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While integrated STEAM education has been shown to support the cultivation of critical global competencies, teachers have identified classroom assessment as a key barrier to facilitating integrated...

This study employed a quantitative research design to investigate Chinese teachers’ conceptions of classroom assessment and perceived skills. A total of 746 teachers were recruited through professional teaching groups. Results showed that a higher percentage of Chinese teachers selected contemporary assessment approaches to classroom assessment (e.g., assessment for learning) than more traditional approaches (e.g., assessment of learning). Chinese teachers also reported high levels of confidence in items that addressed aspects of assessment theory. Significant differences in approaches to classroom assessment were found across (a) age groups, (b) educational qualifications, and (c) between full-time classroom teachers and classroom teachers that held additional positions (e.g., school administrator, leader, head). Implications for educational policy-makers and practitioners in light of enhancing teacher assessment literacy are discussed.

Classroom assessment dynamics are shaped by individual and local understandings of assessment (assessment micro-cultures), as well as common assessment beliefs and practices that stem from system-wide features, such as large-scale testing (assessment macro-cultures). Teachers’ approaches to assessment reveal how they navigate assessment micro- and macro-cultures to support student learning and achievement. Despite increasing migration of students between the U.S., China, and Canada, little research has examined the different approaches to assessment students encounter when they move between these contexts. Thus, the specific supports they need to adapt to their new assessment cultures and have equitable access to learning have remained unclear. This exploratory research compared teachers’ approaches to assessment in the U.S., China, and Canada. Latent class analysis identified five types of assessors across these contexts: teacher-centric assessors, hesitant assessors, moderately student-centric assessors, highly student-centric assessors, and eager assessors. Associations between assessor type and country were identified, revealing different patterns in how teachers approach assessment in each education context.