Comparisons between CTE and non-CTE instructors and between CTE endorsements were examined in the context of PPfT and CTE's overlapping goals of quality instruction and professional learning. CTE instructors had significantly higher summative scores than did non-CTE instructors. Almost twice as many CTE as non-CTE instructors earned a…

We summarize the history of the development of the Teacher Behavior Checklist and review examples of its utility for studying excellence in teaching across cultures and contexts.

The main purpose of this paper is to analyse a specific educational policy in a national context: INICIA (In Spanish: Start) in Chile. Enacted in 2008, this policy evaluates beginning teachers at the national level before they start their professional careers in schools. The INICIA has been categorised as a certification policy to measure what…

Induction is designed to support teachers' effectiveness, improve their students' learning, and foster their retention. We consider how high-leverage practices (HLPs) might provide an instructional framework for special education teacher (SET) induction. With sensemaking theory as a conceptual foundation, we posit that, by structuring induction…

Teacher quality, or 'the good teacher' is not clearly defined in Norway, nor are there specific standards for measuring teacher quality. Everybody has an opinion about the good teacher, and teacher quality is frequently debated. Moreover, in Norway there is no systematic evaluation of teachers. Nevertheless, numerous reforms and popular discourses…

In this commentary, we discuss three types of data manipulations that can occur within teacher evaluation methods: artificial inflation, artificial deflation, and artificial conflation. These types of manipulation are more popularly known in the education profession as instances of Campbell's Law (1976), which states that the higher the…

Despite the concerns regarding value-added models (VAMs), advocates hold strong to VAMs' theoretical strengths and potentials, while adopting a set of agreed-upon albeit "heroic" set of assumptions, without research in support. These assumptions transcend promotional, policy, media, and research-based pieces, but they have never been…

Recent publications by major newspapers in the USA have reinforced the perception that teacher quality represents a national crisis. By releasing individual teacher evaluation data in online, searchable databases, several newspapers have influenced public perceptions of teachers and teaching. A framing analysis of selected media events and…

The alignment of professional development and teacher evaluation has been a growing concern in teacher professional development practices. The issue of how teacher evaluation can help authentic professional development is important in that teachers only learn what is real, useful and valuable to them. Based on our reflections on current…

This article calls attention to the overreliance on research about the Performance Assessment for California Teachers (PACT)--often labeled edTPA's predecessor--as justification for the edTPA. The article argues that the distinctions between the assessments are too vast to rely on PACT data to support the edTPA, given the localized nature of PACT…

This article addresses the questions, "How should we evaluate the quality of teaching?" and "What kind of evaluation system will move all California teachers on a path of improvement throughout their careers?" The article, adapted from a report written by a group of accomplished California teachers, recommends seven core…

While it is generally assumed that the aim of teacher evaluation is to "formatively" support teachers' professional development, research finds that teacher evaluation practices are predominantly "summative". This paper describes a Norwegian governmental policy experiment aiming to overcome this fallacy through a bargaining…

Federally mandated standardized testing (i.e., in core subject areas and certain grade levels), as an element of educational accountability, began in 2002 with the No Child Left Behind Act. With that step, large-scale assessments came to serve as one of the foundations of accountability-based systems and policies not only for districts, schools…

Preparing high-quality teachers is supposed to be the responsibility of state Departments of Education and university teacher education programs, yet the mandated Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA) is operated by Pearson, a private corporation. Standing on the frontline to implement edTPA, faculty have witnessed equity issues within the system…

Much of the professional development offered to school teachers centers on quantifiable aspects of teaching and learning that correlate to external inspection processes. Insufficient attention is given to the student-teacher relationship and the dynamics contained within; in more "challenging" schools, this is central to the progress of…