Stakeholders’ Perspectives of the Nature and Role of Assessment during Practicum

This article was published in Teaching and Teacher Education, Vol 27 number 4,
Author(s): Jeanne Maree Allen, "Stakeholders’ Perspectives of the Nature and Role of Assessment during Practicum", Pages 742–750, Copyright Elsevier (May 2011).

This article focuses on the assessment of student teachers during practicum.

The study is contextualised in an Australian pre-service teacher education program in which practicum has been reconceptualised to help bridge the theory–practice gap commonly associated with “front-end loading” programs.

The participants in the study were student teachers and supervising teachers.
Data were collected through survey and interviews.

The findings point to what participants perceive as disparate understandings between university and school staff about the nature and role of assessment.
The findings suggest that the lack of common understanding adversely affects students’ experiences of assessment.