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Principals play a key leadership role in school effectiveness and student success; however, one area that has received relatively little attention so far is principals' embedded understanding of assessment and grading within the educational context where they work. We examined 141 Chinese school principals' conceptions of assessment and grading practices using a survey research design. Our results indicated that principals viewed summative assessment as necessarily serving two purposes: (a) accountability, and (b) improvement of teaching and learning. Assessment that does not serve these dual purposes was not viewed as maximally supporting learning in this educational context. The study further found that accountability pressures influenced principals' conceptions of assessment and consequently shaped their approaches to grading in China's examination-oriented culture. This study provides implications for a heightened understanding of principals' leadership in the crucial role that student assessment plays in both enhancing instruction and student learning and ever-expanding accountability mandates within the Chinese education context and other educational contexts globally.

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.

As one of the most high-stakes practices in education, grading has been the subject of significant debate and research over the years. However, it is only recently that researchers have started to explore the teaching and learning values embedded in grades by looking at grading policies. This study examined grading polices in China by focusing on the embedded teaching and learning values that could potentially influence teachers' grading practices. Three main types of policy documents were analysed in this research: Ministry of Education policy documents, curriculum documents, and discussion papers. A central theme derived from the analysis revealed the influence of the dominant guiding educational philosophy of comprehensive quality education on grading policies. This philosophy dictates that grading practices should include both achievement and non-achievement factors, with an emphasis on the learner as a whole rather than on the learning alone. The results of this study provide urgently needed empirical evidence of the teaching and learning values potentially embedded in teacher-constructed grades.

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Copyright of Comparative & International Education is the property of Canadian & International Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

• Validity of grades were examined across two learning contexts. • Explored 35 Canadian and Chinese secondary teachers' grading practices. • Canadian and Chinese teachers valued fairness yet reported challenges when generating and considering grades. • Canadian teachers included achievement factors rather than non-achievement ones. • Chinese teachers included both achievement and non-achievement factors. Grades are the dominant currency that enables student migration patterns; in particular, the recent upsurge of Chinese students studying and settling in Canada. Given the use of grades for student promotion, mobilization, and admission into educational programs internationally, there is an urgent need to understand the validity of grades across learning contexts. This study explored 35 Canadian and Chinese secondary school teachers' grading decisions and practices through nine focus groups. Following inductive analyses, findings indicated that teachers primarily valued fairness as an overarching driver of decision-making when generating and considering grades. Teachers' considerations of fairness centred around four emergent themes: (a) context and classroom management, (b) learning values: grades as academic enablers, (c) policy and external pressures, and (d) consequences of grade use. The overarching thread common among both Canadian and Chinese teachers was their reported challenge in maintaining fair grading practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]