Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) allows researchers to determine whether a research inventory elicits similar response patterns across samples. If statistical equivalence in responding is found, then scale score comparisons become possible and samples can be said to be from the same population. This paper illustrates the use of…

As China continues to involve teachers in the implementation of an assessment for learning or formative assessment policy, a clearer understanding of how they conceive of the purposes and functions of assessment is necessary. This paper synthesises eight interview and survey studies, which have examined how diverse samples of practicing teachers…

Peer assessment (PA) is one of the central principles of formative assessment and assessment for learning (AfL) fields. There is ample empirical evidence as to the benefits for students' learning when AfL principles are implemented. However, teachers play a critical role in mediating the implementation of intended policies. Hence, their…

This study surveyed Chinese middle school (n = 951) teachers' conceptions of excellent teaching and examined the relationship of those conceptions to their self-reported teaching practices. Responses were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. These teachers identified one examination-oriented dimension and…

The conceptions Queensland teachers have about assessment purposes were surveyed in 2003 with an abridged version of the Teacher Conceptions of Assessment Inventory. Multi-group analysis found that a model with four factors, somewhat different in structure to previous studies, was statistically different between Queensland primary and (lower)…

Teachers' understandings of feedback probably influence the type and quality of feedback that they provide. The beliefs of 518 New Zealand practicing teachers about feedback were evaluated with the "Teachers' Conceptions of Feedback" (TCoF) inventory and related to practices these teachers considered to be feedback. Nine feedback factors…

Teachers' thinking about four conceptions of teaching (i.e., apprenticeship-developmental, nurturing, social reform, and transmission) were captured using the "Teaching Perspectives Inventory" (TPI). New Zealand and Queensland have very similar teaching-related policies and practices but differences around assessment policies and…

Background: Two major conceptions of learning exist: reproducing new material and transforming material to make meaning. Teachers' understandings of what learning is probably influence their teaching practices and student academic performance. Aims: To validate a short scale derived from Tait, Entwistle, & McCune's (1998) ASSIST inventory and…

Hong Kong is seeking to increase the use of "assessment for learning" rather than rely on "assessment of learning" through summative examinations. Nearly 300 teachers from 14 primary and secondary schools answered a Chinese translation of the Teachers' Conceptions of Assessment inventory and a new Practices of Assessment…