Exploring Foreign Language in the Elementary School (FLES) Teachers' Attitudes and Perceptions about Assessment and Assessment Practices in the Elementary World Language Classroom

In the past 25 years, assessment in foreign/world language (FL/WL) education has acquired new relevance in the US as well as worldwide, as the WL community focuses on student performance based on standards, proficiency, and communicative language learning. Specifically, classroom assessment practices are of special interest since they provide a more suitable assessment method for young language learners (1st--8th grades). Equally, research on classroom assessment has suggested that the assessments best suited to guide improvement in student learning are the ones that teachers administer in their classrooms, because they offer immediate diagnostic feedback to both teacher and learner, and tend to enhance student motivation. Research on teacher beliefs implies the strong influence these might have on the educational choices teachers make in their classrooms, including their assessment practices.;This study therefore explores Foreign Language in the Elementary School (FLES) teachers' attitudes and perceptions of assessment as revealed in their beliefs about the role and importance of assessment, and how/if these beliefs inform the pedagogical choices they make in the elementary WL classroom. A mixed method approach was used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data to provide a rich, in-depth contextual analysis. The study had a national scope as it included responses on an online survey of 128 FLES teachers in the continental US, Alaska, and Hawaii, and 14 virtual semistructured follow-up interviews.;The findings of this study suggest the participating teachers' perceptions of assessment were varied and demonstrated different levels of understanding. These perceptions were expressed in terms of their views of the purpose/importance of assessment, the role of assessment in the FLES classroom, and the teachers' opinions about classroom assessments. Findings also indicate that the FLES teachers use an extensive variety of assessments, falling in the formative, summative, and performance-based domains. Findings also indicated that participants had knowledge of and the ability to implement standards-based assessment practices but faced unique challenges which influenced their pedagogical choices. The study's findings offer insight on the importance of tailoring language teacher preparation programs and professional development initiatives to reflect the needs of specific teacher populations.;Based on the foundations of this research, implications and suggestions are formulated that appeal to all stakeholders, including FL/WL teacher educators, policy makers, state departments of education, school districts, school administrators, and FLES teachers.