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Improving assessment accountability in initial teacher education programs through benchmarking

Marianne June Knaus (School of Education, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Australia)
Gill Kirk (Edith Cowan University - Joondalup Campus, Joondalup, Australia)
Pauline Roberts (Edith Cowan University - Joondalup Campus, Joondalup, Australia)
Lennie Barblett (Edith Cowan University - Joondalup Campus, Joondalup, Australia)
Bev Adkin (Edith Cowan University - Joondalup Campus, Joondalup, Australia)

Benchmarking: An International Journal

ISSN: 1463-5771

Article publication date: 29 January 2021

Issue publication date: 2 August 2021

382

Abstract

Purpose

In Australia, political imperatives that drive the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) and Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) call for a new understanding of assessment at the tertiary level. Assessment strategies are under the microscope to provide accountability but are increasingly called to measure a wider set of attributes considered important in equipping graduates to meet 21st century opportunities and challenges. This paper reports on a shared benchmarking exercise between two universities to ensure the current assessment strategies in their undergraduate early childhood programs meet such requirements.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected using qualitative methodology and conceptualised using an interpretivist frame that enabled the collaborative groups to socially construct the meaning of assessment and identify what was specific, unique and different across the two programs. A cross-case analysis enabled a robust examination of the data.

Findings

Findings identified key structural and procedural differences between the two benchmarked university programs in terms of cohort size, university policies around assessment points, the use of exams and the choices surrounding professional experience placements.

Practical implications

Implications of the research note the complexity of contextual factors such as university policies on assessment and the impact these have on the quality of assessment.

Originality/value

This paper is unique in that it used the conceptual framework for self-evaluation from TEQSA and followed their six key phases of benchmarking.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Funds from the Edith Cowan University School of Education Strategic Initiative Fund enabled this project to be undertaken. The authors would like to acknowledge the work of Lyn Whiteside and the Benchmarking partners.Disclosure statement: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Citation

Knaus, M.J., Kirk, G., Roberts, P., Barblett, L. and Adkin, B. (2021), "Improving assessment accountability in initial teacher education programs through benchmarking", Benchmarking: An International Journal, Vol. 28 No. 7, pp. 2299-2314. https://doi.org/10.1108/BIJ-06-2020-0289

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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