Reviews the history of initial teacher licensure testing in the United States and summarizes issues and problems, focusing on Massachusetts, a state that has only recently begin initial licensure testing. Provides information on past practices and a table of current state approaches to teacher licensure. (SLD)

Presents extracts from the Preface of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Early Adolescence/English Language Arts Standards. Discusses the educational context, the young adolescent in context, the philosophical context, and the standards format. Presents the 14 standards. (SR)

Describes the work of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) in the United States, particularly its work in developing standards and methods of assessing highly accomplished English teachers. Suggests the NBPTS provides a valuable reference point for discussion about the kind of national professional body that would be…

The "Personnel Evaluation Standards" of D. Stufflebeam (1988) were used as a framework for the historical analysis of Louisiana's effort to implement a statewide program to evaluate its 45,000 teachers for the purpose of renewable professional certification. Using the "Standards" provided insights into the evaluation process…

Describes teacher certification processes at Indiana University and the new standards and induction to teaching. Concentrates on preservice teachers and their performance-based teacher certification which includes preparing a cohesive sequence of instruction and lesson plans. Discusses the role of the mentor. (ASK)

Notes that policy makers would like to "guarantee" that candidates from teacher education programs are content and pedagogy certified. Discusses how accountability assessment plays out in teacher education programs. Focuses on the tests required in Georgia, the Praxis Series of Professional Assessments for Beginning Teachers, developed…

Teacher preparation programs have continued to see the ever-increasing control of teacher candidates by policymakers. To control means to regulate. The problem, according to these authors, is that there are currently at least three regulating measurement and assessment obstacles faced by teacher candidates in teacher preparation programs. The…

The governor of Tennessee has proposed a Better Schools Program designed to improve the state's school system, attract more and better-paying jobs to the state, and help retain the best teachers. The Master Teacher component of the program, if adopted, will set up four certificated career stages for teachers: (1) apprentice; (2) professional; (3)…

An overview of the reasons for and basic elements of teacher evaluation programs, and a deeper look at one state's program in particular, are presented in this booklet. The first chapter discusses why teacher evaluations are useful, what processes for evaluation can be followed, how state and local policymakers can enhance the usefulness of…

Albert Shanker, President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), speaks about the national testing of teachers and calls for the creation of a new and better national examination for new teachers. While members of the AFT have a few differences with some of the current reform proposals, the AFT in general supports the overwhelming majority…

This speech on performance-based teacher education centers on slaying the following sacred cow: the belief that it is impossible to evaluate the performance of teachers objectively and effectively. The historical reasons for electing performance-based teacher education as a means of teacher evaluation are described. The speech lists assumptions…

The growing dissatisfaction with present approaches to teacher education, the availability of increasingly analytic tools in teacher education, and the demand for greater accountability in education generally have given rise to the concept of performance-based criteria for teacher certification. Central to the question of performance-based…

Acknowledges that the content and structure of competency examinations is open to debate. Reviews professional examinations in other fields of expertise such as accounting, law, and medicine, in an effort to establish the value of such examinations in the teaching profession. (DR)

A three-year study of 393 beginning teachers' scores on the Teacher Performance Assessment Instruments was made to determine whether significant relationships existed between training and experience variables and beginning teacher performance. The authors discuss implications of the findings for teacher education and certification policies. (MT)