Teacher Preferences for Formative Assessment: Leveraging Findings for Future Professional Development Resources

Abstract

Classroom-based formative assessment is invoked as an essential component of effective teaching, but there is no widely agreed-upon approach for targeted professional development.  This survey of secondary school teachers examined 3 issues: (a) can McTighe and Ferrara’s assessment framework provide a psychometrically tenable way to classify formative assessment techniques, (b) does their framework offer a viable approach to professional development; and (c) could their framework be applied in strengths-based professional development. Analyses of the teachers’ self-reported skills showed (a) high levels of internal consistency across categories of formative assessment, (b) STEM and Humanities teachers could be grouped via discriminant analysis based on reported levels of skill in 3 categories of formative assessment, and (c) scenarios are presented to demonstrating a strength-based approach. The findings indicate that McTighe and Ferrara’s framework provides a psychometrically tenable way to categorize formative assessment techniques and provide professional development. Future research should include K-6 teachers.

Received: 25 July 2023 / Accepted: 13 October 2023 / Published: 5 November 2023