The National Academy Press has made available the first interim report of the NRC's Committee on Assessment and Teacher Quality. This report reaches five conclusions about the current efforts of many states to test teachers as part of their licensing requirements. In general, the report finds these test minimally effective in assessing or predicting a teacher's success in the classroom. Moreover, the report concludes that the different constructions of different states' tests makes comparative assessment impractical and that many of the 41 states that use licensing tests often waive them to fulfill immediate vacancies. The online text can be browsed or searched. The Committee has a twenty-month mandate and further reports will be forthcoming.
Comments