Using Teacher Candidate Portfolio to Demonstrate Impact on Student Learning

• In Event: Roundtable Session 19
  In Roundtable Session: Implications for Learning From Reflection and Portfolios

Abstract

How can we as teacher educators make the claim that our candidates are “effective teachers” if we cannot demonstrate the impact that they have on student learning? As a culminating experience, student teachers keep a portfolio and journal documenting weekly their impact on student learning, guided by the key question What evidence do you have that your knowledge, skills, and dispositions have had an impact on student learning? The portfolio is designed to establish the link between the student teacher’s teaching and PK-12 student learning. Findings indicate that candidates collect a variety of types of evidence to demonstrate student learning but also demonstrate a wide range of skill in reflecting on the presented evidence of impact on student learning.

Author

• Karen E. Levitt, Duquesne University