Abstract:
This study aimed to describe how elementary school teachers evaluate student performances, and to analyze their evaluating behavior effected by various factors. Using qualitative techniques, this case study was conducted in a middle-size elementary school in the rural area of the Northeast of Thailand. For 8 months of participant-observation of the school staff members and students, the researcher found that there were three types of evaluation employed: an evaluation according to learning objectives, an evaluation for grading such as giving final exams in each term, and an evaluation for classifying learning achievement level. In an evaluation according to learning objectives, it was observed that the most preferred method was observation of students' ability to answer questions, ability to read and write, ability to do exercises, as well as time spent in doing school works. The next most preferable methods were evaluation from testing and evaluation from students practical performance, respectively. The other two types of evaluation were given in the form of testing. It was noted that none of these evaluation methods conformed with learning evaluation principles. This is because they were not aimed to evaluate the improvement of the learning-teaching achievement but to provide the data for the administrators to be examined, as well as to meet administrators' goals and policy. In addition, the findings indicated that, in administering evaluation by testing, teachers showed the lack of good testing procedure. Teachers' evaluating behaviours described above resulted from many factors. The important ones consisted of high expectation in learning achievement from administrators, and the lack of continuing supervision and follow - up programs from supervisors and administrators, other factors included : less attention from parents in evaluating their children's learning achievement, and students' less attention, less enthusiasm and less motivation in learning.