The overall purpose of this study is to develop a measure of elementary mathematics teachers' curricular knowledge (Shulman, 1986) and curriculum use practices. In this paper, we present the first step in this larger effort--the piloting of one set of questions that document pre-service teachers' (PSTs') knowledge and practices for reading,…

Differences in intern performance, as measured by a Praxis III-similar instrument were found between interns supervised in three supervisory models: Traditional triad model, cohort model, and distance supervision. Candidates in this study's particular form of distance supervision were not as effective as teachers as candidates in traditional-triad…

The unit determined that "Assessment 5: Effect on Student Learning" would be best measured by student teachers and interns utilizing an action research activity in their clinical experience. Twenty four action research projects were evaluated by the Director of Student Teaching. Interraters blind to the Director's scores evaluated the projects.…

The Investigators hypothesized cooperating teachers' evaluations of candidates in clinical practice and field experiences would possess higher scores than those provided by clinical and education division faculty. However, the reasons for the higher scores proved to be much more complex than originally thought. While it was assumed that teachers…

Teacher education preparation programs are under pressure from the public to provide evidence that their programs and teacher candidates are improving student achievement. However, the connections between teacher education preparation programs, teacher candidates' evaluation, and student achievement are often hard to disentangle from other…

This study describes a rubric supporting fast and reliable assessment of preservice teacher electronic portfolios. The assessment calls for raters to quickly scan a portfolio to gain an overall impression, then dichotomously score a large number of indicators (e.g., educational philosophy, educational technology use, imaginative use of…

This paper briefly describes and gives examples of how one teacher education program developed and has been successfully using a web based system to effectively and efficiently place student teachers, maintain records of placement information, communicate with schools, determine honoraria requests and obtain evaluation data from student teachers…

Teacher quality has become a top priority of our national agenda. There is empirical evidence that suggests that teacher inputs have impact on student outcomes. It is also believed that teacher dispositions are as crucial for student achievement as a teacher's pedagogical and content knowledge/skills. The National Council for Accreditation of…

This symposium evolved from a research interest and the need to develop validity, reliability, and accountability measures to be used in the teacher education program at Delta State University, Mississippi. Researchers wanted to study student teacher self-efficacy and to establish a continuing database on the program's student teachers. The papers…

Students in the Faculty of Education at the University of Pretoria have their student teaching performance assessed through the use of video-recorded micro-teaching situations. Three sources of video-teaching situations are used in the training of student teachers: (1) while teaching specific high school subjects; (2) senior teachers in their high…

Evaluation methods lack direction to improve efforts of teachers because the methods operate on vague impressions. Congruence analysis techniques offer promise for diagnostic determination of strengths and weaknesses in teaching practices over a variety of specified criteria. The analysis circumvents some of the problems of linking objective data…

In response to state licensure standards, Ashland University, Ohio, revised its teacher education program. The faculty pondered how to build in ways that would ensure students were making connections between their courses and field experiences while simultaneously reflecting on their own growth. Portfolios appeared to be the solution. The…

The question of whether weighting (rank-ordering) of student teacher evaluation criteria, as determined by student and supervising teachers, university supervisors, and employing officials, results in better differentiation between and among student teachers is explored in this paper. Participants in the study were asked to rank order 15…

This study investigated use of the Renaissance Partnership Teacher Work Sample (RTWS) as an accountability measure for demonstrating teacher candidates' ability to meet targeted teaching standards. Teacher work samples were collected from nine universities participating in the Renaissance Partnership to Improve Teacher Quality. Trained raters…

This paper examines the decisions, benefits, and difficulties in teaching educational psychology through a constructivist case study approach. Recent interest in and inquiry into constructivism, pedagogical content knowledge, and case study methodology are influencing the content and goals of educational psychology in teacher preparation. The…