Teachers' classroom assessment skills: influence of gender, subject area, grade level, teaching experience and in-service assessment training

Abstract

A significant amount of teachers' professional time is devoted to classroom assessment-related activities. Suboptimal assessment practices might result in undesirable educational outcomes. As such, teachers' assessment skills should deserve recognition and investigation. This study aimed at investigating teachers' self-perceived assessment skills as a function of gender, subject area, grade level, teaching experience, and in-service assessment training. Participants were 213 Omani teachers from Muscat public schools. A 25-item Self-Perceived Assessment Skills Scale was developed and used in the study. Results indicated statistically significant differences on the self-perceived assessment skills with respect to teachers' gender, subject area, grade level, teaching experience, and in-service assessment training. Implications for professional preparation in classroom assessment as well as recommendations for future research are discussed.