A Practical Guide To Teacher Education Evaluation

J. T. Sandefur Western Kentucky University American's ability to compete in world markets is eroding. The productivity growth of our competitors outdistances our own. The capacity of our economy to provide a high standard of living for all our people is increasingly in doubt. As jobs requiring little skill are automated or go offshore and demand increases for the highly skilled, the pool of educated and skilled people grows smaller and the backwater of the unemployable rises. Large numbers of American children are in limbo--ignorant of the past and unprepared for the future. Many are dropping out--notjust out of school--but out of productive society. These are not my words. They are a direct quote from the Executive Summary of the Carnegie Forum Report on Education and the Economy entitled A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century (p. 2, 1986). This report was motivated by four purposes: 1. To remind Americans, yet again, of the economic challenges pressing us on all sides; 2. To assert the primacy of education as the foundation of economic growth, equal opportunity and a shared national vision; 3. To reaffirm that the teaching profession is the best hope for establishing new standards of excellence as the hallmark of American education; and 4. To point out that a remarkable window of opportunity lies before us in the next decade to reform education, an opportunity that may not present itself again until well into the next century.

• Provides detailed information on · the functions of assessment; · how to construct, administer, and interpret the results of teacher-developed assessment techniques; and · how to interpret the results of externally developed instruments such as standardized tests. • Both traditional and newer, alternative assessment techniques are covered. • Advantages and disadvantages of each assessment technique are discussed. • A companion website helps both instructors and students obtain additional information on topics of special interest to them. • Numerous examples of the principles and procedures make it easy for students to understand the material. • The highly practical nature of this book stems from the focus on how assessment intertwines with other everyday activities in classrooms. • Measurement theory and computational procedures that are unlikely to be used by classroom teachers are de-emphasized, producing a textbook that provides comprehensive coverage without being unnecessarily technical.

You don't need a tweed jacket to be a researcher—in thousands of schools across North America, practising teachers conduct studies on best practices, alternative approaches, and effective learning strategies. Classroom teachers have experiences and opportunities unavailable to researchers in a university setting, and action research—site-based, teacher-conducted research—can have a valuable impact on the educational community. Yet many teachers don't see their work as real research, and many other teachers have great ideas for research projects but don't know where to begin. For these teachers, Engaging in Action Research demystifies the world of educational research and provides support, guidance, and encouragement. From creating a research plan to reporting findings, this book provides step-by-step instructions to help teachers conduct research projects in the classroom, using strategies that work. Get ready to investigate, analyze, and share!

Most students are only in school for a number of weeks, which means that they aren't able to appreciate the full 'assessment' picture. This guide to assessment in the primary school seeks to redress this, providing students and teacher trainers with an overview of how assessment works. It is useful for those involved in primary education.

edTPA is the most widely-used performance assessment for pre-service teachers in the United States, and a requirement in many states for teaching licensure. Through edTPA, teacher candidates demonstrate their effectiveness in different aspects of teaching, including planning, instruction, assessment, analysis of teaching, and use of academic language. This book is a practical guide for anyone involved in edTPA implementation. The chapters are written by experienced teacher educators who are leading successful edTPA programs in their own universities, who are in the field, and involved in the work. They represent diverse teacher preparation programs, each with their own strengths and challenges. This book addresses the challenges of edTPA, while providing practical strategies for educative and thoughtful implementation. Organized into four sections, each section explores a different aspect of edTPA implementation, and provides guidance for leading faculty and teacher candidates through edTPA.

Teacher evaluation systems are being overhauled by states and districts across the United States. And, while intentions are admirable, the result for many new systems is that goodoften excellentteachers are lost in the process. In the end, students are the losers. In her new book, Linda Darling-Hammond makes a compelling case for a research-based approach to teacher evaluation that supports collaborative models of teacher planning and learning. She outlines the most current research informing evaluation of teaching practice that incorporates evidence of what teachers do and what their students learn. In addition, she examines the harmful consequences of using any single student test as a basis for evaluating individual teachers. Finally, Darling-Hammond offers a vision of teacher evaluation as part of a teaching and learning system that supports continuous improvement, both for individual teachers and for the profession as a whole.

Evaluating Teaching Effectiveness is a practical guide intended to assist faculty members and educational administrators in the critical analysis, design, and implementation of teaching practice evaluation. Evaluation of teaching should be assessed from a variety of perspectives since no single piece of evidence collected from one source is sufficient to judge the competence of a teacher. This view is based on testing and experimenting carried out by the authors on their own campuses for application on any campus or college. In order to evaluate teacher effectiveness it also important to take the purpose of the evaluation into account.