In response to increased accountability demands placed on teacher preparation programs across the United States, some programs are using standardized teacher performance assessments, such as edTPA. In our elementary teacher preparation program, a recent state mandate stipulated that teacher candidates had to successfully complete edTPA in order to…

Imagine a fourth grade classroom filled with 26 students all equally unique in their abilities, successes and challenges, talents, likes and dislikes. What is a teacher to do to meet all of their instructional needs? What about their behavioral, social, and emotional needs? Differentiated instruction (DI) is an approach to teaching that suggests…

The purpose of this article is to explore the usefulness of a video-based tool for measuring teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching. Unique to this tool is the use of a video featuring a mathematical disagreement that occurred in an elementary classroom. The authors define mathematical disagreements as instances in which students challenge…

Traditional measures of teachers' competency have been widely criticized for their lack of authenticity and predictive validity. There is little evidence regarding the technical soundness of traditional teacher licensure tests and little research documenting the validity of such tests for identifying competent teachers or effective teaching.…

Teacher education in California is currently under attack. Politicians and the general public have lost confidence in the entire educational system. While some critics argue that too many credential courses are required, the majority seem to criticize Colleges of Education for simply failing to produce quality teachers. One question asked by both…