| The purpose of this study is to understand the professional and structural, political and cultural factors that present challenges to the implementation of assessment reform in science classrooms.;An analysis of recent science education literature and national science education reform documents suggests that change in schools is a complex process that does not happen overnight and is subject to the influence of many professional and structural attributes (Berliner, 2006; Brooks, 2005; Cuban, 1990; Duschl, 1990; Gess-Newsome, Southerland, Johnston & Woodbury, 2003; Southerland & Hutner, in press; Tyack & Cuban, 1995). Structural components include school culture; bell schedule, administration policies and mandates, standards, curriculum and accountability measures. Professional components involve teachers' epistemic views of science, their pedagogical conceptions and their conceptions of assessment along with knowledge necessary to translate these conceptions into practice (Barnett & Hodson, 2001; Gess-Newsome & Lederman, 1999; Gess-Newsome et al., 2003; Mortimer & Scott, 2003; Shulman, 1986). Education literature suggests both of these components, professional and structural components, shape how teaching takes place, thus, what students learn in science classrooms (Brickhouse, 2006; Duschl, 1990; Gallagher, 2006; Gess-Newsome & Lederman, 1999; Gess-Newsome et al., 2003; Southerland & Hutner, in press).;Assessment plays a significant role in efforts to bring about improvements in the educational system (Brickhouse, 2006; Davis, Genc & Aydeniz, in press; NAS, 2006; NRC, 2001; 2005; Southerland & Hutner, in press). Assessment serves multiple purposes. Assessment can be used to support learning (Abell & Volkmann, 2006; Bell & Cowie, 2001; Black & William, 1998; Brookhart, 2006; Davis et al., in press; Klassen, 2006; Shepard, 2000), to monitor the effectiveness of a particular curriculum (NAS, 2006; NRC, 2005), to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of instruction (Bell & Cowie, 2001; NAS, 2006; NRC, 2001; Shepard, 2000), and to evaluate the efficiency of the school system (Davis et al., in press; Linn, 2000; Popkewitz, 2000). Although assessment can serve multiple purposes, the confusion over learning and achievement as manifested in political initiatives that aim to bring about improvements to the educational system through standardized testing has reduced the role of assessment in educational reform to accountability (Abell & Volkmann, 2006; Brickhouse, 2006; Darling-Hammond, 2003; Davis et al., in press; DeBoer, 2002; Delandshere, 2002; Southerland & Hutner, in press; Stiggins, 2004). Several science educators, who view learning as more than just what is revealed through a single standardized test, find this approach to educational reform problematic (Abell & Volkmann, 2006; Brickhouse, 2006; Davis et al., in press; DeBoer, 2002; Southerland & Hutner, in press).;Although the pressure that the standardized tests generate influences what teachers assess in students' learning and how they go about assessing what they teach (Brickhouse, 2006; Darling-Hammond, 2003; Popham, 2006; Stiggins, 2004), other factors may also influence how teachers come to assess students' learning. For instance, teachers' conceptions of assessment may fail to reinforce the goals of science education reform documents. Furthermore, teachers' epistemic views of science and their pedagogical conceptions may also have an impact on what teachers assess and how they go about assessing students' learning in science. Finally, research indicates that the political and cultural structures have an impact on teachers' conceptions and practices of assessment (Berliner, 2006; Darling-Hammond, 2003; Southerland & Hutner, in press; Stiggins, 2004).;My dissertation reveals that although the political and cultural structures of the school system influence what teachers teach in science classrooms and how they go about assessing students' learning in science, the fundamental challenge to the implementation of assessment reform in science classroom is teachers' naive pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) base. Furthermore, although my findings suggest a nested relationship between science teachers' epistemic views of science, their pedagogical conceptions and their conceptions of assessment, there is no relationship between science teachers' teachers' epistemic views of science, their pedagogical conceptions, their conceptions of assessment and their assessment practices. This is partly due to the influence of the political and cultural structures of the school system and partly due to teachers' naive understanding of the nested relationships between various constructs (epistemic beliefs, pedagogical beliefs, assessment beliefs), that make up their conceptual ecology (Southerland, Johnston & Sowell, 2006). (Abstract shortened by UMI.). |
