Teacher education quality and effectiveness have been at the centre of policy discussions in the last decades. As part of efforts to improve teacher preparation, law 20.903 requires Chilean universities to design and apply diagnostic tests assessing the construct of their choice to all first-year preservice teachers. Based on these results,…

One significant component that has a demonstrable impact on students' achievement is the professional competence of teachers. The study employed a sequential-explanatory research design, a mixed research approach, and a pragmatic worldview. Semi-structured interviews, standardized scale tests, and document analysis were used to gather data. The…

The research is clear: Math achievement drives success in academics and life. Yet, even as students' math outcomes stagnate--or decline--most states haven't adopted bold, comprehensive strategies to turn the tide. When states prioritize policies that support teacher effectiveness, they build the foundation for lasting gains in student math…

We investigate the predictive validity of teacher licensure tests using data from the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL). MTEL scores predict teachers' in-service performance ratings and contributions to student test scores (i.e., value added). We then explore whether these relationships vary for teacher candidates of color.…

The purpose of the present study was to apply the methodology developed by Raykov on modeling item-specific variance for the measurement of internal consistency reliability with longitudinal data. Participants were a randomly selected sample of 500 individuals who took on a professional qualifications test in Saudi Arabia over four different…

In 2009 New York State began an initiative to improve teaching and learning through the implementation of new teacher certification exams. The Academic Literacy Skills Test (ALST) replaced the much-maligned Liberal Arts and Sciences Exam (LAST) that had been in a legal battle with minority test takers since 1996. Billed as a "basic test of…

Initial teacher education programme and paper assessments need to encompass university degree requirements and attest to student mastery of teacher professional competencies. This article reports one aspect of an investigation of the nature and principles employed in the design of assessments for a three-year Bachelor of Teaching (Primary)…

National- and state-level education policies are evolving to address teacher shortages that are pervasive across the United States and are particularly problematic in rural special education. In this article, we describe a policy we call "endorsement by exam" in which teachers certified in one subject area can become certified in other…

In this report we provide preliminary evidence on the measurement characteristics for a new type of teaching performance assessment designed to be combined with complementary assessments of teacher content knowledge. The resulting test, which we refer to as the Foundational Assessment of Competencies for Teaching (FACT), is designed for use as…

Assessing teacher competence is a central focus of the growth and development of physical education teacher candidates. For subject matter competency, the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation adopted Specialized Professional Associations (SPAs) for each academic discipline, which are used to establish specific standards and…

We examine how different measures of teacher quality are related to students' long-run trajectories. Comparing teachers' "test-based" value-added to "nontest" value-added -- based on contributions to student absences and grades -- we find that test and nontest value-added have similar effects on the average quality of colleges…

Until 2014, admission requirements for the educator preparation program at a university in the north central United States included a minimum competency level on the Praxis I basic skills writing test and completion of one general education writing course. However, evidence from the university's ETS reports showed that less than 60% of students as…

Teacher license reciprocity allows educators who hold a teaching license in one state to earn a license in another state, subject to meeting state-specific requirements. Reciprocity agreements allow states to work through variations in licensing systems to coordinate license transfers and fill vacant teaching positions with qualified candidates.…

The number of teacher candidates is increasing as a result of the excessive quotas given to departments that train teacher candidates and the right to teach different branches with pedagogical formation certificates. Therefore it becomes compulsory to hold selection exams in teacher appointments. The exams carried out during this selection process…

This exploratory study examines the relationship between preservice teachers' performance on a teaching performance assessment for licensure in elementary mathematics and a measure of knowledge that, in studies of practicing teachers, was found to predict effective mathematics teaching. A sample of 89 preservice teachers completed the Performance…