The Research On Kindergarten Teachers’ Assessment Literacy

In recent years,the assessment literacy of teacher has become a research area which attracts much attention.It is not only a necessary quality needed in education assessment activities,but also an important part of the teacher’s professionalism.Especially in accordance with the transformation of pre-school education assessment paradigm,requirements of professionalization of kindergarten teachers,as well as the reform and development in pre-school education,kindergarten teachers are endowed with more assessment responsibilities,specific requirements and higher expectations.A lot of research shows that assessment literacy is of great significance to children’s development,improvement of the kindergarten’s education quality,as well as the teachers themselves.In this study,the assessment literacy of kindergarten teacher focuses on the assessment of children’s development.In light of such thoughts as “what kindergarten teachers’ assessment literacy ought to be”,“what kindergarten teachers’ assessment literacy really to be”,“what factors influence the kindergarten teachers’ assessment literacy”and “how to develop the kindergarten teachers’ assessment literacy”,the study explores in detail the assessment literacy of kindergarten teachers.This paper is divided into three parts.The first part is mainly about the basic issues of kindergarten teachers’ assessment literacy.Through the combination of theoretical analysis and semi-structured interviews,the author explores theoretical issues such as the definition,characteristics,elements and structure of kindergarten teachers’ assessment literacy.This is the theoretical preparation for the investigation of the status quo of kindergarten teachers’ assessment literacy.The second part,based on a questionnaire study carried out in 330 kindergartens teachers from Chongqing,Shandong,Gansu,Shanxi,Sichuan,Guangxi,Beijing,Shanghai,etc.,presents the preliminary finding on the reality of the assessment literacy of kindergarten teachers,the existing problems,as well as their influencing factors.In the last part,the author puts forward suggestions for improvement of kindergarten teachers’ assessment literacy from the perspectives of the government,kindergartens and the teachers themselves.The study finds that,kindergarten teachers’ assessment literacy is a complex system composed of many factors,mainly including assessment attitude,knowledge and skills.These elements are not simply additive but interact with and influence each other.Nowadays,the kindergarten teachers’ assessment literacy in China is in the medium level,among which the assessment attitude is the best,assessment skill the second and assessment knowledge the lowest.The differences of kindergarten teachers’ assessment literacy in their various dimensions are closely related to pre-service courses learning,on-the-job training,subject studying,autonomous learning and autonomous assessment designing.Further analysis has revealed that the main problems of kindergarten teacher assessment literacy are: overall low level of kindergarten teachers’ assessment literacy,kindergarten teachers’ lack of knowledge of the overall assessment literacy,their inadequate knowledge and skills,and the gap between teachers’ assessment experiences and their assessment literacy.In addition to those internal factors,other factors such as kindergartens and external environment also contribute to the above-mentioned problems.Hence this study believes that,efforts should be made on the governmental level,the kindergarten level and teachers’ level to promote the development of kindergarten teachers’ assessment literacy.Generally speaking,the government should construct the external environment for the improvement of kindergarten teachers’ assessment literacy;kindergartens should provide their support and guidance for their teachers;while the teachers themselves should cultivate their consciousness and ability of self-directed development.