Exploring Formative Assessment and Co-Regulation in Kindergarten Through Interviews and Direct Observation

Abstract

Formative assessment practices have been theoretically connected to the development of self-regulation with mounting empirical evidence. Co-regulation is the process whereby a more capable individual (e.g., teacher or peer) attunes the behaviours, emotions, or cognitive processes of an individual (a student) to align with goals or expectations and is being recognized as a strategy for developing self-regulation. Formative assessment practices may facilitate co-regulation, however, much of the literature has focused on older student populations. This phenomenological study explored the relationship between formative assessment and co-regulation in eight Kindergarten classrooms. Eight Kindergarten teachers and four Early Childhood Educators (ECE) completed semi-structured interviews in 2019 during two time periods with each participant completing two interviews. To supplement the interviews, 56 h of classroom observations were completed in each classroom, totaling 448 h of observations across eight classrooms. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically. Four themes emerged: 1) Authentic assessment and self-regulation practices, 2) Feedback as foundational, 3) Formative assessment and co-regulation have shared purposes, and 4) Connections between classroom assessment and co-regulation. Participants described their classroom assessment and self-regulation practices as authentic and natural for students while also providing examples of their interactions with students as a form of co-regulation. Feedback was articulated as foundational to both classroom assessment and co-regulation. Participants illustrated examples of feedback from peers (including through modified peer-assessment). Shared purposes between formative assessment and co-regulation placed students at the centre of the learning process, encouraging agentic behaviours, and scaffolding student thinking. The final theme underlined the need to broaden conceptualizations of assessment in Kindergarten. Findings suggested student agency as the bridge between classroom assessment and co-regulation, and a bidirectional, mutually supportive, relationship between formative assessment and co-regulation.

Apprentissage autorégulé. Formation, pratiques et conceptions des enseignants

“…Comme nous le montrerons dans le cadre théorique, les concepts d'autonomie, d'autorégulation et d'apprentissage autorégulé sont largement liés dans les écrits au préscolaire (DeLuca et al, 2020 ;Dörr et Perels, 2019 ;Jacob et al, 2020). Nous verrons aussi que d'aucuns (Braund et al, 2021 ;DeLuca et al, 2020) considèrent que c'est au travers d'une évaluation soutien d'apprentissage qu'il serait possible de concilier les perspectives développementale et scolarisante, en favorisant l'autonomie des élèves tout en visant l'atteinte de standards spécifiques.…”

Status Quo of the Formative Assessment Enactments in Spoken Language Interpreter Training: A Scoping Review of Research and Practice

“…With sustained efforts to theorize and enact formative assessment, it is argued as one of the most frequently adopted and effective types of assessment for learning (Univio & Pérez, 2019). In recent decades, formative assessment has been applied in various educational settings with remarkable outcomes, e.g., early childhood education (Braund et al, 2021), teacher education (Buchholtz et al, 2018), and technology-enhanced settings (Chu et al, 2019).…”