A mixed methods investigation into the perceptions of lower secondary school students and teachers in Cyprus on the purposes and approaches of assessment

The role of assessment in education has been vital, since the earliest establishment of formal education. Though assessment in its early history was used only as a measurement instrument, alternative assessment of student achievement has arrived on the scene the past two decades. It is accepted that assessment can be used for learning also known as Formative Assessment. In this context, many studies have emerged worldwide investigating students’ and teachers’ perceptions on assessment approaches and purposes as these will affect their practices. The current study uses a Sequential Mixed Methods design to investigate perceptions on the purposes of students’ assessment in general and the assessment framework specific for the Modern Greek language subject within the New National Curriculum in Cyprus (NNC). The methods involved two questionnaires; the one administered to Greek language teachers (N=95) followed by 7 individual interviews and the other administered to lower secondary school students (N=599) followed by three group interviews involving 15 students in total. The qualitative data helped explain and build upon initial quantitative results while involving people from the same sample. Results are discussed in light of other research showing that the perceptions of teachers and students are in alignment with the current shift of assessment to be used for enhancing teaching and learning. Both parties tend to agree with the legitimate purposes of assessment. Teachers and students would like to use the elements of Formative Assessment as promoted by the NNC but feel that there is inadequate training, a lack of literature and concrete examples on how to put these elements into practice.