Journal of Teacher Education

Includes bibliographical references.

Assessment and the Future of Teacher Education -- Evidence-Based Teacher Preparation: Policy Context and What We Know -- Investigating the Impact of edTPA Professional Development on Classroom Practice and Student Teaching Experience -- Keeping Our Best? A Survival Analysis Examining a Measure of Preservice Teacher Quality and Teacher Attrition -- Linking Student Achievement to Teacher Preparation: Emergent Challenges in Implementing Value Added Assessment -- Measuring Teaching Quality of Secondary Mathematics and Science Residents: A Classroom Observation Framework -- Rethinking Student Teacher Feedback: Using a Self-Assessment Resource With Student Teachers -- Using Habits of Mind, Intelligent Behaviors, and Educational Theories to Create a Conceptual Framework for Developing Effective Teaching Dispositions.

[Article Title : Assessment and the Future of Teacher Education / Gail Richmond, María del Carmen Salazar, and Nathan Jones, p. 86-89] Abstract : It is always a challenge to decide how to select manuscripts to appear together in a hard copy issue of the Journal of Teacher Education, especially when many have already appeared online. For the second issue in our current volume, we chose to bring together a set of papers because, although they differ in grain size and specific focus, they address a matter which has broad reach and at the same time is situated at the heart of discussion and debate about teacher and program quality. It is the issue of assessment. The papers in this issue all represent efforts to address a persistent challenge facing teacher education-how do we develop assessments that are informative, scalable, and accepted by the majority of experts in the field. Identifying common approaches to assessment has rarely been met with unbridled enthusiasm and agreement but has instead been met with skepticism, debate, and frustration. In addition, there are those who are suspicious that there can ever be assessment tools developed which are independent enough from specific contextual variables that they can be implemented meaningfully at sufficient scale and thus provide guidance which diverse stakeholders can trust and implement confidently. Then, there are those who challenge assessments that are purportedly objective and neutral and thus perceived as scalable (Salazar, 2018). Critics argue that assessments are value statements that are based on the perspectives of the developers of such assessments (Flynn, 2015; Salazar, 2018). When accreditation agencies prioritize certain indices of teacher quality (e.g., dispositions, core practices) and issues of scalability and value-neutrality are ignored, those playing leadership roles in teacher preparation programs may find themselves without the necessary time, resources, and expertise to respond thoughtfully to external demands. The result may be the cobbling together of assessments that are not useful for evaluative or learning purposes and may not reflect programmatic or institutional values.;[Article Title : Evidence-Based Teacher Preparation: Policy Context and What We Know / Dan Goldhaber, p. 90-101] Abstract : Teacher preparation programs (TPPs) have received a great deal of policy and research attention of late. And despite the commonsense notion that preparation for formal classroom responsibilities should improve the readiness of teacher candidates, the value of formalized preservice teacher education is unclear. In this review of the quantitative evidence about TPPs, I find that most studies show only minor differences in the value added of teachers who graduate from different programs, and that there are only a few studies that focus on the association between the features of teacher preparation and teacher workforce outcomes. The lack of evidence on the importance of the features of teacher preparation is primarily due to data deficiencies: data often do not permit connections between TPP features and teacher workforce outcomes. As a consequence, feedback loops that could theoretically provide TPPs with actionable information about program design typically do not exist.;[Article Title : Investigating the Impact of edTPA Professional Development on Classroom Practice and Student Teaching Experience / Scott Kissau, Laura C. Hart, and Bob Algozzine, p. 102-114] Abstract : In an era of increased teacher accountability, teacher preparation programs across the country are faced with increasing pressure to adopt rigorous and high stakes performance-based assessments, such as edTPA, that provide data-based evidence that their candidates are ready to teach upon program completion. Furthermore, in response to new accreditation standards for teacher training programs established by the Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation, colleges of education are now required to demonstrate enduring and mutually beneficial partnerships with K-12 partners. Given the influence of the K-12 cooperating teacher (CT) on candidate classroom practice, providing professional development (PD) to CTs on edTPA represents a possible means of accomplishing both goals. This study examined the impact of an edTPA PD workshop designed specifically for CTs on CT practice and candidate edTPA scores. Results suggest that candidates placed with CTs who have received edTPA PD can benefit from increased CT knowledge about the edTPA assessment.;[Article Title : Keeping Our Best? A Survival Analysis Examining a Measure of Preservice Teacher Quality and Teacher Attrition / Robert Vagi, Margarita Pivovarova, and Wendy Miedel Barnard, p. 115-127] Abstract : Preparing, recruiting, and retaining high-quality teachers into the profession has been a concern of policy makers and practitioners for some time. Teacher attrition is problematic and costly for schools and districts. However, relatively few studies have investigated the relationship between preservice teacher quality and teacher attrition. In this study, we analyze data from an apprenticeship-style teacher preparation program to understand the relationship between a measure of preservice teacher quality-student teachers' observational scores-and their decisions to (a) enter into the profession, and (b) stay in the profession within the first 2 years after graduation. We find that more qualified student teachers are more likely to enter into the profession and stay in the profession, even after controlling for student teachers' demographic characteristics and their academic achievement.;[Article Title : Linking Student Achievement to Teacher Preparation: Emergent Challenges in Implementing Value Added Assessment / George H. Noell, Jeanne M. Burns, and Kristin A. Gansle, p. 128-138] Abstract : Systemic efforts to strengthen teacher preparation in Louisiana led to the first statewide value-added assessment (VAA) of teacher preparation programs (TPPs). Subsequently, a number of states have adopted VAA of TPPs. The authors describe challenges that were confronted around the deployment of Louisiana's VAA of TPPs. The discussion is organized around the challenges emerging from calculation, communication, and change. The discussion provides information that policy makers and teacher education leaders, rather than analysts, might find useful, and focuses on the types of challenges that a state or university system can expect to encounter in developing a VAA. We describe decisions made in response to specific challenges that appear to have been successful and some that in retrospect appear to have been mistakes. In addition, consideration is given to some unintended consequences of policy choices as well as the continuously changing policy landscape for the assessment of teacher preparation.;[Article Title : Measuring Teaching Quality of Secondary Mathematics and Science Residents: A Classroom Observation Framework / Imelda Nava, Jaime Park, Danny Dockterman, Jarod Kawasaki, Jon Schweig, Karen Hunter Quartz, and Jose Felipe Martinez, p. 139-154] Abstract : This study assesses the reliability of two observation rubrics, one in math and the other in science, and documents how the rubric data were used to inform a teacher education program. Classroom observations are typically considered essential for assessing teaching practice, yet many popular observation frameworks, while comprehensive in aim, do not appropriately capture key features of teaching valued by teacher education programs. Many of these tools do not attend to issues of equity, humanizing pedagogy, and thus, social justice. We report on the development of two observation rubrics-secondary math and science-that embody the aims and values of our teacher education program, specifically, equity and humanizing pedagogy, and the results of our examination of the reliability of ratings of teaching practice generated using these rubrics. We discuss the various sources of measurement error and the implications for further developing and using the observation rubric in our program.;[Article Title : Rethinking Student Teacher Feedback: Using a Self-Assessment Resource With Student Teachers / Lauren Oropeza and H. Jerome Freiberg, p. 155-168] Abstract : This study examines 10 preservice teachers' use of Freiberg's Person-Centered Learning Assessment (PCLA), a self-assessment measure.

