Policy incentives in Canadian large-scale assessment: How policy levers influence teacher decisions about instructional change
Open accessAbstract
Large-scale assessment (LSA) is a tool used by education authorities for several purposes, including the promotion of teacher-based instructional change. In Canada, all 10 provinces engage in large-scale testing across several grade levels and subjects, and also have the common expectation that the results data will be used to improve instruction in classrooms. Yet despite agreement between ministries that instructional change based on LSA results is a positive development and employs data-based decision making at its heart, there remain significant differences in the kinds of incentives written into assessment policies in Canada. It is also true that implementation of the policies is less than uniform between schools and school divisions. Using mixed methods (survey data and follow-up interviews), this study examines which policy factors have the most significant impact on teacher decisions regarding the use of data. The findings indicate that highly incentivized policies correlate well to instructional change including aspects of both teaching (to) the curriculum as well as teaching to the test. Since the latter will be examined as a neither an educationally defensible practice nor a stated policy goal, the statement that ‘incentives work’ does not fully capture the nature of these impacts.
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Teachers' knowledge about data includes understanding externally administered assessment data and data systems, such as state-level assessment policies related to data use.
“Lastly, teachers’ knowledge about data includes understanding of externally administered assessment data and data system, such as state-level assessment policies related to data use (Copp, 2017; Hardy, 2019; Reed, 2015) and understanding the broader state-level contexts that impact data utilization within the school (Datnow et al., 2013; Dunn et al., 2013a; Ford, 2018; Omoso et al., 2019; Powell”
From Dimensions of teachers’ data literacy: A systematic review of literature from 1990 to 2021 (2024) · cites this paper as Copp, 2017
Teachers may need thorough knowledge of educational government policies to ensure alignment between state-level curriculum initiatives and school-level assessment policies.
“Teachers may need to have thorough knowledge of educational government policies to ensure alignment between state-level curriculum initiatives and school-level assessment policies (Anderson et al., 2010; Copp, 2017; Gelderblom et al., 2016; Hardy, 2015).”
From Dimensions of teachers’ data literacy: A systematic review of literature from 1990 to 2021 (2024) · cites this paper as Copp, 2017
Teachers may need to apply different data analytic approaches when evaluating student outcomes based on school-based versus externally administered standardized assessments.
“For example, teachers may need to apply different data analytic approaches when evaluating student outcomes based on school-based versus externally administered standardized assessments (Copp, 2017; Curry et al., 2016; Omoso et al., 2019; Wardrip & Herman, 2018; Zeuch et al., 2017).”
From Dimensions of teachers’ data literacy: A systematic review of literature from 1990 to 2021 (2024) · cites this paper as Copp, 2017
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References 68 · Cited by 8
- Authors
- Copp, D. T.
- Corresponding author
- Copp, Derek T.
- ORCID
- Copp, Derek T.
- Venue
- Education Policy Analysis Archives
- Published
- 2017-11-20
- Volume
- 25
- Pages
- 115
- ISSN
- 1068-2341 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2769374615
- Cited by
- 8
- References
- 68
- Citations by year
- 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2020: 2
- FWCI
- 0.88
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Licence
- other-oa
- Locations
- Education Policy Analysis Archives (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Redalyc (Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Information Systems and Management › Educational Assessment and Improvement
- Social Sciences › Education › Teacher Education and Assessments
- Social Sciences › Education › Educational Assessment and Pedagogy
- Keywords
- large-scale assessment, high-stakes testing, policy incentives, teacher decision-making, instructional change, data-driven decision making, teaching to the test, curriculum-based instruction, provincial education policy, policy implementation, Canadian education policy
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