Building Teacher Professional Judgement

Abstract

The word ‘assessment’ is frightening to most student teachers since it carries with it many negative connotations. Schools of education around the world have stepped up in working on building confidence into preservice teacher candidates. Assessment and data literacy have now come to be common units of study within higher education. Many universities are still calling for a need to enhance these courses through more focus on psychometrics or statistics but missing from these courses is the essence of assessment and teaching in general, teacher judgement and voice. Building credible, reliable and valid teacher judgement begins within schools of education. This article presents a framework to enhance student teacher’s voice within assessment practices. It builds on a Modern Assessment Theory perspective where teacher judgement is a key factor in understanding student learning and presents ways on how this theory of assessment intertwines within reflection and inquiry.