Dr. Layla Al-Mansouri, EdD

The thesis examines the mechanisms by which the format of national examinations influences classroom teaching, distinguishing effects arising from published assessment criteria from those arising from teacher inference about marking practice.

That high-stakes assessment shapes teaching is well established; the mechanism is not. Reform efforts consequently target published criteria and syllabus documents, with mixed results, while the informal channels through which format expectations propagate remain largely uncharacterised.

A mixed-methods design combining classroom observation in 34 schools, 96 teacher interviews, analysis of teacher-produced practice materials, and comparison across two assessment format changes in a single system.

Format effects operated principally through teacher inference about marking behaviour, derived from exemplar materials and informal networks rather than published criteria. Where exemplars and criteria diverged, practice followed exemplars. Reform of published criteria alone produced negligible practice change over two years.

The thesis identifies the informal channel as the principal mechanism of assessment influence on practice, with direct implications for how reform is implemented.