A CONTEXTUALIZED APPROACH TO TEACHING TEACHERS ABOUT CLASSROOM-BASED ASSESSMENT

An approach to teaching assessment to prospective teachers that is con gruent with current theories of learning as a process-in-context is de scribed. The decontextualized nature of traditional assessment courses may contribute to the finding that teachers do not perceive the infor mation learned in such courses to be relevant to their tasks as classr oom teachers. We describe a model for teaching central assessment conc epts and techniques in the context of teaching and planning for instru ction. Excerpts from student self-evaluations show that the course as a whole helped students develop a complex notion of validity that they could use to develop their own valid classroom assessments. Further, they provide evidence that the contextualization of these concepts hel ped students to see assessment as an essential and useful aspect of ef fective teaching.