Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice Taking and teaching the test are not the same: a case study of first-year teachers' experiences in high-stakes contexts (original) (raw)
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Children of Reform: The Impact of High-Stakes Education Reform on Preservice Teachers
High-stakes standards-based accountability reforms are changing teacher education. A key set of participants in this process who have been affected by these reforms are the teacher candidates. Many were educated almost entirely in high-stakes education systems. Yet, little is known about how their experiences as students affect their conceptions of teaching and learning or how their teacher education programs alter these perceptions. This article presents findings from a case study that explored these critical issues. It reveals that these candidates entered their teacher education program with a complex understanding of the impact of these reforms on teaching and learning. These findings also illuminate how these prospective teachers' coursework and field experiences affected their conceptions of these constructs. This article ends by offering suggestions to teacher educators on how to incorporate these candidates' skills and knowledge into their programs so that they can assist their candidates in becoming effective teachers.
High-stakes education reforms across the United States and the globe continue to alter the landscape of teaching and teacher education. One key but understudied aspect of this reform process is the experiences of first-year teachers, particularly those who participated in these high-stakes education systems as students and as a teachers-in-training. This article employs Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner, and Cain's conception of figured worlds to understand how such reforms affected two first-year teachers' conceptions of themselves as educators and what it is they were to teach their students. It concludes with suggestions for teacher-educators and mentors to help novice and preservice teachers succeed in these high-stakes contexts so that they can work toward becoming educators who attend to their students' individual needs and teach them how to be active and reflective citizens.
High-Stakes Teaching: What’s at Stake for Teachers (and Students) in the Age of Accountability
The New Educator, 2006
High-stakes testing in New York City (NYC) schools has produced a culture of high-stakes teaching. The latter concept emphasizes both the importance of good teachers to the performance of urban students and the threat to keeping good teachers in NYC schools due to measures such as scripted lessons and mandated curriculum. This essay draws upon interviews with beginning NYC teachers in English and social studies, raising questions about whether such measures will exacerbate the already low rates of teacher retention in urban schools.
Journal of Teacher Education and Educators, 2020
The current NCLB/ESSA-generation of pre-service teachers in the U.S. received their K-12 schooling during the standardized test-focused education accountability era. There is little research exploring how they perceive the disconnect between their K-12 teacher-centered, testfocused school experiences and the engaging, student-centered philosophy promoted in many colleges of education. As such, this study was conducted in a public university in the Rocky Mountain Region to explore perceptions of pre-service teachers concerning the dichotomy between their K-12 test-focused experiences and their developing student-centered teaching philosophy. Utilizing a mixed method design, this study employed a survey (N=210) in which participants reported that they were influenced by K-12 instruction focused on standardized testing success. Additionally, qualitative data, including student oral and written reflections (N=52) exemplified PSTs' implicit apprehension concerning their ability to prepare students for standardized testing success while maintaining a desire to implement engaging studentcentered learning experiences. The significance of this study lies in the establishment of a foundational dataset concerning the teaching disposition of NCLB/ESSA-generation PSTs.
education policy analysis archives, 2020
Policy makers have begun requiring teacher performance assessments, such as edTPA®, with established validity and reliability in teacher education for certification, program approval, and/or accreditation (Darling-Hammond Hyler, 2013). Proponents of edTPA argue that the measure is an authentic yet standardized way to assess candidate readiness for teaching and may be beneficial for program renewal and professionalization of the teaching force (Darling-Hammond, 2010; Wei Pecheone, 2010). Others recognize unintended consequences of a single, standardized assessment which may narrow the curriculum (Kornfeld, Grady, Marker, Ruddell, 2007); create tensions for teacher candidates who are learning and developing; (Meuwissen Choppin, 2015); and overlook program values important for preparing candidates to teach in a global society (Sato, 2014). This case study uncovers teacher educators’ perceptions of edTPA and their subsequent actions in response to a state mandate resulting in educative ...
education policy analysis archives, 2016
Using a sociological framework this article explores the emergence and possible consequences of the 2015 U.S. Department of Education’s proposed federal regulatory policy on teacher education programs and alternative route providers. After describing the key features of the policy, we examine the research literature looking for evidence of the merits of accountability policies in improving teacher education and preparation quality and outcomes. Although there is some research evidence that increased accountability measures may indeed contribute to improving the quality and outcomes of teacher education and preparation, the conditions under which this happens are not straightforward. While the stated aim of the regulatory policy, to ultimately advance student learning, finds widespread support in the education community, research evidence points to a number of validity problems with the overall policy. Of particular concern is the policy’s attempts at establishing a direct link betwe...
2017
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