(Page 1 of 4) - Accountability and Teacher Candidates' Impact on P-12 Student Learning during Student Teaching authored by Platt, Jennifer., Hewitt, Scott. and Leinsing, Donna.

Section I: Content

Statement of the issue
Probably no topic in education has received more debate than the preparation of

teachers (Harris, Salzman, Frantz, Newsome, Martin, 2000). Widespread national
criticism has prompted colleges of education, state departments of education, and teacher
licensure programs to redefine teaching and learning (Vaughn & Everhart, 2005).
Particularly evident now is the demand for greater accountability for teacher preparation
programs to demonstrate the impact of candidates on P-12 student learning (Darling-
Hammond & Loewenberg-Ball, 1997). The National Council for the Accreditation of
Teacher Education (NCATE) standards require institutions to use data to show that their
candidates can help students learn (Cartwright & Blacklock, 2003). We know that if
successful learning is occurring in P-12 classrooms, it is likely that effective teaching is
occurring, but how do we really know? With schools and colleges of education being
examined under the microscope by accrediting agencies, state program approval systems,
and by institutions themselves, there must be credible accountability measures in place to
show that candidates possess the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to positively
influence student learning in P-12 classrooms. What are effective assessment and
accountability measures? What data should be gathered from assessments to evaluate P-
12 student learning? Using data to measure the impact on P-12 student learning is
essential if students are to learn and progress (Reese & Brown, 2003).

In order to address these and other questions and to respond to national criticism

and skepticism about how schools and colleges of education know whether their
candidates successfully impact P-12 student learning in schools, the presenters required
their candidates to systematically document the work they do during student teaching.
Two institutions, one a large research university and the other a small liberal arts college
are using teacher work samples to document the impact of their student teachers with
students in a large, diverse school district (the twelfth largest in the nation). Teacher work
sample methodology was selected because it has been shown to be an effective
assessment tool (Girod, 2002) for documenting candidate competence and student
learning (Hegler, 2003).

Literature review:
It has been shown that teacher work samples can be instrumental in measuring

student learning (Cartwright & Blacklock, 2003). Teacher work samples are exhibits of
teaching performance, such as a thematic unit, that provide evidence of a candidate’s
ability to design and implement instruction, assess learning, and reflect on the teaching
and learning process. Teacher work samples focus on candidates’ knowledge and skills in
producing learning gains in students (Myton, Nagel, & Osterman, 1991). In a survey of
eleven institutions, Hamel and Merz (2005) found that these eleven teacher preparation
programs used pre and posttesting, collection of student artifacts, and candidate
reflections/self-assessments. These elements are part of teacher work sample
methodology. An adapted version of the Renaissance Teacher Work Samples was used
with candidates in the present study within a sixteen week student teaching experience.
The process included (1) contextual factors, (2) learning goals, (3) assessment plan, (4)
instructional planning, (5) instructional decision making, (6) analysis of student learning,
and (7) self-assessment and reflection. By using teacher work samples, in the form of