Research plan

Within a framework of discrepancy between "assessment of learning" and "assessment for learning", the researchers intend to use document analysis, surveys, focused interviews and classroom observation as methods in this research. The research plan has been designed to collect data from key documents, participants, classrooms and student work samples to provide a multi-dimensional perspective on discrepancies between the expected assessment policy nature in documents and actual assessment in selected schools in Hong Kong .

In the first stage of the study, it is intended to examine the relevant assessment policy documents as well as the school assessment documents. The purpose is to examine closely those two categories of documents and compare the expected assessment policy nature and the actual design school assessment policy nature. The results of this comparison will provide the broad framework for successive stages of the project and is regarded as the foundation required by the research questions.

In the second stage of the study, a stratified sample of schools will be surveyed to understand school decision-makers' and school teachers' views on centralized assessment policy and its design at the school level. A sub-sample of school decision makers will be selected for interview in order to follow up in more detail the issues raised in the questionnaire. In the same batch of schools, an analysis on school related documents will be done to establish independently from the interviews how the school assessment policy and implementation is responding to central assessment policy. The purpose of interviews and document analysis is to understand how schools have responded to the central assessment policy initiatives. At this stage, the data collected will help to explain the research questions 1, 2 and 3.

In the third stage of the study, basing on their subject affiliations and the Principal’s recommendation, a sample of teachers within the sample schools will be selected for interview and observations will be made in their classrooms. The purpose of these interviews is to develop a classroom practitioner perspective on the school assessment policy design,and assess the extent to which this design can be identified in actual classroom assessment. Examples of student assessment (e.g.homework and assignments) will also be studied. The data thus collected will contribute significantly to the research questions 3 and 4.