The current study presents a systematic review of teachers’ data literacy, arising from a synthesis of 83 empirical studies published between 1990 to 2021. Our review identified 95 distinct indicators across five dimensions: (a) knowledge about data, (b) skills in using data, (c) dispositions towards data use, (d) data application for various purposes, and (e) data-related behaviors. Our findings indicate that teachers' data literacy goes beyond addressing the needs of supporting student learning and includes elements such as teacher reflection, collaboration, communication, and participation in professional development. Considering these findings, future policies should acknowledge the significance of teacher dispositions and behaviors in relation to data, recognizing that they are as important as knowledge and skills acquisition. Additionally, prioritizing the provision of system-level support to foster teacher collaboration within in-school professional development programs may prove useful in enhancing teachers’ data literacy.
4 July 2022 in Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice
Students’ engagement in assessment is theoretically and empirically supported to increase their learning outcomes, but the assessment knowledge and skills they need to actively engage in assessment remain poorly understood. We used a scoping review method to inform the screening and selection of literature, with 98 included in the analysis. Analysis and synthesis of the articles resulted in 45 indicators of student assessment literacy, grouped into six domains: general knowledge of assessment, development of strategies to engage in assessment, active engagement in assessment, monitoring learning progress, engagement in reflective practice; and disposition in assessment. These domains were used to develop the framework for student assessment literacy. The results of the study highlight a new conceptualisation of student assessment literacy by providing a more comprehensive definition that clearly defines the domains and identifies individual indicators that comprise students’ assessment knowledge and skills, including dispositions needed to effectively engage in assessment.
1 July 2019 in Australian Journal of Teacher Education
: The Assessment for Learning disposition has been long established in the literature as a desirable attribute for teachers. To use the biological metaphor of adaptation, assessment for learning has been argued to be a key base pair on the teacher genome. We argue that the selection of the correct genotype for teachers is not enough. What is needed is empirical confirmation that these genotypes are expressed in the appropriate phenotypes, or teacher practices. The data in this study were generated from interviews that explored the phenotype, or practices, of six teachers who self-selected for the favoured genotype using the Teacher Assessment for Learning Literacy Tool. The findings indicate that the Assessment for Learning genotype was not always expressed in the phenotype, or practices of these six teachers. The selective environmental pressure of the Teacher Assessment for Learning Literacy Tool was not enough to activate plasticity in all the teachers. The implications are that there may need to be a combination of environmental pressures in the form of teacher professional learning interventions using the Teacher Adaptive Practice scale in concert with the Teacher Assessment for Learning Literacy Tool as well as an internal mechanism like a teacher selection tool that discriminates between rigidity and plasticity in a teacher’s disposition.
16 February 2025 in Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice