The purpose of this commentary is to describe recent efforts in Virginia to develop and use performance assessments, including the challenges that emerged during this process and key considerations for states that integrate performance assessment into their systems. Performance assessments can play an important role in preparing students for…

This article examines the adoption and abandonment of the Missouri Pre-Service Teacher Assessment (MoPTA). Our analysis draws on policy network theory to argue that the divergent rationales of Missouri's primary teacher education policy network actors led to confusion, conflict, and disagreement, which contributed to the abandonment of the MoPTA…

The objective of this work was to verify if there is an association between a merit pay policy practiced by the Rio de Janeiro municipal local administration in the patterns of teachers' mobility and attrition. The research followed the movement of teachers who took posts in the Rio de Janeiro municipal system between 2009 and 2011 during the…

This qualitative study explores the experiences of a cohort of pre-service teachers completing a high-stakes teacher performance assessment (HSTPA), the Kansas Performance Teaching Portfolio (KPTP), during their final year of teacher preparation. The inquiry asks whether the act of completing the assessment modified candidate conceptualizations of…

The teacher certification process can be overwhelming for early-career educators. Negotiating teacher identity, completing fieldwork hours, and navigating institutional expectations can stress the most resilient teacher candidates. These pressures are further compounded as teacher certification assessments, such as the edTPA, introduce additional…

edTPA is a widely used teacher performance assessment. However, studies have raised concerns with its use. We conducted a study of candidates' and faculty members' perceptions of edTPA on their learning and performance. Analysis of responses revealed six themes: confusion about the meaning of "ready to teach"; interference with…

This paper explores the disruption that COVID has brought to the normal functioning of performance-based accountability systems and asks whether this has created new possibilities for those organising against the use of high stakes testing in education. Drawing on a sequence of research projects exploring primary schools' responses to the pandemic…

Standardized testing remains the predominant proficiency measure for students and schools, placing teacher and student focus on test-prep and lower order skills while maintaining achievement gaps that penalize underserved students. The Massachusetts Consortium for Innovative Assessment seeks to close this gap and change assessment measures on a…

A response to Stosich et al.'s (2018) article reviewing ways in which states have taken up performance assessments, this commentary seeks to extend the focus and use of performance assessments to preservice teacher education. As such, the authors describe statewide initiatives in New Hampshire that are working to integrate performance assessments…

This study examined the implementation of high-stakes adoption of edTPA® in one state in the year prior to consequential use of edTPA scores for teacher licensure. Using a mixed methods design, we investigated concerns of coordinators who were responsible for edTPA implementation in their institutions. We utilized the Concerns Based Adoption Model…

Policy makers have begun requiring teacher performance assessments, such as edTPA®, with established validity and reliability in teacher education for certification, program approval, and/or accreditation (Darling-Hammond & Hyler, 2013). Proponents of edTPA argue that the measure is an authentic yet standardized way to assess candidate…

This paper reviews state strategies for incorporating performance assessment in policy and practice. Specifically, the paper reviews the use of performance assessment in 12 states in the Innovation Lab Network, a group committed to developing systems of assessment that provide meaningful measures of college and career readiness. This review…

New Hampshire's Performance Assessment of Competency Education (PACE) pilot received a waiver from federal statutory requirements related to state annual achievement testing starting in the 2014-15 school year. PACE is considered an "innovative" assessment and accountability system because performance assessments are used to help…

In recent decades, the governance of educational systems has experienced dramatic changes in many countries. Schools have been given more autonomy whilst being held increasingly accountable at the central level through standardized testing and other forms of external evaluation. The mechanisms of performance-based accountability (PBA) and the…

Mexico's implementation of mandatory teacher assessments in 2013 was part of a group of federal reforms aimed at enhancing the quality of state-run education. The reforms elicited strong opposition from key stakeholders. Building on the idea that policy capacities are the set of capabilities necessary to perform policy functions, we examine the…