Educational assessment can be a powerful tool in enhancing classroom instruction and student performance. Yet, its effectiveness relies on the beliefs and knowledge of those who apply it on a daily classroom basis. This study explored attitudes, competence, knowledge, and practices of teachers about educational assessment. Participants were 165 in-service teachers teaching various subject areas in grades 5 to 10 randomly selected from Muscat educational governorate in the Sultanate of Oman. The study employed a descriptive survey research design. Results revealed that although teachers held a favorable attitude towards and perceived themselves as being competent in educational assessment, they demonstrated a low level of knowledge in educational assessment. Teachers used a variety of assessments in the classroom primarily for assigning grades and motivating students to learn, with some variations by gender, grade level, and subject area. Teaching load and teaching experience accounted for some of the variations in teachers' educational assessment practices. Implications for professional development of teachers in educational assessment as well as recommendations for future research were discussed.

We examined the effects of teachers' classroom assessment practices and students' perceptions of assessment tasks on students' academic self-efficacy beliefs as 1 dimension of student academic motivation. Participants (N = 1,457) were students sourced from 99 classrooms of public secondary schools in Oman. Results of multilevel analysis showed that student academic self-efficacy beliefs were significantly and positively influenced by students' perceptions of the assessment tasks. Specifically, congruence with planned learning, authenticity, transparency, and diversity all had significant positive influences on self-efficacy beliefs, as did frequent communication by the teacher about the assessment with students and teachers' frequent use of nonachievement grading factors. Implications are discussed for classroom practices and research related to classroom assessment.Keywords: classroom assessment practices, student perceptions, educational assessment, academic self-efficacy.Classroom assessment, that is, the process of obtaining information about students' performance on assessment tasks, is one of the main responsibilities of teachers. Teachers use a range of assessment methods and tools to determine how well students are achieving the intended learning outcomes (Gronlund, 2006). In numerous literature reviews scholars have asserted the power of classroom SOCIAL

Using path analysis, we examined the direct effects of students' perceptions of assessment tasks on self-efficacy, and the indirect effects through the students' perception of task value. Data were collected from 2,137 school students in Oman. Their perceptions in terms of congruence with planned learning, authenticity, student consultation, transparency, and diversity were measured using Alkharusi's (2013) Arabic version of Dorman and Knightley's (2006) Perceptions of Assessment Tasks Inventory. Task value and self-efficacy were measured using items from Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, and Mckeachie's (1993) Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. Results showed that congruence with planned learning and authenticity had direct effects on self-efficacy. Student consultation and diversity affected self-efficacy indirectly via task value. Transparency had a direct positive effect on self-efficacy. Therefore, students' perceptions of assessment tasks had both direct and indirect effects on their self-efficacy and their perception of task value.

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This study builds on a previous pilot study conducted by Alkharusi, Aldhafri, Alnabhani, and Alkalbani (2012) to explore educational assessment attitudes, competence, knowledge, and practices of in-service teachers in the Sultanate of Oman. The present study extends the previous pilot study by surveying a larger sample of in-serivce teachers teaching grades 5 to 12 in all educational governorates in the Sultanate of Oman as opposed to 165 in-service teachers teaching grades 5 to 10 in one educational governorate. Specifically, the study aimed at developing a profile of educational assessment attitudes, competence, knowledge, and practices for teachers in the Sultanate of Oman. The profile was developed as a function of teachers' gender, nationality, educational governorate, teaching grade, qualification, teaching subject, pre-service assessment training, in-service assessment training, teaching load, and teaching experience. The study employed a descriptive survey research design. Participants were 3557 in-service teachers teaching various subject areas in grades 5 to 12 randomly selected from all educational governorates in the Sultanate of Oman. Confirming Alkharusi et al. (2012) study, findings of the current study showed that the teachers tended to have a positive attitude towards educational assessment. Despite their perception as being competent in educational assessment, they demonstrated a low level of the educational assessment knowledge. Further, the teachers indicated using different classroom assessments mainly for grading and increasing students' desire for learning. Teaching load and teaching experience explained some of the differences in the teachers' educational assessment profile. Also, the educational assessment profile varied as a function of the selected demographic and background variables. The findings pointed to a conclusion that professional educational assessment programs for teachers should be continued and tailored to the needs and nature of the teachers' classroom realities. Future research is needed to judge the validity of the teachers' self-report surveys concerning educational assessment.