Teachers’ Use of Descriptive Assessment in Primary School Mathematics Education in Iran

Abstract

In many countries, assessment and curriculum reforms came into being in recent decades. In Iran, an important educational assessment reform took place called Descriptive Assessment (DA). In this reform, the focus of student assessment was moved from a more summative approach of providing grades and deciding about promotion to the next grade to a more formative approach of providing descriptive feedback aimed at improving student learning. In this study, we evaluated how seven fourth-grade mathematics teachers used the principles of DA. Data were collected by a questionnaire on assessment practices and beliefs, lesson observations, and interviews. Although the teachers varied in how they assess their students, in general their assessment practice is by and large in line with the DA guidelines. Nevertheless, in some respects we found differences. When assessing their students, the teachers essentially do not check the students’ strategies and when preparing the report cards, they still use final exams because they do not sufficiently trust the assessments methods suggested by DA. The guideline to use assessment results for adapting instruction is also not genuinely put into action. The article is concluded by discussing dilemmas the teachers may encounter when implementing DA.

Keywords

• descriptive assessment
• assessment practice
• assessment reform
• mathematics education
• primary school teachers
• Iran