Teacher and administrator perceptions of an urban school district's formative-assessment process

The enactment of NCLB led to new federal accountability for states, which increased assessment requirements. High stakes testing intended to measure student learning but has become an evaluation of school and teacher effectiveness. Rather than assessments to guide student learning and assist with instruction, assessments have become the primary instrument to determine student mastery of standards at the conclusion of study. Black and Wiliam (2003) note teachers’ perceptions of accountability testing greatly influence instructional practices.;The purposes of this qualitative case study are: (1) to examine teacher and administrator perception of an urban district’s formative-assessment process (DFAP) before and after site targeted professional development, and (2) to determine if differences existed between administrator perception of teacher use of the DFAP and teachers’ reported use of the process.;Respondents, forty teachers and four administrators, were in one elementary school. Likert scale surveys, professional development reflections, and interviews were analyzed using analysis of means and descriptive statistics. Results indicated professional development altered teacher perceptions of the DFAP, and use of formative-assessment data became a critical component in driving instruction. Administrator perception was not as impacted by professional development. Administrator perception of teacher use and beliefs more closely aligned with teacher reported perceptions regarding the DFAP at the conclusion of training. Further research needs to be conducted on the understanding of the rationale for the district’s formativeassessment process and the content of the assessments as aligned to district instructional pacing guides.