Alignment of the Intended, Enacted, Received and Assessed Curriculum in EFL Pre-Service Measurement and Evaluation Education

Abstract

Recent research points out a problem regarding the pre-service assessment education given by English as a Foreign Language (EFL) programs in the national context. One factor contributing to the problem can be the poor alignment among program components as numerous teacher education researchers assert that alignment is a necessary condition for learning experiences and practices of pre-service teachers. Accordingly, in this study, the author examined the alignment among the components of the pre-service assessment course curriculum; that is, the intended, enacted, assessed, and received curricula. The study adopted a mixed-methods case study approach using both qualitative and quantitative data collection tools, and to examine the alignment among the curricula, an adaptation of Surveys of the Enacted Curriculum (SEC) alignment methodology was used. Data for the intended and assessed curricula were collected through curricular and assessment documents and analyzed through content analysis, while the data regarding the enacted and received curricula were collected through surveys with teacher educators and pre-service teachers and analyzed through descriptive statistics. In both cases, the data were transferred to matrices for further analysis. To calculate the alignment among each pair of curricula, Porter’s alignment index formula was used. Results indicated that the pre-service assessment course curriculum has moderate to high alignment indices ranging from 0, 44 to 0, 78. The study found a strong alignment between the intended and enacted curricula and the assessed and received curricula but a moderate alignment between each pair of the intended and assessed; enacted and assessed; enacted and received and intended and received curricula. The results of this study serve to identify the points of misalignment within the pre-service assessment curriculum. The study concludes with implications for improving the alignment in teacher preparation and suggestions for future research on pre-service assessment education.