PERCEPTIONS OF TEACHER EDUCATORS AND PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS ON THE ASSESSMENT LITERACY AND PRACTICES

This study explores the teacher educators' and prospective teachers’ perceptions regarding classroom assessment literacy and practices. It specifically aims to respond to questions: ‘what teacher educators and student teachers perceive with regard to classroom assessment, purposes, approaches, literacy and practices? How many perceptual differences exist between teacher educators and student teachers on classroom assessment practices? Through sequential triangulation, mixed-method research design data were collected over interview protocols and a Likert design questionnaire. Further, qualitative data were analyzed through a thematic approach while quantitative data were analyzed through mean scores and t-test. The results indicated significant differences in the understanding of classroom assessment practices of teacher educators and student teachers. Furthermore, student teachers feel tense due to prevalent assessment mechanisms. The results also revealed that prevalent assessment approaches fall short of developing requisite skills among student teachers. Thus, alternative assessment practices with more students centered and real-life approaches were recommended for prospective teachers in classroom situations.