Literature summary
Davison, C. (2004). The contradictory culture of teacher-based assessment: ESL
teacher assessment practices in Australian and Hong Kong secondary
schools. Language Testing, 21 (3), 305-334.
(Printed)
This article adopts a socio-cultural approach to report on the background and finds of a
comparative study of ESL teachers’ assessment of written argument in the final years of
secondary school in Australia and Hong Kong. The article concludes that traditional notions of
validity may need to be reconceptualized in high-stakes teacher-based assessment, with
professional judgment, interaction and trust given much higher priority in the assessment
process.
Out-line of ideas.
Criterion-referenced vs. construct-referenced assessment approaches and their limitations
Limitation of criterion-referenced assessment

The common assumption underlying such approaches is that criteria can be teacher free and
context free, but many studies show that assessment criteria are interpreted differently by
teacher-assessors according to their personal background, previous experience, unconscious
expectations, internalized and personalized preferences regarding the relative importance of
different criteria and ideological orientation

The approach assumes teach-based assessment is essentially a technical activity, requiring
little professional judgment or interpretation. However, anecdotal evidence would suggest
that it is only through the teacher interpretation and negotiation of judgments that
judgments can be made valid and reliable.

When a conflict arises between standardized criteria and teacher’ own personalized
judgments, teachers manipulate and/or reject the criteria.
Limitation of constructed-referenced assessment

Constructed-references assessment is found on the assumption that amongst teachers there
develop common ‘communities of practice’ that provide implicit frameworks for judgment
and evaluation. However, it is the fact that teachers may diverse greatly in their
interpretations of their role and purpose.

Construct-referenced systems cannot work unless teacher-assessors are ‘authorized to
make judgments’.

Construct-referenced assessment, like criterion-based systems, assumes that agreement
within the community, rather than disagreement, is primary.
Preoccupations of teachers involved in the assessment process
In Melbourne, fate of individual and their life chances are paramount in teachers’ thoughts.
In Hong Kong, respect and face are more important considerations.
Many Hong Kong teachers perceive the ‘authority’ of the external examination as the source of
authority and respect to their judgements (School-based judgements).
An emerging framework for describing teacher assessment beliefs, attitudes and practice
Teachers’ assessment orientations:

Arbiter of ‘community’ values – whose judgments are both community and student
referenced

Assessor as God.- whose judgments are community-bound, reliant on implicit, inarticulate
norms of reference, exemplified in comments such as ‘it’s hard to specify…’.