Teachers’ attitudes toward assessment of student learning and teacher assessment practices in general educational institutions: The case of Georgia

Abstract

The aim of this article is to study teachers’ attitudes toward assessment of students’ learning and their assessment practices in Georgia’s general educational institutions. Georgia is a country in the South Caucasus with a population of 4.5 million people, with 2300 general educational institutions and about 559,400 students. The research included 106 schools, 928 surveyed teachers, and 292 observed classes. Overall, teachers have positive attitudes toward using assessment methods that require cognitive complexity from students as well as asking questions that require higher level reasoning to answer. Although teachers’ attitudes are related to their willingness toward using such assessment approaches in their classes to some extent, this research reveals the lack of correspondence between teachers’ attitudes and their assessment practices. Cognitive complexity is not often emphasized in classroom practice.