25.026 - Assessment and Accountability in Teacher Education Systems: Four Nations, Four Cases

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

During the last three decades, teacher education systems in most developed countries have been influenced by international and global reform movements characterized by high stakes accountability, market-based reforms, and highly-politicized questions about where and how to prepare teachers. Despite common trends, each nation demonstrates distinctive interpretations and approaches. This session has three objectives: (1) to identify similarities and differences in teacher education assessment/accountability systems in four different geographical and geopolitical settings— Scotland, Norway, Australia, and the United States; (2) to provide insights into the interaction among global, international, and national influences on teacher education assessment/accountability policies; and (3) to consider the relationship between teacher education assessment/accountability policy and societal values as well as resistances and contestations regarding policy.

Sub Unit

• Division K - Teaching and Teacher Education / Division K - Section 10: Teaching and Teacher Education Policy and Research

Chair

• Kari Smith, Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Papers

• Teacher Education in Scotland: More Than a Question of Values? - Louise Hayward, University of Glasgow

• Accountability in Teacher Education in Norway: A Case of Mistrust and Trust - Kari Smith, Norwegian University of Science and Technology

• Understanding Policy to Turn Knowledge Into Action for Teacher Educators: An Australian Perspective - Simone Jane White, Queensland University of Technology

• Framing Accountability in Teacher Education: The U.S. Case and Its Implications - Marilyn Cochran-Smith, Boston College

Discussant

• Lily Orland-Barak, University of Haifa