Teachers’ conceptions of assessment shape how they interpret and respond to assessment policies. Multiple inventories have been developed to capture how teachers understand assessment from diverse theoretical perspectives. However, it remains unclear whether these inventories capture the same constructs with different terminology or reflect different constructs. To address this issue, this study compared four inventories in China: Chinese Teachers’ Conceptions of Assessment (C-TCoA, 2011), Chinese Approaches to Classroom Assessment Inventory (C-ACAI, 2022), Science Teachers’ Assessment Conceptions Questionnaire (STACQ, 2017), and Teacher Formative Assessment Literacy Scale (TFALS, 2022). Using a chained survey design ( N = 1041), data were analysed with confirmatory factor analysis, multitrait–multimethod correlations, and structural equation modelling. Results showed partial factorial validity and construct overlap. Improvement and accountability were the most consistent dimensions, whereas irrelevance remained independent. These findings suggest similar constructs may be labelled differently across inventories, indicating possible confusion in the field. • Four assessment conception inventories compared using MTMM and SEM in China. • Improvement emerged as the most stable shared construct. • Accountability showed partial overlap across inventories. • Irrelevance functioned as a distinct independent construct. • Findings reveal jingle–jangle fallacy across assessment conception inventories.
Wang et al. (Fri,) studied this question.