(Page 1 of 4) - A Culture of Evidence: Teacher Work Sample and Its Impact on P-12 Student Learning authored by Greene, Thomas., Eifler, Karen. and Waggoner, Jackie.

AACTE 2007 Annual Meeting Proposal

A Culture of Evidence: Teacher Work Sample and the Impact on P-12 Learning

Section I: Content
A. Statement of the problem

Increasingly teacher education programs are called upon to document the value

they add to P-12 student learning. Do the disaggregated populations cited in NCLB
legislation make comparable academic growth during candidate work sample execution?
State and national accrediting bodies are asking teacher education units to document the
effect of their candidates’ teaching on P-12 student learning. Teacher work sample
methodology (TWSM) is one approach to generating the evidence to respond to these
demands, while strengthening programs while building capacity to prepare educators who
can teach every child effectively.

This session provides an opportunity to examine the work of 88 teacher

candidates working with 1907 P-12 students employing TWSM. Data collected from
work sample assessments of P-12 learning and reflection papers from candidates provide
insights into the impact of candidate teaching and student learning. Data indicate that
92% of the P-12 students demonstrate academic growth during the work sample time
frame. Eight percent do not demonstrate growth, but who are the eight percent? Data
indicate that there is no significant statistical difference (p<.05) in the growth among
various racial and ethnic groups or special education students, second language learners,
or students in poverty. Further, program evaluation data from the institution show that
candidates become more skilled at planning, implementing, assessing, reporting and
reflecting over the clinical practice experience of 900 hours.

The work samples are evenly distributed over the disciplines of science, math,

social students and language arts, with a limited number of work samples in P.E. and
health. Data gathered also provide information about the predominate instructional
strategies used in each work sample and the most frequently used types of assessment
practices to capture student growth. Data show that while the work samples are targeted
for all levels of students, high school learners demonstrated growth more frequently than
any other level.

B. Literature Review

TWSM is an outgrowth of standards-based curriculum for teacher education

(Girod, 2002). It was conceptualized as a means to connect teaching and learning
meaningfully and to document student, candidate and unit work systematically. “TWSM
presumes that teaching will lead to learning and that the knowledge and skills needed to
help all children accomplish designated learning outcomes of importance are in place”
(Schalock, 2002, p. 51). Foundational to the TWSM framework is that teacher candidates
are responsible to bring about learning gains in all pupils (Brodsky, 2002). The teacher
work sample is an exhibit providing evidence of a candidate’s ability to design,
implement, and assess standards-based student learning and reflect on that learning
process in a meaningful manner (Renaissance Partnership Project, 2004). As with other
systems for candidate evaluation, it is a primary data source that grew from research on
teaching (Danielson & McGreal, 2000), can be used to screen out unqualified candidates
from certification (Haefele, 1993), and it provides an opportunity for data-driven