Mathematics teachers' assessment practices and formative assessment : a study of teachers of 11-14 year olds in Turkey and England

Teacher assessment and formative assessment have a crucial place in the teaching and learning process. Their value especially was increased due to the changing perspectives of educational assessment in the last decade. This study therefore, has been designed to identify, examine and compare secondary mathematics teachers' assessment practices and formative assessment in Turkey and England.;For this study multiple case studies, approached under the qualitative paradigm were chosen as the main approach. Semi-structured interviewing and non-participant observation (being a complete observer) were adopted as the methods of data collection. The study was carried out with 12 mathematics teachers of 11-14 year olds in England and Turkey.;The findings show that questioning played a crucial role in teachers' assessment processes during interactions between the teachers and the pupils. The teachers collected information about their pupils by observing them, while pupils are practicing their skills and using their knowledge, and examining pupils' products as a part of their teaching. Formative assessment appeared as generally correcting errors and an approving type of feedback.;The results of the study also show that both English and Turkish teachers used almost the same assessment techniques. However, how they used these techniques and what they looked for was different between Turkish and English teachers. It seems that these differences came from the different teaching styles of teachers as well as different teaching contexts.;Differences in assessment practices and formative assessment appeared not only between teachers from different countries, but also among teachers from the same country. According to findings, a model of teachers' assessment practices was devised. Some issues were found with Turkish teachers assessment practices because of the influence of assessment policy and lack of use of assessment methods.