A Personal and Profound Approach to Building ESL Teachers' Assessment Literacy in the “Transitional Space”

Abstract

In an effort to improve assessment literacy learning in a Master of TESOL program, a progressive course—“Technology and New Literacies in TESOL”—has been developed. It runs concurrently with a traditional “Testing and Assessment” course, so that the student teachers' assessment literacy is grounded in fundamental concepts and then elevated by an exploration of technology-infused approaches to assessment. The structure of the course was inspired by Xu and Brown's teacher assessment literacy in practice (TALiP) framework, building the student teachers' assessment literacy through the levels set out. The chapter explains how the student teachers explored the possibilities of assessment through real-world examples, an array of technologies, and reflective practices. The result were a tangible set of tools and a broadened understanding of how assessment could and should be done in ESL classrooms.