Assessment practices in social studies classrooms: results from a longitudinal survey

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present results from three years of a longitudinal “Assessment Attitudes and Practices” survey collected from a large school district in the Southern USA. Design/methodology/approach This paper focuses on both formative and summative “assessment practices” results from secondary (middle and high school) social studies teachers. Findings There was no statistically significant difference between secondary social studies teachers’ use of assessments and secondary teachers of other disciplines, nor was there a statistically significant difference in assessment use by year. Data results by assessment type were ranked in order of how often teachers claimed to use various assessment practices, and discussed in terms of assessment practices recommended by NCSS. Social studies teachers in this study were often more likely to report use of assessments of knowledge (including selected-response items) than performance-based assessment techniques (such as authentic assessments). Research limitations/implications The lack of statistically significant differences in assessment practices along disciplinary lines indicates homogeneity in the use of assessments that does not do justice to social studies. Practical implications Using Common Core standards or not, having a 1:1 technological environment or not, teacher respondents essentially reported using the same assessments, perhaps because high-stakes assessments did not change. Social implications There is a need for professional development that helps teachers see how performance-based assessments can be used to boost student performance on high-stakes assessments. Originality/value Studies of actual assessment practices (as opposed to ideas about how teachers should assess) are still quite rare, and provide a helpful window in understanding what is actually happening inside schools.

Varierade bedömningspraktiker i samhällskunskap : Validitet och agens i lärares beslut om bedömningars syften, innehåll och metoder

“…I en enkätstudie (Brookhart & Durkin, 2003) bland gymnasieelever visades att elevernas bild utifrån lärarnas bedömningsuppgifter är att de ska lära sig innehållet i läroboken och lärarens undervisning. Samhällskunskapslärare skilde sig inte från andra ämnen utan även de testade främst faktakunskaper i form av frågor med fasta svarsalternativ i stället för att använda tillämpningsuppgifter (performance assessments) (Curry & Smith, 2017;Mattson, 1989).…”

“…Tidigare studier har visat att bedömningar i samhällskunskap främst har fokuserat på att minnas faktakunskaper (Brookhart & Durkin, 2003;Curry & Smith, 2017;Jansson, 2011;Lindmark, 2013;Mattson, 1989;Odenstad, 2011). Jämfört med detta indikerar denna studie en ändrad bedömningspraktik bland samhällskunskapslärare, då lärarnas uppgifter i studien fokuserade mer på förståelse och resonerande förmågor som att analysera och värdera.…”

“…Lärarnas variation av metoder är i likhet med lärare i nederländska studier (Kippers m.fl., 2018) men skiljer sig från amerikanska studier där lärarna hade en mindre variation (Brookhart, 2013;Brookhart & Durkin, 2003;Curry & Smith, 2017). Bedömning har dock även i Sverige tidigare varit mindre varierad och med en tonvikt på skriftliga prov (Mattson, 1989;Svingby, 1998).…”

Using verbal protocol to examine construction of meaning from social studies texts

“…At the time of their study, Martin et al (2011), reported that only 23 states required social studies assessments, of which 14 used exclusively post-reading, multiple-choice items to measure student understanding. More recently, Curry and Smith (2017) surveyed middle and high school teachers about their classroom assessment practices and concluded that social studies teachers most often used, in the researchers’ terms, “knowledge assessment” including post-reading, selected-response tests. These studies highlight a potentially pervasive and long-term trend that what is valued in social studies teaching and learning is not reflected in the assessment practices (ostensibly) used to guide learning (e.g., Breakstone, et al, 2013).…”

Students Perceptions of Homework as a Formal Assessment Method

“…Black (2002) connects formative assessment to aiding learning and summative assessment with purposes of review, transfer, certification and accountability to the public. As understood from Black, formative and summative assessment that helps teachers understand the level of students' learning and increase learning (Curry & Smith, 2017) are the main distinctions of the assessment types. Osborne and Wagor (2004) think that summative assessment is the assessment of learning contrary to the formative assessment which is assessment for learning.…”