What's a Nice Test Like You Doing in a Place Like This? The edTPA and Corporate Education "Reform"

Autor/in	Au, Wayne
Titel	What's a Nice Test Like You Doing in a Place Like This? The edTPA and Corporate Education "Reform"
Quelle	In: Rethinking Schools, 27 (2013) 4, S.22-27 (6 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0895-6855
Schlagwörter	Stellungnahme; Teacher Education; Performance Based Assessment; Testing Problems; Educational Change; Standardized Tests; High Stakes Tests; Politics of Education; Student Teacher Evaluation; Washington + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Lehrerausbildung; Lehrerbildung; Leistungsermittlung; Bildungsreform; Standadised tests; Standardisierter Test; Educational policy; Bildungspolitik
Abstract	This author explains why he believes that teacher education is under attack. The same forces that are seeking to dismantle teachers' unions and de-professionalize teaching have their sights set on university-based teacher education programs. After all, logic decrees that if teachers are to blame for educational inequality--as corporate education reformers suggest--then teacher education programs are also to blame for producing all those "terrible" teachers. Enter the Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA). The edTPA is a series of tasks that new teachers have to complete--planning, teaching, and assessment--to measure whether or not they are ready for the classroom. Each task consists of evidence of student teacher work in that area, as well as a series of questions guiding student teachers to reflect on their practice. The author states that this performance assessment is much better than than any paper-and-pencil test could be, but is in danger from the corporate testing giant Pearson Education Inc., which is now in charge of the administration and logistics of the edTPA. Not only is this creating a host of problems with the edTPA, it also raises an overall question: Can the positive aspects of the edTPA survive in the context of corporate education reform initiatives? This article addresses this question and posits two possibilities for the edTPA: complete irrelevance, and some level of co-optation, both possibilities pointing to a larger question: Is the edTPA an effective strategy for saving the teaching profession? (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	Rethinking Schools, Ltd. 1001 East Keefe Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53212. Tel: 414-964-9646; Fax: 414-964-7220; e-mail: office@rethinkingschools.org; Web site: http://www.rethinkingschools.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10