Refocusing Educator Preparation Evaluation With a Social Justice Lens: Eradicating the Monopoly

• In Event: Teacher Preparation Evaluation Systems: What Would It Take to Put Equity at the Center?

Abstract

Evaluation is typically recognized as a tool for teacher education program accountability and program improvement but its potential as a vehicle to advance institutional equity and/or the nation’s social justice agenda (House, 2020; House, 2019; Hood et al., 2015) has yet to be appreciated. The extent to which these programs prepare educators who leverage PK-12 academic achievement, particularly for racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse underserved students, is arguably an important metric that should influence the allocation of financial and other resources. Public and private policymakers establish program standards and target evaluation criteria that are deemed most important. They also identify, solicit, and select individuals and organizations to develop, conduct and analyze this work. (Dilworth, forthcoming) Inequity persists as minority-serving and/or small preparation programs that meet or exceed quality practice and productivity thresholds are seldom tapped to conduct high stake evaluations.

Authors

• Stafford Hood, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Mary E. Dilworth, Independent Researcher