The initial implementation of a mandated assessment project

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Melbourne, 1996During 1994 the Directorate of School Education decided to implement a statewide assessment project aimed at primary aged students. Under the guidance of the Board of Studies, this project was announced and it was anticipated that all Victorian State Primary schools would participate in the project in 1995. This study is a record of how the staff at one State Primary School reacted to the implementation of this mandated assessment project. It draws upon literature on teacher change and from the British National Curriculum to identify issues relating to the Victorian context. Using teacher concerns as a focus this study explores the affective reaction of the teachers in the study and the extent to which they accommodated or rejected the change. It explores to what extent teacher interpretations of change are affected by various sources of information. And whether these sources impacted upon the acceptance or rejection of the Learning Assessment Project. A number of issues that need to be taken into consideration when implementing educational change were identified. It also focuses on Hall and Loucks (1978) theory of the Stages of Concern, identifying that in the case of mandated change, teachers concerns do not follow the same pattern as those identified by Hall and Loucks