Assessment can be a powerful force for supporting learning and a mechanism for individual empowerment (Broadfoot & Black, 2004). Formative assessment in particular has been prevalent in the educational discourse over the past decades, shifting the attention towards assessment practices that aid the learning and teaching process (e.g., Brookhart, 2011; Earl, 2003). This, in addition to the recognition of assessment as a key lever for promoting effective education, has led to classroom assessment being a centrepiece of various educational improvement efforts. The impact of formative assessment on student achievement has been widely documented (Black & Wiliam, 1998; Hattie & Timperley, 2007; Wiliam, Lee, Harrison, & Black, 2004); leading to the recognition of formative assessment as a determining factor of educational effectiveness at both the classroom and the school level (Teddlie & Reynolds, 2000). In addition, studies investigating teachers’ perceptions of assessment suggest that they are in favour of formative assessment; recognising its role in supporting teaching and learning (Brown, 2004; Kyriakides, 1997; Sach, 2012).
In line with international research, a series of effectiveness studies, which have been conducted in the context of Cyprus, provided empirical support for the impact offormative assessment on student learning outcomes (e.g., Kyriakides, 2005; Kyriakides, Campbell, & Gagatsis, 2000; Kyriakides & Creemers, 2008). These studies have demonstrated that primary school teachers who conduct assessment for formative reasons are more effective in terms ofpromoting student learning outcomes (both cognitive and affective outcomes were taken into account) than those who conduct assessment for summative reasons (Kyriakides, 2005). In addition, it has been found that schools with an established policy on formative assessment are more effective than schools with no policy on assessment (Kyriakides & Creemers, 2008). In this way, formative assessment at the classroom level and school policy on assessment have been identified as factors associated with student achievement gains. However, despite research findings suggesting that Cypriot teachers hold positive attitudes towards formative assessment (Kyriakides, 1997), only a limited number of teachers actually implement such practices in their teaching (Creemers, Kyriakides, & Antoniou, 2013). This finding is in line with international research suggesting that classroom assessment practice still appears to be outcome-oriented (Earl & Katz, 2000; Herman, Osmundson, Ayala, Schneider, & Timms, 2006; Lock & Munby, 2000). In this context, a large body ofresearch has emerged on teacher education and professional development with particular reference to assessment (e.g., Black, Harrison, Lee, Marshall, & Wiliam, 2002; Borko, Wolf, Simone, & Uchiyama, 2003; Hayward, Priestley, & Young, 2004; Marshall & Drummond, 2006; Poskitt & Taylor, 2007; Torrance & Pryor, 2001; Webb & Jones, 2009).
Taking the above into consideration, this paper supports the view that teachers’ skills in each aspect of the assessment process should be evaluated in order to develop appropriate and suitable professional development programmes to address teachers’ professional needs and priorities for improvement in their assessment practice. The difficulties in effective implementation of assessment need to be identified and tackled by researchers and policy-makers, if teacher assessment is to fulfil its promise (Baird, 2010). Specifically, this paper emphasises the need for the development and validation of an instrument measuring teacher assessment skills. This instrument must be in line with current conceptions of effective teaching and assessment and must also enable the identification of teachers’ specific needs in order for appropriate corrective actions to take place. In particular, this study focused on teachers’ skills in assessing students in mathematics recognising the need for assessments that are aligned and able to support current conceptualisations of effective mathematic instruction (Suurtamm, Koch, & Arden, 2010). Although the framework that was developed to measure assessment skills is not subject-specific, the study focused on a single subject due to the fact that the impact of assessment skills on student learning outcomes in mathematics was examined.
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