This paper examines the growth of the standards movement in education and asserts that the standards movement neglects large issues and constructs in a search for a simple, "quick fix" solution. Most of the standards' attention is centered around the content of the curriculum and little attention is paid to students and teachers. The standards…

Portfolio assessment can be a valuable tool in assessing professional proficiency in teachers if appropriate attention is given to issues of reliability and validity. The Teaching Assessment Project at Stanford University has explored portfolios as an alternative to traditional methods of teacher evaluation. (IAH)

Based on ethnic group differences in Massachusetts Educator Certification Test (MECT) scores, argues that performance-based assessments should be as important as a paper-and-pencil test of cognitive and content skills. Asserts that rather than screening out minorities from the teaching force, the state should be looking for ways to ensure that…

Considers how many teacher educators feel caught between the need to comply with state and federal laws governing the approval of their teacher education programs and the desire to resist what many feel to be another example of "testing gone wild." Presents a conversation with Alfie Kohn on high stakes tests for teachers and for students. (SG)

Soon after formal education became the norm, those in leadership talked about making improvements to the process. However, decades after, educators still use some practices that are contraindicated by research findings. As such, physical educators are required to play a more active role in educational reform. In this article, the author presents a…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which is regarded as the most significant federal education policy initiative in a generation, was signed into law on January 8, 2002. The purpose of this law is to ensure that each child in America is able to meet the high learning standards set forth by the state in which he or she lives. One of the specific…

Discusses the Praxis II exam, "English Language, Literature, and Composition: Content Knowledge," a two-hour multiple-choice exam with questions on American, British, and world literature, literary terms, grammar and usage, and teaching. Suggests that knowledge of subject matter seems to be related to successful teaching, but whether…

The authors of this volume's stimulus papers have taken on the challenge of developing measures of teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT). This task involves multiple decisions and considerations, including: (1) How does one specify the body of knowledge being assessed? What warrants are offered for those choices?; (2) How does one…

Discusses the significant contributions to American education of the late Albert Shanker, the president of the American Federation of Teachers from 1974-1997. (PKP)

The author offers some thoughts on commentator's reactions to the substance of the measures, particularly those about measuring teacher learning and change, based on the major uses of the measures, and because this is a significant challenge facing test development as an enterprise. If teacher learning results in more integrated knowledge or…

In this article, the author echoes his co-author's and colleague's pleasure (Hill, this issue) at the thoughtfulness and far-ranging nature of the comments to their initial attempts at test validation for the mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) measures using the validity argument approach. Because of the large number of commentaries they…

Events in the development of competency standards for the teaching profession in Australia are documented, including publishing articles and reports, conducting conferences, commissioning sets of standards, validating support for the competency framework, and promoting of standards by government and professional organizations. Competency-based…

The author posits that testing teacher quality will not improve education unless people realize how current means of teacher testing could eliminate from teacher preparation the utopian elements that foundations courses present through material from authors such as Maxine Greene, Samuel Bowles, and Herbert Gintis. He presents a history of the…

Standardized written tests required for teacher licensure and certification often prevent or restrict qualified deaf and hard of hearing individuals from entering their chosen profession. These individuals do not have the same access to English as hearing people and the sentence structures, vocabulary, and language style in standardized tests are…

This publication presents a response from the Ontario College of Teachers to the Canadian Minister of Education regarding the newly mandated teacher certification testing. It sets the stage for the provision of complete, accurate, and reliable advice, containing a summary of the extensive research conducted by the College and providing a wide…