U.S. teachers' conceptions of the purposes of assessment

Teachers' conceptions about assessment influence their classroom assessment practices. In this investigation, we examined 179 K-12 teachers' conceptions of the purposes of assessment from a person-centered perspective. An exploratory factor analysis of teachers' responses to the Conceptions of Assessment Instrument yielded a three-factor model: assessment as valid for accountability, improves teaching and learning, and as irrelevant. Next, we used cluster analysis to identify belief profiles of teacher groups: Cluster-1: Moderate, Cluster-2: Irrelevant, Cluster-3: Teaching and Learning. Within and across cluster comparisons revealed significant differences indicating that these are distinct profiles: teachers can, and do, hold multiple beliefs about assessment simultaneously.