M. Ed. Proposal. Abstract.
Jillian Bailey
This study proposes to follow the progress of a group of teachers,
myself included, as they extend their expertise around assessment. It
will be a qualitative inquiry following an action research model
(Grundy). The inquiry will focus on one group of teachers in one
school during the course of one school year. This study will seek to
answer two questions. Firstly, what are teachers' perceptions of
their assessment practices? The second question has a professional
development focus. What are teachers' reflections on involvement in
collegial discourse around assessment and did this process lead them
to change or improve their assessment practices? Data sources and
collection will centre around the meetings of the group, reflective
journals, two questionnaires distributed to teachers at the school,
and an integrative diagram or diagrams. The study of assessment is
significant within the context of the educational changes currently
being implemented in all subject areas from Kindergarten to Grade 12.
The Integrated Resource Packages published by the Ministry of
Education advocate the use of a variety of assessment techniques.
These documents encourage teachers to adopt a formative approach to
assessment in order to support students in their progress towards
mastery of skills and concepts. In this study, the teacher assessment
group will meet regularly to discuss various assessment techniques,
to experiment with new techniques in their classes, and to network
with other assessment teams. By charting the progress of this
assessment team, I would like to find out if teachers perceive that
this type of extended collegial interaction can lead to changes and
improvements in teachers' practice.