The PCLA serves as an individualized resource for educators to assess their classroom teaching and learning particularly in the affective domain. Study findings indicate that the 10 student teachers identified future pedagogical changes as a result of utilizing the PCLA, with eight student teachers specifically identifying changes in their classrooms prior to completion of the study. As explored in this study, self-assessments seem to provide novice educators with a unique form of feedback and have the potential to lead to deeper levels of pedagogical self-reflection and resulting changes.;[Article Title : Using Habits of Mind, Intelligent Behaviors, and Educational Theories to Create a Conceptual Framework for Developing Effective Teaching Dispositions / Servet Altan, Jennie F. Lane, and Erskine Dottin, p. 169-183] Abstract : Despite the heated debates about dispositions in teacher education, most accrediting agencies continue to put dispositions among their priorities. The authors of the current article concur with the value of using Dewey to understand how habits can be clustered to better understand intelligent teaching dispositions. But, can we extend Dewey's epistemology to learning theories in a manner that informs the making of teaching conduct more intelligent? To address this question, the authors applied qualitative content analysis to review the literature. Through a deductive approach, dispositions as Habits of Mind were related to educational theories using intelligent behaviors as the common denominator. The conclusion is that dispositions can be clustered around Habits of Mind that are related directly to educational learning theories vis-à-vis thoughtfulness, and to learning theories that support learning or mindfulness. Grounding dispositions as habits of mind in selected educational theories may guide and support the professional development of teaching dispositions.