Classroom Assessment, Student Motivation, and Achievement in High School Social Studies Classes

The purpose of this case study was to describe a variety of classroom assessment events in high school social studies classes. This study included data from 12 classroom assessment events in the classes of a teacher–researcher in an urban high school. Four assessments in each course of the teacher-researcher’s entire teaching load were studied. The courses were world cultures, honors U.S. history, and philosophy. The total number of students was 96; sample sizes for individual assessment analyses ranged from 11 to 39. Results supported the conclusion that even within the same classroom assessment environment, student perceptions of the assigned task and self-efficacy for the task, reported mental effort invested, goal orientations, and learning strategy use differed by assessment. The mean level of these variables differed by type of student. Observed correlations among these variables differed between paper-and-pencil tests and performance assess-ments. Potential implications for classroom assessment practices are discussed. When researchers want to understand what students know, classroom assessment is not the tip but the bulk of the iceberg. Large-scale assessment is more carefully studied, better funded, and higher profile than is classroom assessment—but the lion’s share of assessment that students experience is classroom assessment. It is from frequent and regular classroom assessment and teacher feedback that Requests for reprints should be sent to Susan M. Brookhart, School of Education, Duquesne Uni-