Teacher Beliefs and Assessment Practices in Preschool Curriculum Reform

This mixed-methods study examined the relationship between teacher beliefs and assessment practices during early childhood curriculum reform implementation. Using data from 300 teachers from 36 preschools at multiple levels of reform, the study employed validated questionnaires, interviews, and observation of learning and teaching episodes. Results indicated strong positive correlations between reform beliefs and innovative assessment practices, with the highest correlation (r = 0.72, p < 0.001) found between child-centered beliefs and observation-based assessment, and administrative support and resource availability mediated 42% of variancedifference. Use of observation-based assessment daily increased significantly from 22% pre-reform to 82% full implementation settings, and adoption of standardised testing decreased from 65% to 23% usage per month. Young teachers exhibited 15% higher belief-practice alignment scores than older peers, and differential adaptation patterns prevailed at multiple career stages. The study contributes to how institutional resources support translating teaching beliefs and belief-practice and has consequences for enabling sustainable education transformation at the early childhood education level.