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What Might Teachers’ Conceptions of Assessment Mean for Validity in High-Stakes, School-Based Assessment?

Teachers’, conceptions of assessment are shaped by and influence their assessment practice. When teachers are the primary architects of high-stakes assessments their conceptions can have powerful repercussions for students and the assessment systems in which they work. This paper provides a qualitative analysis of the conceptions of assessment held by upper secondary teachers in South Australia on the cusp of reforms in senior secondary curriculum, assessment and certification.Underpinned by Assessment for Learning principles the South Australian reforms included an increased reliance on school-based assessment and leading to greater accountability of teachers’, assessment practices. Consequently, assessment literacy has moved front and centre in South Australian upper secondary education.Analysis of the data explores the relationship between pre and in-service learning, teacher accountability in a high-stakes assessment context and the impact of these on educational assessment. A framework that illustrates SACE teachers’, cognitive understandings, beliefs and attitudes, approaches and actions in relation to assessment has been developed. The framework is discussed and issues of validity in high-stakes assessment that are raised by the teachers’, conceptions are explored.Keywords: conceptions of assessment, senior secondary education, validity, school-based assessment.

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