The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of elementary school students' perceptions of descriptive assessment in relation to test stress and creativity. To this end, a multilevel modeling analysis was conducted using data from the Busan Educational Longitudinal Study. The results of this study are as follows. First, the students’ perceptions of descriptive assessment highlighted in this study exerted a negative effect on the test stress of elementary school students and a positive effect on creativity. Second, it was found that the test stress of elementary school students was mainly affected by individual-level variables such as gender, previous academic achievement, academic efficacy, and learner-centered teaching methods in addition to students’ perceptions of descriptive assessment. Among school-level variables, the effect of school type (i.e., its purpose of establishment) was found to be statistically significant.
Third, it was found that in addition to the perception of descriptive assessment, the creativity of elementary school students was affected by their parents' educational level, academic efficacy, discussion participation, learner-centered teaching methods, average monthly reading quantity, and average weekly newspaper reading time had a significant effect on the creativity of elementary school students. Among school-level variables, the type of school was found to affect the creativity of elementary school students. Finally, based on the above results, this study offers suggestions as to how descriptive assessment can contribute to reducing test stress and enhance creativity in elementary school students, which was the original purpose of the study.