Four facets of classroom assessment: obstacles, obligations, outcomes, and opportunities

Abstract

Today's classroom teachers are expected to optimize the teaching, learning, and schooling so the educational experience is learner centered, standards based, achievement oriented, data driven, and culturally competent. These expectations require teachers to intensify their awareness, expand their understanding, reconfigure their techniques, and modify their outlooks related to classroom assessments. As teachers begin to shift their approaches so their classroom assessments become the focus on their practices and assessments are more closely aligned with the curriculum and instruction, teachers encounter challenges and rewards. This article describes four facets of classroom assessments—obstacles, obligations, outcomes, and opportunities—and the characteristics of each facet identified by teacher educators specializing in classroom assessments. The findings of this research make visible the value of examining the presence and power of each facet as individual and integrated influences on teacher self-efficacy, emphasizing benefits for classroom teachers and teacher candidates in their transformation to develop classroom assessments that matter.