Thesis:

The Effect of Assessment Literacy on Teachers’ Professional Self-Efficacy: The Mediating Role of Reflective Thinking (A Case Study of Elementary School Teachers in Sabzevar)

This study aimed to investigate the effect of assessment literacy on the professional self-efficacy of primary school teachers, with reflective thinking as a mediating variable. The study was applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-correlational and survey-based in terms of method. The statistical population consisted of 854 teachers working in public and non-public primary schools in Sabzevar during the 2024–2025 academic year. Based on the Krejcie and Morgan table, 265 teachers were selected using cluster sampling. Data were collected using three standardized questionnaires: the Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale developed by Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (2001), the Teacher Assessment Literacy Questionnaire developed by Hashemi Mohammadabadi (2019), and the Reflective Thinking Questionnaire developed by Kember et al. (2000), using an adapted 16-item version. The validity and reliability of the instruments were confirmed through construct validity and Cronbach’s alpha coefficients. Data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) based on Partial Least Squares (PLS) and bootstrapping in SPSS and SmartPLS. The findings indicated that assessment literacy had positive and significant effects on professional self-efficacy (? = 0.864) and reflective thinking (? = 0.849). Reflective thinking also had a positive and significant effect on professional self-efficacy (? = 0.870). Furthermore, reflective thinking partially mediated the relationship between assessment literacy and professional self-efficacy. The findings suggest that enhancing assessment literacy and reflective thinking in teacher development programs can contribute to improving teachers’ professional self-efficacy.

Keywords: Assessment Literacy, Professional Self-Efficacy, Reflective Thinking, Elementary Teachers, PLS-SEM.