focus group discussions were held at two teaching centres attached to a major international organisation overseas. These served to confirm the earlier findings. The project culminated in the creation of a set of on-line training materials. The presentation will describe the project, its findings and conclude with a discussion of the training materials

OcclusionChip: A Functional Microcapillary Occlusion Assay Complementary to Ektacytometry for Detection of Small-Fraction Red Blood Cells with Abnormal Deformability

Red blood cell (RBC) deformability is a valuable hemorheological biomarker that can be used to assess the clinical status and response to therapy of individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD). RBC deformability has been measured by ektacytometry for decades, which uses shear or osmolar stress. However, ektacytometry is a population based measurement that does not detect small-fractions of abnormal RBCs. A single cell-based, functional RBC deformability assay would complement ektacytometry and provide additional information. Here, we tested the relative merits of the OcclusionChip, which measures RBC deformability by microcapillary occlusion, and ektacytometry. We tested samples containing glutaraldehyde-stiffened RBCs for up to 1% volume fraction; ektacytometry detected no significant change in Elongation Index (EI), while the OcclusionChip showed significant differences in Occlusion Index (OI). OcclusionChip detected a significant increase in OI in RBCs from an individual with sickle cell trait (SCT) and from a subject with SCD who received allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT), as the sample was taken from normoxic (pO2:159 mmHg) to physiologic hypoxic (pO2:45 mmHg) conditions. Oxygen gradient ektacytometry detected no difference in EI for SCT or HSCT. These results suggest that the single cell-based OcclusionChip enables detection of sickle hemoglobin (HbS)-related RBC abnormalities in SCT and SCD, particularly when the HbS level is low. We conclude that the OcclusionChip is complementary to the population based ektacytometry assays, and providing additional sensitivity and capacity to detect modest abnormalities in red cell function or small populations of abnormal red cells

Dementia and physical activity (DAPA) trial of moderate to high intensity exercise training for people with dementia : randomised controlled trial

Objective: To estimate the effect of a moderate to high intensity aerobic and strength exercise training programme on cognitive impairment and other outcomes in people with mild to moderate dementia. Design: Multicentre, pragmatic, investigator masked, randomised controlled trial. Setting: National Health Service primary care, community and memory services, dementia research registers, and voluntary sector providers in 15 English regions. Participants: 494 people with dementia: 329 were assigned to an aerobic and strength exercise programme and 165 were assigned to usual care. Random allocation was 2:1 in favour of the exercise arm. Interventions: Usual care plus four months of supervised exercise and support for ongoing physical activity, or usual care only. Interventions were delivered in community gym facilities and NHS premises. Main outcome measures: The primary outcome was score on the Alzheimer’s disease assessment scale-cognitive subscale (ADAS-cog) at 12 months. Secondary outcomes included activities of daily living, neuropsychiatric symptoms, health related quality of life, and carer quality of life and burden. Physical fitness (including the six minute walk test) was measured in the exercise arm during the intervention. Results: The average age of participants was 77 (SD 7.9) years and 301/494 (61%) were men. By 12 months the mean ADAS-cog score had increased to 25.2 (SD 12.3) in the exercise arm and 23.8 (SD 10.4) in the usual care arm (adjusted between group difference −1.4, 95% confidence interval −2.6 to −0.2, P=0.03). This indicates greater cognitive impairment in the exercise group, although the average difference is small and clinical relevance uncertain. No differences were found in secondary outcomes or preplanned subgroup analyses by dementia type (Alzheimer’s disease or other), severity of cognitive impairment, sex, and mobility. Compliance with exercise was good. Over 65% of participants (214/329) attended more than three quarters of scheduled sessions. Six minute walking distance improved over six weeks (mean change 18.1 m, 95% confidence interval 11.6 m to 24.6 m). Conclusion: A moderate to high intensity aerobic and strength exercise training programme does not slow cognitive impairment in people with mild to moderate dementia. The exercise training programme improved physical fitness, but there were no noticeable improvements in other clinical outcomes

Moderators of cognitive outcomes from an exercise programme in people with mild to moderate dementia

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Our aim was to estimate whether baseline participant variables were able to moderate the effect of an exercise intervention on cognition in patients with mild to moderate dementia. DESIGN: Subgroup analysis of a multicenter pragmatic randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Community-based gym/rehabilitation centers. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 494 community-dwelling participants with mild to moderate dementia. INTERVENTION: Participants were randomized to a moderate- to high-intensity aerobic and strength exercise program or a usual care control group. Experimental group participants attended twice weekly 60- to 90-minute gym sessions for 4 months. Participants were prescribed home exercises for an additional hour per week during the supervised period and 150 minutes each week after the supervised period. MEASUREMENTS: Multilevel regression model analyses were undertaken to identify individual moderators of cognitive function measured through the Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale score at 12 months. RESULTS: When tested for a formal interaction effect, only cognitive function assessed by the baseline number cancellation test demonstrated a statistically significant interaction effect (−2.7 points; 95% confidence interval = −5.14 to −0.21). CONCLUSION: People with worse number cancellation test scores may experience greater progression of cognitive decline in response to a moderate- to high-intensity exercise program. Further analyses to examine whether these findings can be replicated in planned sufficiently powered analyses are indicated