Americans have adopted a reform agenda for their schools that calls for excellence in teaching and learning. School officials across the nation are hard at work targeting instruction at high levels for all students. Gaps remain, however, between the nation's educational aspirations and student achievement. To address these gaps, policy makers have recently focused on the qualifications of teachers and the preparation of teacher candidates. This book examines the appropriateness and technical quality of teacher licensure tests currently in use, evaluates the merits of using licensure test results to hold states and institutions of higher education accountable for the quality of teacher preparation and licensure, and suggests alternatives for developing and assessing beginning teacher competence. Teaching is a complex activity. Definitions of quality teaching have changed and will continue to change over time as society's values change. This book provides policy makers, teacher testers, and teacher educators with advice on how to use current tests to assess teacher candidates and evaluate teacher preparation, ensuring that America's youth are being taught by the most qualified candidates.

Yearbook of the Politics of Education Association A competent, caring, and qualified teacher for every student in the United States! This audacious goal is taken right from the opening pages of the report of the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future (NCTAF)-What Matters Most: Teaching for America's Future. The NCTAF findings are so powerful and unique that The Politics of Teacher Association (PTA) uses them as the basis for this 2000 Y=yearbook. Editors Gallagher and Bailey, along with leading educators, explore the controversies and ramifications of the Commission's major recommendations: Get serious about standards-for both students and teachers Reinvent teacher preparation and professional development Overhaul teacher recruitment and put qualified teachers in every classroom Encourage and reward teaching knowledge and skill Create schools that are organized for student and teacher success The contributors to this book speak to the underlying assumptions, research bases, and values found in the recommendations. Long-time and persistent issues about teaching, teacher education programs, and public policy making are examined under the new light of the latest research. Real-life successes of the recommendations in action are shown in two state-level stories and an urban school partnership. This PEA 2000 yearbook will prove a valuable resource for students, researchers, and all educators interested in teacher education reform in the 21st century.