The Standardized Measurement of Beginners' Teaching Practices: Preliminary Validity Evidence

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 21
  In Roundtable Session: Performance Assessments and Predicting Success: Instruments and Approaches in Need of Critique

Abstract

This paper presents initial validity evidence for a new type of standardized teaching assessment focused on three high-leverage teaching practices: modeling and explaining content, leading a group discussion, and eliciting and interpreting student thinking. The tasks associated with the assessment engage novices in carrying out delimited, comparable performances of each practice using live avatars in virtual classrooms. We conducted a pilot of these tasks with 498 teacher candidates, investigating to what degree candidates report that the tasks allowed them to demonstrate their relevant knowledge and skills, the tasks capture variation in candidates’ performance, and the tasks elicit performances that conform to theories of performance across critical groups and characteristics.

Authors

• Courtney A. Bell, ETS

• Francesca Forzani, University of Michigan

• Daniel F. McCaffrey, ETS

• Barbara H. Weren, ETS

• Nancy Glazer, ETS