Formative Assessment at Secondary Education Level in Bangladesh: A Study on Measuring Teachers’ Readiness

Effectively assessed and skilled students are potentially the greatest agents of change for ensuring sustainable development Goals (SDGs), meeting the challenges of the 4th Industrial Revolution, and meeting the national demand for achieving national development plans (vision 2041/ smart Bangladesh) by generating skilled manpower. Here Formative Assessment (FA) can play a crucial role in promoting such change by enabling students through smooth assessment if it is effectively implemented in Bangladesh, especially in secondary education. Hence this study was conducted to measure teachers’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices to determine readiness for Formative Assessment at secondary level education in Bangladesh. The survey was conducted on 100 respondents who are teachers at secondary schools from Rangamati and Cox’s Bazar districts in Bangladesh. The result revealed a moderate level of knowledge and positive attitude towards the FA among the teachers. It was observed that the relationship between their readiness (knowledge, attitudes, and practices) and training towards the FA is positive and strong with a 5% level of significance. Also, it was observed that the relationship between their practices and training about FA is stronger with a 1% level of significance. Therefore, it was concluded that FA literate teachers especially in secondary education are practicing FA tools/strategies to ensure better students’ assessment. Thus, the research recommends that more training on FA needs to be done to promote and encourage teachers at all levels of education in the country, especially in secondary education by the government and its agency to ensure effective implementation of FA. Researchers do believe that it will meet the national demand for skilled next generation to build a smart Bangladesh by ensuring quality education of sustainable development goals SDGs -4.