Investigating high school science teachers’ readiness for implementing formative assessment practices

Abstract

Formative assessment is used to link teaching and learning in the classroom. It provides feedback on ways to improve student performance by matching educational goals with instructional practices. The purpose of this study was to investigate Saudi science teachers’ readiness to implement formative assessment. The participants included 11 male high school science teachers. This study involved a qualitative, phenomenological research design. Science teachers were shown examples of teachers using formative assessment techniques in the form of vignettes and were asked if they have used or will use such techniques in their classrooms. The findings provide information on the readiness of science teachers to adopt formative assessment. Results show that only three had used formative assessment, indicating that teachers need more preparation for using formative assessment. The findings of this study are helpful for Arabic language countries and countries that tend to have rigid curricula.