ABSTRACT
Given the significant increase in online practica during the COVID-19 pandemic—and the potential for continued online learning—initial teacher education (ITE) programs need to understand how student teachers are experiencing and enacting their assessment responsibilities. Drawing on teacher assessment identity theories and using a narrative inquiry approach, this chapter presents research on how seven student teachers applied and developed their assessment philosophy and practices during their online practica. Each participant was interviewed three times over the course of their program. Findings suggest that student teachers commonly experience two types of tensions in assessing in online classrooms: internal conflict between familiar envisioned assessment identities and unfamiliar desired assessment identities, and external conflict between desired assessment identities and online practica constraints. Four processes were found to support the negotiation of these tensions and facilitate assessment identity development: (a) gaining knowledge about assessment, (b) experimenting with assessment in an online classroom, (c) experiencing affirmation from others, and (d) reflecting on the self as assessor. Results provide insight into how ITE programs and teacher educators can support student teachers in their assessment learning and development on online practica, as well as ways student and in-service teachers can prepare for assessment in online classrooms.
