This study aimed to validate a scale for subjectively measuring teaching competencies for innovation in higher education. The scale was developed by creating a set of items that underwent content validity through the Delphi technique and face validity. A survey was then conducted with 523 higher education professors. The resulting scale, called…

An established tool for collating secondary teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (Loughran's CoRe) has been adapted for use by tertiary educators. Chemistry lecturers with a range of levels of experience were invited to participate in workshops through which the tool was piloted, refined and applied. We now present this refined tool for the…

This study aims to investigate whether there is significant relationship between students' perceived faculty competencies and faculty evaluated competencies. The study identified four main dimensions for measuring faculty competencies namely: teaching, research, additional services and advising. This study adopted a mixed method design. The study…

In this study, we used the TPACK profile as a framework for evaluating teaching expertise in higher education. Through interviews and non-participant observation, we created individual TPACK profiles for three professors within a college of education in a large Midwestern university. The profiles illustrate how each professor's degree of Content,…

Community-Campus Partnerships for Health (CCPH) is a national membership organization that promotes health equity and social justice through partnerships between communities and higher education institutions. In response to faculty concerns about the institutional barriers to community-engaged careers in the academy, CCPH embarked on a series of…

In this discussion paper we seek to challenge prevailing wisdoms in higher education regarding the value of measuring teaching quality, prescribing standards for professionalism and using student satisfaction as an indicator of teaching effectiveness. Drawing on the literature, we explore and probe four wisdoms in an attempt to identify and…

Separated Massachusetts colleges and universities into three categories to examine their differentiated responses to teacher testing in Massachusetts, where poor results have resulted in much controversy. The finding that institutions of higher education have responded effectively to teacher testing does not preclude critique of teacher testing as…

Discusses how members of the Iowa Legislature, the Iowa State Department of Education, and the Iowa Association of Colleges of Teacher Education have been in heated conversation in the last year about the legislature's push to institute teacher testing as a way of improving the quality of Iowa's teaching force. (SG)

Discusses how in Connecticut, all teachers must be certified for the position they hold. Outlines the specific certification levels in Connecticut for English Language Arts. (SG)

Discusses how in 1999, the authors interviewed faculty, administrators, and students involved in teacher education to learn how the Massachusetts teacher test was affecting the business of teacher education. Argues that the most significant effect of the teacher test has been on admissions, as teacher education programs have begun linking…

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)

This update of a 1986 survey of state certification standards for teachers of students with learning disabilities presents data in narrative and tables on certification categories (titles) and level(s); (2) teacher training requirements (i.e., courses, standards, and hours); (3) examination requirements for certification; and (4) other additional…

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…

This paper analyzes research on accreditation, licensure, and certification standards that have impacted teacher education programs, providing a historical perspective of how and why standards came about in teacher education and examining each of the standards bodies in teacher education: the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education…

A study used the Delphi technique to validate teaching competencies of graduate teaching assistants. A panel of 17 experts in teaching assistant support and training validated 26 competencies as important but also suggested some depend on specific responsibilities assigned to the teaching assistants. (Author/MSE)