Within initial teacher education there is increasing pressure to enhance the use of assessment data to support students to improve their knowledge and skills, and to determine what standards they meet upon graduation. For such data to be useful, both programme designers and students require meaningful and comprehensive assessment reports on…

Background/Context: Much progress has been made toward a greater understanding of student engagement and its role in promoting a host of desirable outcomes, including academic outcomes such as higher achievement and reduced dropout, as well as various well-being and life outcomes. Nonetheless, disengagement in our schools is widespread. This may…

The recent introduction of statistics into the Brazilian curriculum has presented a multi-problematic situation for teacher professional development. Drawing on research in the areas of teacher development and statistical inquiry, we propose a Teacher Professional Development Cycle (TPDC) model. This paper focuses on two teachers who planned a…

Introduces seven models to analyze the multifaceted conception of teacher effectiveness, including goal and task, resource utilization, working process, school constituencies satisfaction, accountability, absence of problems, and continuous learning. Each model represents a perspective that describes certain factors which are closely related to…

Proposition 74 on the Nov. 8, 2005 ballot would change employment terms for certificated school employees, such as teachers, school librarians, counselors, nurses, and instructional specialists. Because the largest population affected is teachers, most discussions of the ballot measure--also known as the teacher tenure or Put Kids First…

Universities, being asked to train academic staff in teaching methodology, are confronted with the need to balance competency-based training and academic education, to avoid overloading staff time, and to reconcile internal and external requirements. Scotland's Robert Gordon University has found ways to deal with these competing demands. (SK)

The purpose of a credentialing examination is to assure the public that individuals who work in an occupation or profession have met certain standards. To be consistent with this purpose, credentialing examinations must be job related, and this requirement is typically met by developing test plans based on an empirical job or practice analysis.…

Reviewing and rethinking the 'knowledge base' for teacher education has become a particularly critical issue in recent times, given profound social and cultural shifts and changes and the emergence of new epistemological, political and technological conditions and contexts. This paper takes up the question of what are the key conceptual and…

This report presents national standards and guidelines for initial teacher education in Australia. The report is the outcome of wide-ranging discussions conducted across Australia in 1996 as part of a collaborative project to develop standards and guidelines for initial teacher education. In 1997, the Advisory Committee completed a draft exposure…

Reviews various models and interpretations of mentoring, highlighting the explication of mentor teachers' practical knowledge as a contribution to student teachers' learning to teach. Relates research on mentoring to research on teacher knowledge. Opportunities for eliciting mentor teachers' practical knowledge are noted, and preconditions for…

Argues for the inclusion of assessment coursework as a necessary component in teacher education through a demonstration of the relationship between test validity and the law. Focuses on the seventh assessment competency listed in the Standards for Teacher Competence in Educational Assessment of Students: recognizing unethical, illegal, and…

In this year's Distinguished Educator department, we feature six educators whose research has focused on the role of early literacy in early childhood education. Each of the six addresses a vitally important aspect of early childhood literacy teaching and learning. Sections include: "Working with Families as Partners in Early Literacy," by Dorothy…

This booklet describes the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, an organization that allows the teaching profession to set high and rigorous standards for itself, create meaningful performance assessments based on the standards, and identify experienced teachers who meet the standards. National Board Certification focuses on…

Teachers and administrators often note that preservice programs do not prepare future teachers adequately to teach reading. Several Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states have addressed this problem. In 1997, the Georgia Professional Standards Review Commission began examining reading certification requirements and found that most teacher…

The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education developed draft standards for Professional Development Schools (PDSs). This article discusses the PDS concept and origins, examines why PDSs are important, and argues for standards as a means of supporting the PDS work and holding PDSs accountable for multiple results. The draft standards…