Gooya, Zahra

Sangari, Ali,

Van Den Heuvel-Panhuizen, Marja

Veldhuis, Michiel

English

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Teachers’ use of Descriptive Assessment methods in
primary school mathematics education in Iran
Ali Sangari, Marja van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, Michiel Veldhuis, Zahra Gooya
To cite this version:
Ali Sangari, Marja van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, Michiel Veldhuis, Zahra Gooya. Teachers’ use of De-
scriptive Assessment methods in primary school mathematics education in Iran. Eleventh Congress of
the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education, Utrecht University, Feb 2019, Utrecht,
Netherlands. ￿hal-02430553￿
  
 
Teachers’ use of Descriptive Assessment methods in primary school 
mathematics education in Iran 
Ali Akbar Sangari
1
, Marja van den Heuvel-Panhuizen
12
, Michiel Veldhuis
14
 and Zahra Gooya
3
 
1
Freudenthal Group FSW, Utrecht University, the Netherlands; a.a.sangari@uu.nl; 
m.vandenheuvel-panhuizen@uu.nl; m.veldhuis@uu.nl 
2
Nord University, Bodo, Norway 
3
Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran; zahra_gooya@yahoo.com 
4
iPabo University of Applied Sciences, Amsterdam, the Netherlands 
Keywords: Assessment methods, descriptive assessment, primary mathematics education, Iran.  
Introduction 
Iran has a centralized education system, with national textbooks that are used for every school 
subject, including mathematics. In this education system, the assessment regulation and educational 
policy determine what type of student assessment teachers carry out. The latest version of this 
assessment regulation in primary school is called Descriptive Assessment. This is an approach for 
evaluating students’ achievement by collecting and documenting evidence regarding their learning 
and performance. Teachers can collect this evidence through different methods including 
observations of students during the classes, interviews, students’ portfolios, performance tasks, and 
various kinds of tests (Ministry of Education [MoE] & Organization for Educational Research and 
Planning [OERP], 2011; Supreme Council for Education [SCE], 2009). In this poster, we 
investigate the research question: To what degree have the suggested assessment methods from the 
Descriptive Assessment regulations been implemented in the classroom practice of Iranian primary 
mathematics teachers? 
Method 
For this we performed a multiple case study of which we present the first results at CERME11. We 
provide data on the assessment practice of seven Grade 4 female mathematics teachers (age M=46, 
[min, max] = [38, 54]) in Tehran. These teachers were first contacted by telephone and agreed to 
participate in this research. The data we used for this case study originated from four sources:  
1. The teachers responded to an Iranian version of a questionnaire on teachers’ assessment 
practice in mathematics education (Veldhuis, Van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, Vermeulen, & 
Eggen, 2013).  
2. We interviewed the teachers individually by asking them to explain answers they 
provided in the questionnaire and to discuss their lesson plan for the lesson that would be 
observed.  
3. The ensuing lesson on the development of first notions of probability was observed and 
videotaped.  
4. We conducted a post-observation interview in which the teachers were asked to reflect on 
their taught lesson.  
  
 
In the analyses of these data, we focused on the teachers’ use of assessment methods and compared 
that to their prescribed use in the regulations on Descriptive Assessment. In two important 
documents, the Teacher’s Guidance for Descriptive Assessment (MoE & OERP, 2011) and the 
Academic Assessment Regulation for Primary School (SCE, 2009), a variety of assessment 
methods is suggested such as, observing students in class, asking questions in class, administrating 
written test, having individual assessment conversation, offering performance tasks and having 
students working on project. As described in the guidelines, performance tasks are an instrument for 
measuring students’ activity and attempts in practical and observable situations. Performance tasks 
focus on both students’ knowledge and skills. Asking students to write a mathematics problem and 
its solution is an example of a performance task. 
Result and conclusion 
Currently, the data of our study have not yet been fully analyzed, therefore in this poster proposal, 
we only include a description of one assessment method (see Table 1, teachers’ use of performance 
tasks). In the table, the information from the four data sources are combined to show whether 
teachers reported or showed that they use a particular type of performance task for a particular 
purpose and with which frequency.  
Table 1: Teachers’ practices and beliefs about using performance tasks 
Performance task T.1 T.2 T.3 T.4 T.5 T.6 T.7 
Type Designing something        
Using a tool        
Giving a presentation        
Writing a text        
Participating in a project        
Purpose To improve students’ learning skill         
To motivate students         
To involve students in the teaching process        
To make teaching efficient        
Frequency More frequently than monthly        
We expect to have finalized our analyses before CERME11. So, at the conference we can present 
the results in full detail and answer the research question.  
References 
Ministry of Education (MoE) & Organization for Educational Research and Planning (OERP) (2011). 
Teacher’s guidance for descriptive assessment. Tehran: Author [PERSIAN] 
Supreme Council of Education (SCE) (2009). The Academic Assessment Regulation for Primary School. 
Tehran: Author. [PERSIAN] 
  
 
Veldhuis, M., Van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, M., Vermeulen, J. A., & Eggen, T. J. (2013). Teachers’ use of 
classroom assessment in primary school mathematics education in the Netherlands. Cadmo, 21(2), 35-53. 


Teachers’ use of Descriptive Assessment methods in primary school mathematics education in Iran

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Teachers’ use of Descriptive Assessment methods in primary school mathematics education in Iran

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