What is formative assessment? Conceptualisation and level of knowledge of basic education teachers

¿Qué es la evaluación formativa? Conceptualización y grado de conocimiento del profesorado de educación básica

Maite Zubillaga Olague, Universidad Autónoma de MadridFollow
Laura Cañadas, Universidad Autónoma de MadridFollow
Jesús Manso, Universidad Autónoma de MadridFollow

DOI

10.22550/2174-0909.4154

Abstract

For educational research and practice, it is vital to identify how much teachers believe they know about formative assessment, as well as their ideas of the concept. However, there has been little research in this area. Therefore, this research aims to: (1) analyse teachers’ perceived level of knowledge of the concept formative assessment, establishing whether there are statistically significant differences according to the educational level at which they teach, the training in assessment they have received, the number of training activities on assessment they have completed, and their years of teaching experience; and (2) to analyse teachers’ theoretical conception of formative assessment. A mixed design was used with 713 teachers from primary education (39.1%) and secondary education (60.9%). The #EvalFormEPESO questionnaire was used to collect information. Specifically, the item about the level of knowledge of the concept formative assessment and an open-ended question requesting its definition. The results show statistically significant differences in the level of knowledge of the concept formative assessment depending on the variables studied. Moreover, the definitions teachers provided show incomplete or erroneous conceptions.

Financiación | Funding

This work was done with the funding of the FPI-UAM (2021) contract awarded to Maite Zubillaga-Olague.

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Author Biography

Maite Zubillaga-Olague. Doctoral student in Education in the doctoral school of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM). Master’s in Sciences of Physical Activity and Sport (Educational Innovation and Quality; UAM, 2020) and bachelor’s in Primary Teaching with a Mention in Physical Education (2019) from the Universidad Pública de Navarra. She is currently working on her doctoral thesis with an FPI-UAM (2021) research personnel training contract. Her research interests focus on the development of assessment processes, more specifically on the formative assessment processes used by teachers who work in school educational levels (primary education and obligatory secondary education). She also researches how to analyse this type of processes in the area of physical education, a field on which some of her publications have focussed.

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0924-1583

Laura Cañadas. Associate professor in the Department of Physical Education, Sport, and Human Kinetics. Doctorate with international mention in Sciences of Physical Activity and Sport (2018) from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), with a research personnel training contract (FPI-UAM). Expert in University Teaching qualification (UAM, 2017), university master’s in Secondary Education and Baccalaureate Teacher Training (2015, UNED), master’s in Innovation, Assessment and Quality in Physical Education (2014, UAM), and bachelor’s in Sciences of Physical Activity and Sport (2013, UAM). Her research interests centre on the use of formative assessment in the initial training of teachers and the use of new methodologies in this stage, especially in physical education. She has collaborated in national research and transfer projects and has spent research periods in Strathclyde, Leuven, and Porto. She belongs to the Formative and Shared Assessment in Education Network and the International Research Network on Physical Education and Healthy Lifestyle Promotion. She was dean’s representative for Quality and Development of Qualifications (March 2020-November 2021). She is currently vice-dean for Quality.

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4179-9018

Jesús Manso. Associate professor in the Department of Pedagogy at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) since 2014, doctorate in Education with European mention (2012; Pedro Roselló Prize), and master’s in Educational Improvement and Quality (2009). He has a licentiate degree in Educational Psychology (National Prize for Excellence, 2008) and a diploma in Primary Teaching in the Special Education Specialism (Grant for Excellence, 2006). He is an active member of the UAM’s “Supranational Educational Policies Research Group” (www.gipes-uam.com) and his research interests centre on teacher training, competences, and compared educational policy. He was also vice-dean for Bachelor’s Studies in the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education at the UAM until 2020, and he has been the coordinator of the double degree in Early Childhood and Primary Teaching since 2017. He is currently dean of the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education at the UAM.

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1557-3242

Citación recomendada | Recommended citation

Zubillaga-Olague, M., Cañadas, L., & Manso, J. (2025). What is formative assessment? Conceptualization and level of knowledge of basic education teachers [¿Qué es la evaluación formativa? Conceptualización y grado de conocimiento del profesorado de educación básica]. Revista Española de Pedagogía, 83(290), 241-257. https://doi.org/10.22550/2174-0909.4154