Teachers’ alignment between a local initiated external assessment: The diagnostic literacy test—And teaching regarding special educational needs students’ needs

The present study aims to study how external assessments are used by teachers, transforming summative test results into a formative approach for teaching, with a special focus on students with SEN. The data material consists of documents and interviews with teachers. The documents were the schools’...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Helena Sjunnesson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-12-01
Series:Frontiers in Education
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.1075165/full
_version_ 1811196465164320768
author Helena Sjunnesson
author_facet Helena Sjunnesson
author_sort Helena Sjunnesson
collection DOAJ
description The present study aims to study how external assessments are used by teachers, transforming summative test results into a formative approach for teaching, with a special focus on students with SEN. The data material consists of documents and interviews with teachers. The documents were the schools’ compilations of assessment results, including proposals for measures and action programs for individual students. The students’ action programs constitute data material for analysis of their needs regarding the outcomes of the DLS tests. Eight ordinary and six SEN teachers participated in follow-up interviews to express their understanding of the test results and their decisions regarding what adaptations and support the students needed. The results show the teachers’ expressions and understanding of aligning the results to better support the identified SEN students in education. The emerging results indicate that the primary purpose of the assessment was to identify students with SEN and to plan teaching for these students. SEN was identified by test results on or below stanine 3. The planned support was mainly directed toward special education conducted by SEN teachers. Within the same community, different interpretations of the assignment are possible. This may affect how the results are analyzed and implemented into teaching.
first_indexed 2024-04-12T00:59:18Z
format Article
id doaj.art-abad99a2040a4fa4a5e330315d5807d1
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2504-284X
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-12T00:59:18Z
publishDate 2022-12-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Education
spelling doaj.art-abad99a2040a4fa4a5e330315d5807d12022-12-22T03:54:31ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Education2504-284X2022-12-01710.3389/feduc.2022.10751651075165Teachers’ alignment between a local initiated external assessment: The diagnostic literacy test—And teaching regarding special educational needs students’ needsHelena SjunnessonThe present study aims to study how external assessments are used by teachers, transforming summative test results into a formative approach for teaching, with a special focus on students with SEN. The data material consists of documents and interviews with teachers. The documents were the schools’ compilations of assessment results, including proposals for measures and action programs for individual students. The students’ action programs constitute data material for analysis of their needs regarding the outcomes of the DLS tests. Eight ordinary and six SEN teachers participated in follow-up interviews to express their understanding of the test results and their decisions regarding what adaptations and support the students needed. The results show the teachers’ expressions and understanding of aligning the results to better support the identified SEN students in education. The emerging results indicate that the primary purpose of the assessment was to identify students with SEN and to plan teaching for these students. SEN was identified by test results on or below stanine 3. The planned support was mainly directed toward special education conducted by SEN teachers. Within the same community, different interpretations of the assignment are possible. This may affect how the results are analyzed and implemented into teaching.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.1075165/fullexternal assessmentprimary schoolreading comprehensionspecial educational needstheory of situated learning
spellingShingle Helena Sjunnesson
Teachers’ alignment between a local initiated external assessment: The diagnostic literacy test—And teaching regarding special educational needs students’ needs
Frontiers in Education
external assessment
primary school
reading comprehension
special educational needs
theory of situated learning
title Teachers’ alignment between a local initiated external assessment: The diagnostic literacy test—And teaching regarding special educational needs students’ needs
title_full Teachers’ alignment between a local initiated external assessment: The diagnostic literacy test—And teaching regarding special educational needs students’ needs
title_fullStr Teachers’ alignment between a local initiated external assessment: The diagnostic literacy test—And teaching regarding special educational needs students’ needs
title_full_unstemmed Teachers’ alignment between a local initiated external assessment: The diagnostic literacy test—And teaching regarding special educational needs students’ needs
title_short Teachers’ alignment between a local initiated external assessment: The diagnostic literacy test—And teaching regarding special educational needs students’ needs
title_sort teachers alignment between a local initiated external assessment the diagnostic literacy test and teaching regarding special educational needs students needs
topic external assessment
primary school
reading comprehension
special educational needs
theory of situated learning
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.1075165/full
work_keys_str_mv AT helenasjunnesson teachersalignmentbetweenalocalinitiatedexternalassessmentthediagnosticliteracytestandteachingregardingspecialeducationalneedsstudentsneeds