An Investigation on the Accuracy of Teachers’ Judgments on Students’ School Achievement

Abstract

Teacher-based assessment of students’ school achievement is a process in which collection of information on students’ performance is needed to allow teachers to understand what and how students achieve. This process involves the development of teachers’ judgments. This study investigated the predictive utility of an informal teacher-made achievement test on teachers’ judgments to students’ academic performance. The study involved 166 primary school students (mean age 11.7) and their respective 46 teachers. Main findings indicated that: 1. teachers’ general judgments did not distinguish the difference between students with low achievement and underachievement, and 2. teachers’ judgments with the use of an academic performance rating scale could differentiate low achieving from underachieving students. It is suggested that the accuracy of teachers’ judgments on students’ school achievement is increased when domain-specific and multi-point scales of students’ academic performance and behavior are used.