Mathematics Assessment Practices of Primary School Teachers in France

We investigated French primary school teachers’ assessment practice in mathematics. Using an online questionnaire on teachers’ background, teaching, and grading practice, we were able to determine assessment profiles of 604 primary school teachers. As evidenced by the teachers’ scores on the latent factors Assessment purposes, Assessment practices, and Differentiation, teachers with the profile of Enthusiastic assessors view assessment as more useful and use it more often to adapt their instruction than teachers with the profile of Unenthusiastic assessors. This can be useful for practice and sheds more light on French teachers’ assessment practices in mathematics. It is also interesting to compare the results of this survey with those from China and the Netherlands, as the differences reflect different assessment cultures and may shed light on some of the results of international large-scale assessments such as PISA.

Hubungan Keyakinan dan Noticing dari Calon Guru Sekolah Dasar Mengenai Asesmen Matematika

AbstrakPenelitian ini dilatarbelakangi oleh pandangan bahwa keyakinan mengenai asesmen mempengaruhi praktek asesmen di dalam kelas. Sementara itu, noticing adalah komponen penting dalam pengembangan kemampuan calon guru untuk memahami praktek asesmen. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah menyelidiki dan mendeskripsikan hubungan antara keyakinan dengan kemampuan noticing dari calon guru sekolah dasar mengenai asesmen matematika. Penelitian ini adalah penelitian kuantitatif korelasional terhadap 68 calon guru sekolah dasar. Data keyakinan mengenai asesmen matematika dikumpulkan dengan menggunakan kuisioner. Sementara data noticing asesmen dikumpulkan dengan video task analysis. Data dianalisis dengan menggunakan statistik deskriptif dan inferensial.. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan tidak terdapat korelasi signifikan antara keyakinan mengenai asesmen dan noticing asesmen. Hasil penelitian juga menunjukkan karateristik noticing cenderung fokus pada aspek “mengajukan pertanyaan” dan tidak komprehensif. Selain itu, calon guru juga cenderung memegang keyakinan produktif namun tidak konsisten. Relationship between Beliefs and Noticing of Pre-service Elementary Teachers Regarding Mathematics AssessmentAbstractThis research is motivated by the view that assessment beliefs affect assessment practice in a classroom. Meanwhile, noticing is an important component in the development of assessment practice. The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe the relationship between mathematics assessment beliefs and noticing mathematics assessment. This research is quantitative with a correlational study involving 68 pre-service elementary teachers. Mathematics assessment belief data were collected using a questionnaire. Meanwhile, noticing mathematics assessment data was collected using video task analysis. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics The results showed that there was no significant correlation between mathematics assessment belief and noticing mathematics assessment. The results also showed that noticing characteristics tended to focus on the "questioning" aspect and were not comprehensive. Pre-service elementary teachers also tend to hold productive but inconsistent beliefs.

Mathematics Classroom Assessment: A Framework for Designing Assessment Tasks and Interpreting Students’ Responses

Classroom assessment could contribute substantially to improving students’ mathematics learning. The process of classroom assessment involves decisions about how to elicit evidence, how to interpret it, and how to use it for teaching and learning. However, the field still needs to further explore how assessment tasks could guide forthcoming instructional adjustments in the mathematics classroom. Towards the endeavor of unpacking the classroom assessment, we present a framework that provides a lens to capture the interplay between the design of mathematics assessment tasks and the analysis of students’ responses. To do so, we relied on existing frameworks of mathematics assessment tasks, and on issues that pertain to the design of tasks. The proposed framework consists of three types of mathematics assessment tasks, their respective competencies, and the characterization of students’ responses. The framework is exemplified with students’ responses from a fourth-grade classroom, and is also used to sketch different students’ profiles. Issues regarding the interpretation of students’ responses and the planning of instructional adjustments are discussed.

Validation of a Learning Trajectory-Based Diagnostic Mathematics Assessment System as a Trading Zone

This study reports how a validation argument for a learning trajectory (LT) is constituted from test design, empirical recovery, and data use through a collaborative process, described as a “trading zone” among learning scientists, psychometricians, and practitioners. The validation argument is tied to a learning theory about learning trajectories and a framework (LT-based data-driven decision-making, or LT-DDDM) to guide instructional modifications. A validation study was conducted on a middle school LT on “Relations and Functions” using a Rasch model and stepwise regression. Of five potentially non-conforming items, three were adjusted, one retained to collect more data, and one was flagged as a discussion item. One LT level description was revised. A linear logistic test model (LLTM) revealed that LT level and item type explained substantial variance in item difficulty. Using the LT-DDDM framework, a hypothesized teacher analysis of a class report led to three conjectures for interventions, demonstrating the LT assessment’s potential to inform instructional decision-making.

Measuring Early Childhood Mathematical Cognition: Validating and Equating Two Forms of the Research-Based Early Mathematics Assessment

Psychometric work with young children faces the particular challenge that children’s attention spans are relatively short, and therefore, shorter assessments are required while retaining comprehensive coverage. This article reports on three empirical studies that encompass the development and validation of the research-based early mathematics assessment-short form (REMA-SF), an instrument that measures the early mathematical competency of children from 3 to 8 years of age. The developed measure captures both children’s mathematical performance and the strategies children use to solve math problems. Results indicated that the REMA-SF can produce valid scores for measuring children’s math skills in early childhood, and the validity of the measure can be well-generalized to an external (or independent) sample. Additionally, we also equated the REMA scores between the long and short forms of the assessment: anchor items common across the forms were selected and refined in the equating process.