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Social contagion has been documented across various domains. However, this phenomenon has not been explored in relation to formative assessment in schools. This study examines the social contagion of school teachers' formative assessment practices and self-efficacy. A sample of 296 teachers from 12 Hong Kong primary and secondary schools participated in this study. All participants completed the same questionnaire twice, one year apart. The longitudinal results showed that formative assessment practices and self-efficacy were socially contagious. When teachers had colleagues who engaged in formative assessment practices and had high self-efficacy, they were more likely to engage in formative assessment and become more efficacious themselves. Also, school-level formative assessment self-efficacy predicted individual-level formative assessment practices demonstrating the importance of collective efficacy. The findings can inform the provision of school support and the design of teacher professional development programmes for promoting formative assessment in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant challenge in studying formative assessment is the lack of suitable instruments for assessing teachers' formative assessment practices. This paper reports the development of the Teacher Formative Assessment Practice Scale (TFAPS) and its psychometric properties based on two samples of primary and secondary school teachers: one from Hong Kong (N = 449) and the other from Italy (N = 309). Exploratory factor analysis identified two distinct factors, including teacher-directed formative assessment (TdFA, six items) and student-directed formative assessment (SdFA, four items). The confirmatory factor analysis supported this two-factor structure. Rasch analysis provided further psychometric evidence regarding scale dimensionality and item quality. This study suggests that TFAPS is an appropriate instrument for assessing teachers' formative assessment practices, but the cultural influence on teachers' formative assessment practices should be noted in the applications of the instrument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Creativity is an important 21st Century skill that enhances students' ability to see new opportunities, confront new challenges, and adapt flexibly to the changing study, work and life situations. To nurture students with strong self-efficacy in creative thinking is as important as the contexts and strategies involved in its application. But how to develop sustainable interventions (without generating excessive workload for teachers) to promote students' self-efficacy in creativity is a long-lasting challenge. This study presents a simple and relatively cost-effective instructional intervention, i.e., self-assessment mind maps, and examines its effect on students' self-efficacy in creativity, self-efficacy in learning English, and academic performance in English language tests. A pretest-posttest non-equivalent design was adopted for the experimental and control groups of students in a Hong Kong primary school in 2021/22 Spring semester. The results show that students from the experimental group significantly outperformed those from the control group on self-efficacy in creativity after the intervention. However, the intervention did not improve students' self-efficacy and test performance in English learning. The findings demonstrate the potential of self-assessment mind maps as an effective and sustainable instruction intervention to promote students' higher-order abilities. This study sheds light on designing sustainable instructional strategies for empowerment in creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the key demographic variables of gender, school level and goal orientation on students’ self-assessment practices, including self-directed feedback seeking (SDFS) and self-reflection (SR). A total of 8843 Hong Kong students were surveyed, ranging from Primary 4 to Secondary 6. The results showed that female students demonstrated higher levels of self-assessment practices than male students, including both SDFS and SR. School level was also significantly associated with secondary students’ engagement in SR. Mastery goal orientation (MGO) was a significant and positive predictor of self-assessment practice including both SDFS and SR, while performance goal orientation (PGO) was a significantly negative predictor. Students with a higher level of MGO, or a lower level of PGO, were more likely to conduct self-assessment. The educational implications of the findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the critical role of formative assessment in instruction, there is a lack of theory-driven instruments that specifically assess teachers' formative assessment literacy. This paper reports the development and validation of the Teacher Formative Assessment Literacy Scale (TFALS). The instrument was developed on a three-dimensional model of formative assessment, aiming at assessing the conceptual, practical, and socio-emotional aspects of formative assessment literacy. Survey data were collected from 585 teachers in Hong Kong primary and secondary schools. Exploratory factor analysis suggests a three-factor structure, and confirmatory factor analysis supports this structure. Rasch analysis results further support its scale dimensionality and item quality. In addition, the relations between TFALS scores and teachers' formative assessment practices demonstrate the instrument's external validity. Overall, the results suggest that the TFALS is an appropriate instrument for assessing teachers' formative assessment literacy. The potential of using the TFALS in research and practice is discussed. • The TFALS assesses teachers' formative assessment literacy. • The TFALS contains conceptual, practical, and socio-emotional dimensions. • The scale quality was examined and endorsed by factor analysis and Rasch analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past studies identified isolated factors influencing teachers' formative assessment practices (FAP) but did not show a comprehensive model of it. Hence, this study systematically creates and tests a theoretical model of FAP by determining whether personal or contextual factors are linked to teachers' FAP. We collected longitudinal data from 296 Hong Kong primary and secondary teachers through