Teachers’ assessment literacy and design competence framework

Teachers play a central role in facilitating learning and empowering learners (Pastore & Andrade, 2019). They must possess a high level of assessment literacy to properly fulfil their role of implementing teaching and facilitating students’ learning (Hattie, 2009). Without it, the quality of educational provision can be impacted (Looney et al., 2018). The expectations placed on teachers in relation to their assessment knowledge and skills tend to focus on their ability to design and implement assessment with students, and to use assessment data to inform teaching practices (Brookhart, 2011). Much of the emphasis in the literature is on the mechanical processes involved in assessment, and on what is required by individual teachers (DeLuca & Bellara, 2013). Our holistic approach conceptualises assessment literacy as relating to teachers’ assessment competence, sound practices, socio-cultural understandings, and how these are embedded within the educational context (DeLuca et al., 2019). The focus is on the body of teachers within a school; many practicing teachers are at a novice stage in their professional practice (Xu, 2017) and teaching needs to be supported by school structures for optimal student learning (Crichton & McDaid, 2016)