An Organizing Framework for Using Evidence-Based Assessments to Improve Teaching and Learning in Teacher Education Programs

Overview & Synopsis

There is widespread understanding of the need to evaluate teacher education programs. Unfortunately, the history of teacher education program evaluations is spotty, evolutionary, and limited in scope. Probably the most fundamental reason that program evaluations are limited is that there has not been a clear, consistent, and shared framework for organizing the many variables that comprise teacher education practice and relating these to evidence of effectiveness. In this article, the authors present an organizing framework that they and colleagues developed as part of the national Partnerships for Excellence in Teacher Education (PETE) Project, funded by the Ford and Carnegie Foundations, which is based at the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (AACTE). The framework and each of its components are described in this article. (Contains 1 figure and 1 note.)