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Abstract
The use of assessment data to inform instruction is an important component of a comprehensive standards-based assessment programme. Examining teachers' data use for instruction can reveal the extent to which instruction is aligned with established content standards and assessment. This paper describes results of a qualitative study of teachers' data use in a mid-Atlantic metropolitan area in the United States. Focus group interviews with 60 upper elementary and middle school teachers from 45 schools were conducted. Findings indicate teachers aligned instruction and assessments with the state curriculum with the goal of improving student performance. While teachers found day-to-day informal assessments essential to shaping instruction, periodic formal assessments helped them monitor student progress and remediation efforts. Teachers described challenges associated with the misalignment of periodic assessments with instructional content, the breadth of content and higher cognitive demand expected in the newer state curriculum and the lack of infrastructure to support data use.
Keywords: Assessment literacy; instructional alignment; data-driven decision making; qualitative methods
1.Introduction and background
Alignment of instruction and assessment is fundamental for the accurate measurement of student learning. As such, the alignment or coherence among curriculum standards, instruction, and assessment is essential for standards-based assessment and evidenced-based instructional programmes. Assessment data are intended to inform instruction and broader school improvement efforts and guide administrative and instructional decisions in an effort to raise student achievement. According to Turner and Coburn (2012: 3), the use of data is "one of the most central reform ideas in contemporary school policy and practice".
In the United States, aligning content standards and assessments became federally required during the 1994 reauthorisation of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, specifically within the Improving America's Schools Act (Rabinowitz et al., 2006). In the US, alignment has been a core issue in test-based accountability programmes and is considered an important source of validity evidence to warrant how test scores are used to make decisions about schools and students. The emphasis on accountability for improved test scores has contributed to the expansion of assessment programmes at the local levels. For example, school districts began to implement interim testing programmes in order to monitor student progress toward meeting the achievement goals associated with the annual state exam with the purpose of using test scores...