Assessment
The aim of the assessment strand of the TEI is to support the development of a coherent set of assessment practices that serve multiple purposes: helping us evaluate applicants to the program, facilitating on-going teaching and learning of our student teachers, helping us track the progress of student teachers over time, warranting decisions that student teachers are ready to take responsibility for their own classrooms, and informing program development and evaluation. Under the leadership of Pamela Moss, this assessment development work will entail close collaboration with members of the curriculum development team and with other members of the university- and school-based faculty who work with our student teachers. Our long range vision is to develop an integrated assessment system—built around records of our student teachers’ practice and a common language for analyzing them--that facilitates coordination across the courses and field experiences through which our students learn to teach.
During the ’07-’08 year we began to develop a set of assessment practices for elementary mathematics education and its intersection with literacy education. We have obtained funding from the National Science Foundation to support this project, titled "Developing an Integrated Assessment System for Elementary Teacher Education" (DIAS). DIAS focuses on assessment in the current mathematics methods course and related field instruction, the student teaching semester, and the first year of teaching. The aim of the DIAS project is to develop, implement, and evaluate a prototype for an integrated assessment system in elementary teacher education in mathematics that (a) supports the development of student teachers in using mathematical content and language/reading knowledge for teaching mathematics, (b) supports the development of the school- and university-based faculty who work with them in analyzing teaching practice and giving feedback, (c) facilitates cooperation and common understanding across these different communities of practice that participate in the preparation of teachers, and (d) warrants the quality of the teacher education program and the decisions made about readiness-to-teach mathematics for accountability purposes. The DIAS project team, coordinated by Pamela Moss and Tim Boerst, includes Deborah Ball, Hy Bass, and Laurie Sleep from the Math Methods Planning Group, along with Gwynne Morrissey, Annemarie Palincsar, and Mark Wilson (from UC Berkeley).
Leaders in the Teacher Education program are partnering with the DIAS team to study assessment practices during the student teaching semester and to develop plans for enhancing the coordination between field instruction during the student teaching semester and the methods courses in literacy and mathematics. This will lay the foundation for the development of a coherent approach to assessment across these experiences. Joining us in the "Student Teaching Semester Study Group" are Sara Constant, Teresa McMahon, Meri Tenney-Muirhead, and Cathy Reischl. Members of the elementary literacy faculty, led by Annemarie Palincsar, are currently engaged in a coordinated assessment development effort that corresponds with the goals and activities in the literacy methods courses. Instructional and assessment development activities are also underway at the secondary level. These activities, led by Elizabeth Moje, Bob Bain, Deanna Birdyshaw, and Pat Herbst, and funded by the Carnegie Foundation, focus on developing and assessing the development of knowledge and practical skill in secondary subject-matter and literacy instruction. Details about these projects will appear in subsequent updates and on the TEI website.
For more information about our work on assessment, please contact Pamela Moss ( pamoss@umich.edu).
