Implementing a formative assessment model at the secondary schools: attitudes and challenges

Abstract

This paper aims at exploring the issues related to implementing a formative assessment model namely School-Based Assessment (SBA) at secondary schools in Bangladesh. A qualitative study employing interviews with English teachers of grade 8 and the head teachers and FGDs with students from twelve secondary schools was conducted. Moreover, field notes and document analysis provided valuable data. The findings from the qualitative content analysis showed a dismal condition of implementing SBA in Bangladesh. Some distinct reasons posed challenges to implementing SBA. These are teachers’ insufficient orientation towards SBA, teachers’ negative attitude towards SBA, teachers’ heavy workloads, large class size, large contents of syllabus, no reflection of the marks of SBA in public examinations, lack of honesty and fairness in teachers, lack of validity and reliability of SBA as an assessment tool, poor socio-economic conditions of teachers, and the absence of monitoring and supervision by concerned authorities. This study also provides a comprehensive understanding of how teachers conceptualize and apply strategies of SBA in their classrooms, along with some recommendations and, hence, bears implications for the policy makers, teacher trainers, and other stakeholders involved in the Bangladeshi school education system and elsewhere.

The effectiveness of teachers’ written and verbal corrective feedback (CF) during formative assessment (FA) on male language learners’ academic anxiety (AA), academic performance (AP), and attitude toward learning (ATL)

“…This finding is consistent with the results of the prior studies (Chuang, 2021;Gardner, 2004;Heckel et al, 2021;Kodal et al, 2022;Yang et al, 2021). Furthermore, Rahman et al (2021) believed that verbal and non-verbally feedback promotes EFL learners' academic achievement and diminishes their anxiety. On the other hand, Ghahderijani et al ( 2021) believe that teacher-student collaboration increases when using explicit and direct feedback rather than indirect feedback.…”

Experiencing Edublocks: A Project to Help Students in Higher Education to Select their Own Learning Paths

“…As educational institutions increasingly rely on external evaluations, formative evaluation is becoming more and more important (Rahman et al 2021). Formative evaluation requires continuous feedback to improve learning (Black & Wiliam 1998).…”

Enhancing teaching and learning in higher education through formative assessment: Teachers’ Perceptions

“…Likewise, The World Bank directly links high-quality, formative assessment to better outcomes on standardised tests, and links better learning outcomes to increased national prosperity (Clarke, 2012). In-line with this need, Bangladesh is also experiencing a shift from summative to formative assessment for more than last one decade (Rahman et al, 2021), and formative assessment is gradually becoming more important in this context. The country has already started formative assessment in the junior secondary level named School Based Assessment in order to assess learners' holistic development since 2007 (Begum & Farooqui, 2008;Rahman et al, 2021).…”

“…In-line with this need, Bangladesh is also experiencing a shift from summative to formative assessment for more than last one decade (Rahman et al, 2021), and formative assessment is gradually becoming more important in this context. The country has already started formative assessment in the junior secondary level named School Based Assessment in order to assess learners' holistic development since 2007 (Begum & Farooqui, 2008;Rahman et al, 2021). Having said that, the assessment system in higher education is still poor in Bangladesh (Mamun-ur-Rashid & Rhman, 2017;Rahman et al, 2019;Ahmed et al, 2021), where there is little or no place for effective on-going assessment and appropriate feedback system.…”