The Assessment–Feedback Literacy Nexus: A Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Study of Responsible Assessment Practice in Preservice Teacher Education

Abstract

Assessment literacy and feedback literacy are often treated as separate competencies in teacher education, although both underpin responsible assessment practice. This two-wave, multi-cohort mixed-methods secondary analysis examined their parallel development among 250 preservice teachers at a private university in the southern Philippines. Five successive cohorts from 2020–2024 were matched from Assessment of Learning 1 (A1) to Assessment of Learning 2 (A2), typically completed in consecutive semesters. Quantitative analyses included paired course-phase comparisons, within-domain regression-based prediction, and programme comparisons. Qualitative interviews and written reflections from the ALiPP corpus were reanalysed thematically and integrated through joint displays. Standardized A2 assessment-literacy performance and feedback-literacy scores exceeded A1 scores, while A1 performance strongly predicted A2 outcomes within each domain. Programme-level patterns indicated needs for targeted support in smaller and specialized programmes. Qualitative findings showed shifts from procedural, compliance-oriented experiences toward rubric use, feedback dialogue, fairness, and professional responsibility. Because A1 and A2 assessment-literacy examinations covered sequential but partly different content and were not psychometrically equated, differences indicate standardized course-based performance rather than growth on an invariant scale. The Assessment-Feedback Literacy Nexus integrates structural and dialogic dimensions of responsible assessment practice as an explanatory framework.