What Do Value-Added Measures of Teacher Preparation Programs Tell Us? What We Know Series: Value-Added Methods and Applications. Knowledge Brief 12

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Bibliographic Details
Title: What Do Value-Added Measures of Teacher Preparation Programs Tell Us? What We Know Series: Value-Added Methods and Applications. Knowledge Brief 12
Language: English
Authors: Goldhaber, Dan, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
Source: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. 2013.
Availability: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. 51 Vista Lane, Stanford, CA 94305. Tel: 650-566-5102; Fax: 650-326-0278; e-mail: publications@carnegiefoundation.org; Web site: http://www.carnegiefoundation.org
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 14
Publication Date: 2013
Sponsoring Agency: Institute of Education Sciences (ED)
Document Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Descriptors: Teacher Education Programs, Achievement Gains, Merit Rating, Outcome Measures, Schools of Education, Evaluation Methods, Evaluation Research, Research Needs, Evidence, Institutional Research, Institutional Evaluation, Preservice Teacher Education, Program Effectiveness, Program Evaluation, Benchmarking, Educational Quality
Abstract: Teacher training programs are increasingly being held under the microscope. Perhaps the most notable of recent calls to reform was the 2009 declaration by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan that "by almost any standard, many if not most of the nation's 1,450 schools, colleges, and departments of education are doing a mediocre job of preparing teachers for the realities of the 21st century classroom." Duncan's indictment comes despite the fact that these programs require state approval and, often, professional accreditation. The problem is that the scrutiny generally takes the form of input measures, such as minimal requirements for the length of student teaching and assessments of a program's curriculum. Now the clear shift is toward measuring outcomes. Much of the existing research on teacher preparation has focused on comparing teachers who enter the profession through different routes--traditional versus alternative certification--but more recently, researchers have turned their attention to assessing individual teacher preparation providers (TPPs). And in doing so, researchers face many of the same statistical challenges that arise when value-added is used to evaluate individual teachers. This document discusses what value-added methods can and cannot say about the quality of TPPs and details what is known about value-added assessments of TPPs.
Abstractor: ERIC
IES Funded: Yes
Entry Date: 2015
Accession Number: ED560141
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:Teacher training programs are increasingly being held under the microscope. Perhaps the most notable of recent calls to reform was the 2009 declaration by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan that "by almost any standard, many if not most of the nation's 1,450 schools, colleges, and departments of education are doing a mediocre job of preparing teachers for the realities of the 21st century classroom." Duncan's indictment comes despite the fact that these programs require state approval and, often, professional accreditation. The problem is that the scrutiny generally takes the form of input measures, such as minimal requirements for the length of student teaching and assessments of a program's curriculum. Now the clear shift is toward measuring outcomes. Much of the existing research on teacher preparation has focused on comparing teachers who enter the profession through different routes--traditional versus alternative certification--but more recently, researchers have turned their attention to assessing individual teacher preparation providers (TPPs). And in doing so, researchers face many of the same statistical challenges that arise when value-added is used to evaluate individual teachers. This document discusses what value-added methods can and cannot say about the quality of TPPs and details what is known about value-added assessments of TPPs.