Linking Teacher Preparation Program Design and Implementation to Outcomes for Teachers and Students

Edited by:
Jennifer E. Carinci, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Stephen J. Meyer, RMC Research Corporation
Cara Jackson, Bellwether Education Partners

A volume in the series: Contemporary Issues in Accreditation, Assessment, and Program Evaluation Research in Educator Preparation. Editor(s): Joyce E. Many, Georgia State University.

Published 2020

Improving the use of evidence in teacher preparation is one of the greatest challenges and opportunities for our field. The chapters in this volume explore how data availability, quality, and use within and across preparation programs shed light on the structures, policies, and practices associated with high quality teacher preparation. Chapter authors take on critical questions about the connection between what takes place during teacher preparation and subsequent outcomes for teachers and students – which has remained a black box for too long. Despite a long history of teacher preparation in the U.S. and a considerable investment in preservice and in-service training, much is still to be learned about how pre-service preparation impacts teacher effectiveness.

A strong empirical basis that informs how specific aspects of and approaches to teacher preparation relate to outcomes for graduates and their preK-12 student outcomes will provide a foundation for improved teaching and learning. Our book responds to stakeholders’ collective responsibility to students and teachers to act more deliberately. Issues of data availability and quality, the uses of data for improvement, priorities for future research, and opportunities to promote evidence use in teacher preparation are discussed throughout the volume to inspire collective action to push the field towards more use of evidence. Chapters present research that uses a variety of research designs, methodologies, and data sources to explore important questions about the relationship between teacher preparation inputs and outcomes.

CONTENTS
Preface. Introduction. Improving Teacher Preparation: The Promise, Challenges, and Research Needs of State Accountability Systems, Saroja R. Warner, Michael B. Allen, and Charles R. Coble. Learning to Teach: Optimizing Coursework and Fieldwork Requirements in Traditional Teacher Preparation, Courtney Preston. Using Case Study Data of Completers as Evidence in a Continuous Improvement Model, Bruce Weitzel, Hillary Merk, Jacqueline Waggoner, James Carroll, and Randy Hetherington. Educating Effective Science Teachers: Preparing and Following Teachers Into the Field, Elizabeth B. Lewis, Ana M. Rivero, Aaron A. Musson, Lyrica L. Lucas, Amy Tankersley, and Brandon Helding. Measuring Diversity in Teacher Candidate Practicum Placements and its Relationship to Outcomes, Zafer Unal, Aslihan Unal, and Yasar Bodur. Signature Practices in an Urban Residency Program: How Are These Practices Evident in the Graduates’ Classrooms, Jennifer Collett, Nancy Dubetz, Harriet Fayne, Anne Marie Marshall, and Anne Rothstein. Preparing and Keeping Our Best: Linking a Measure of Preservice Teacher Quality to Professional Outcomes, Margarita Pivovarova, Robert Vagi, and Wendy Barnard. Toward Causal Evidence on Effective Teacher Preparation, Dan Goldhaber and Matthew Ronfeldt. Supporting the Use of Evidence in Teacher Preparation: Considerations and Next Steps, Cara Jackson, Jennifer E. Carinci, and Stephen J. Meyer. About the Editors. About the Contributors.