The portuguese perceptions teacher’s of and for learning assessment

Abstract

It is through the assessment of students that their learning results are measured and classified (assessment of learning) and their learning processes are evaluated so that they learn more and better (assessment for learning). Therefore, we questioned the perceptions of teachers of all subjects in a 9th grade class in a school group in the north of Portugal about these learning assessment modalities. We intend to understand these teachers’ perceptions about the concepts and purposes of the two assessment modalities, as well as the practice of the latter. An exploratory case study was carried out, with semi-structured interviews with teachers of all subjects in the aforementioned class. The results showed that, for teachers, assessment of learning is related to the measurement and classification of students’ learning outcomes; assessment for learning is presented as being continuous and takes learning processes as its object. However, this was carried out intuitively, without explicit evaluation criteria, without significant student participation, but resulting in some form of regulation of the teaching and learning process.