An Investigation into Assessment Literacy of Chinese School Teachers of English

Abstract

Interest in teachers’ assessment literacy (AL) is growing in China. However, research into AL of senior high school teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) is generally lacking. The present exploratory research attempts to probe the issue. 257 teacher participants from secondary schools across China responded to a survey of AL predicated on the Standards. Rasch analysis revealed that the teachers met with great challenges in completing the survey. They performed relatively better at items and standards that were closely related to their daily work, for example administering and scoring tests, but worse at the items that were involved some forms of specialized knowledge, for example reliability, performance data interpretation, and so forth. Overall, teachers performed slightly better at test-related items than assessment-related items. The association between AL and demographic variables seemed to be weak. The underperformance of the secondary teachers points to a gap between what was expected of them and what was possessed by them in respect of classroom assessment knowledge on the one hand, and on the other, a potential mismatch between the Standards and the actual competencies required for effective assessment practice in Chinese context. The study has implications for secondary teachers’ AL development and training.