A Theoretical Framework for the Role of Classroom Assessment in Motivating Student Effort and Achievement

This article presents a theory about the role of classroom assessment in motivating student effort and achievement. The theory postulates that in any particular class, the classroom assessment environment is played out in repeated classroom assessment events, activity segments with associated expectations and assessments. Within a classroom assessment event, a teacher communicates to students through assignments, activities, and feedback on performance, and students respond according to their perceptions of these learning opportunities and their perceived efficacy to accomplish the tasks. The classroom assessment environment concept offers a way to integrate individual (students) and group (a class with one teacher) aspects of effort and achievement into one theoretical framework. The classroom assessment event concept offers a mechanism for how curriculum, instructional activities, and assessmerits impact student effort and achievement.

[1]  Ruth Butler,et al.  Effects of no feedback, task-related comments, and grades on intrinsic motivation and performance , 1986 .

[2]  R. Slavin.  Classroom Reward Structure: An Analytical and Practical Review , 1975 .

[3]  Susan M. Brookhart,et al.  Teachers' Grading: Practice and Theory , 1994 .

[4]  J. Eccles.  Expectancies, values and academic behaviors , 1983 .

[5]  P. Pintrich,et al.  Motivational and self-regulated learning components of classroom academic performance. , 1990 .

[6]  Thomas M. Haladyna,et al.  Personal and environmental influences on students' beliefs about effective study strategies , 1990 .

[7]  B. Zimmerman,et al.  Self-Motivation for Academic Attainment: The Role of Self-Efficacy Beliefs and Personal Goal Setting , 1992, American Educational Research Journal.

[8]  M. Lepper.  Motivational Considerations in the Study of Instruction , 1988 .

[9]  Linda Stewart,et al.  Teacher Comments, Letter Grades, and Student Performance: What Do We Really Know?. , 1976 .

[10]  R. Butler.  Task-involving and ego-involving properties of evaluation: Effects of different feedback conditions on motivational perceptions, interest, and performance. , 1987 .

[11]  A. Porter,et al.  Professional Orientations: An Essential Domain for Teacher Testing. , 1986 .

[12]  M. Pajares,et al.  Teachers’ Beliefs and Educational Research: Cleaning Up a Messy Construct , 1992 .

[13]  Carole A. Ames,et al.  Achievement Goals in the Classroom: Students' Learning Strategies and Motivation Processes , 1988 .

[14]  Susan M. Brookhart,et al.  Teachers' Grading Practices: Meaning and Values. , 1993 .

[15]  S. Graham.  Classroom Motivation From an Attributional Perspective , 1994 .

[16]  A. Bandura.  Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory , 1985 .

[17]  C. Tittle.  Toward an educational psychology of assessment for teaching and learning: Theories, contexts, and validation arguments. , 1994 .

[18]  Carl Bereiter,et al.  Constructivism, Socioculturalism, and Popper's World 3 , 1994 .

[19]  Allan Wigfield,et al.  Math anxiety in elementary and secondary school students. , 1988 .

[20]  Ruth Kanfer,et al.  The Role of Volition in Learning and Performance , 1993 .

[21]  Improvement,et al.  In Teachers' Hands: Investigating the Practices of Classroom Assessment , 1992 .

[22]  P. Cobb.  Where Is the Mind? Constructivist and Sociocultural Perspectives on Mathematical Development , 1994 .

[23]  S. Stodolsky.  The Subject Matters: Classroom Activity in Math and Social Studies , 1988 .

[24]  P. Pintrich,et al.  Students' motivational beliefs and their cognitive engagement in classroom academic tasks. , 1992 .

[25]  B. Weiner,et al.  A theory of motivation for some classroom experiences. , 1979, Journal of educational psychology.

[26]  Pam Grossman,et al.  Considerations of Content and the Circumstances of Secondary School Teaching , 1994 .

[27]  Harris Cooper,et al.  Synthesis of Research on Homework. , 1989 .

[28]  D. Schunk.  Self-regulation of self-efficacy and attributions in academic settings. , 1994 .

[29]  B. Weiner,et al.  An attributional analysis of achievement motivation. , 1970 .

[30]  L. S. Schulman.  Paradigms and research programs in the study of teaching , 1986 .

[31]  J. Meece,et al.  Students' goal orientations and cognitive engagement in classroom activities , 1988 .

[32]  Gary Natriello.  The Impact of Evaluation Processes on Students , 1987 .

[33]  R. Stiggins.  Student-centered classroom assessment , 1994 .

[34]  Carole A. Ames.  Classrooms: Goals, structures, and student motivation. , 1992 .

[35]  G. Salomon.  The differential investment of mental effort in learning from different sources , 1983 .

[36]  S. B. Nolen,et al.  Reasons for studying: Motivational orientations and study strategies. , 1988 .

[37]  Gary Natriello,et al.  Performance Standards, Student Effort on Homework, and Academic Achievement. , 1986 .

[38]  Kathleen Holt,et al.  A pattern analysis of students' achievement goals. , 1993 .

[39]  Richard J. Stiggins,et al.  THE ECOLOGY OF CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT , 1985 .