two waves of the survey. The results of a multivariate outcome, multilevel analysis showed that personal (teacher rank, years of teaching experience, and self-efficacy) and contextual factors (school support, total number of teachers in a school, and teaching grade) significantly impact teachers' FAP. • Person and context factors affect teachers' formative assessment practices (FAP). • Teachers with more self-efficacy reported more FAP. • Teachers in schools with more teachers or more school support reported more FAP. • Teachers with higher rank or less teaching experience reported more FAP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed at providing explanation and prediction of principals’ inclusive education intentions and practices under the framework of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). A sample of 209 principals from Hong Kong schools was surveyed using five scales that were developed to assess the five components of TPB: attitude, subjective norm, perceived behaviour control, intention, and behaviour. Rasch analysis was utilised to examine the psychometric quality of the scales and generate principals’ measures, which were subsequently subjected to path analysis to investigate the relationships among the five components. The results revealed a good model–data fit. Principals’ attitude and perceived subjective norm were strong and significant predictors of their intention to implement inclusive education. The predictive power of perceived behaviour control on intention was not significant. Intention and perceived behaviour control were found to have significant predictive power for principals’ reported inclusive practice. The implications of the findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) was used to explore the Hong Kong teachers' intentions to implement school-based assessment (SBA) and the predictors of those intentions. A total of 280 teachers from Hong Kong secondary schools who had been involved in SBA were surveyed. Rasch-calibrated teacher measures were calculated for each of the 6 variables – affective and instrumental attitude, subjective norm, self-efficacy, knowledge, and intention – regarding SBA. The results of hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that instrumental attitude and self-efficacy made significant contributions to predicting intentions to implement SBA. These 2 predictors explained 55.2% of the variance in intentions. The other 3 variables, that is, affective attitude, subject norm, and knowledge, did not have significant predictive power on the formation of intentions to implement SBA. Possible explanations and implications of the findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study extends investigations into 2 areas: ease of use in the environment and markers' acceptance of on screen marking (OSM) in the Hong Kong public examination context. In contrast to previous studies where there was a single focus, this study comprises a heterogeneous approach. The sample contains scripts from three subjects (English, Chinese, and Liberal Studies). Scripts comprised essays and short-answer questions, as well as scripts written in either English or Chinese. Two scales assessing the ease of use and markers' acceptance of OSM were investigated from a Rasch measurement perspective; with both scales showing good psychometric properties. The findings revealed that markers generally had a high level of perceived ease of use in the environment and the overall acceptance of OSM was positive. Differences of person measures across language, question type, and subject were compared, and the implications of the two scales for future research are briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this study was to develop a Rasch Measurement Physical Fitness Scale (RMPFS) based on physical fitness indicators routinely used in Hong Kong primary schools. A total of 9,439 records of students' performances on physical fitness indicators, retrieved from the database of a Hong Kong primary school, were used to develop the Rasch scale. Following a series of iterative Rasch analyses that adopted the 'data should fit the model' approach, four physical fitness indicators (i.e., 6-min run, 9-min run, 1-min sit-ups, and dominant handgrip) were successfully calibrated to form the RMPFS. The RMPFS and its scale indicators showed fit to the Rasch model sufficient for the intended purposes of measuring the overall fitness of children. The overall physical fitness measure reflects children's fitness on three key core components of physical fitness (i.e., cardio-respiratory fitness, muscular endurance, and muscular strength). Advantages of the RMPFS are discussed, and recommendations for future research follow. The findings of this study provide a better knowledge basis for interpreting children's physical fitness assessment results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaborative lesson planning (CLP) is a key component of teachers' professional development that responds to students' ever-increasing learning needs. This study aimed to develop and validate an instrument to evaluate teachers' CLP practices. Guided by the SECI (socialisation, externalisation, combination, and internalisation) knowledge-creation model of Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995), items assessing CLP practices were developed. To validate the CLP scale, we analysed data from 540 primary and secondary school teachers in Hong Kong. Exploratory factor analysis on a random half of the sample suggests a four-factor solution that supports the SECI model. A confirmatory factor analysis and multidimensional Rasch analysis on the remaining half of the sample confirmed the four-factor structure. Both analyses support the dimensionality of the four-factor model, rating scale effectiveness, and item fit statistics. The final version of the CLPS has 21 items that assess teachers' CLP practices under the four SECI processes. This instrument has practical value in assessing, monitoring, and promoting collaborative teaching practices in school. The study's limitations and implications are discussed. • Successful curriculum reform requires teachers' collaborative lesson planning. • The SECI model is a holistic framework to analyse teacher collaboration. • An instrument to evaluate teachers' collaborative lesson planning is validated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]