Chapter 10 What's that noise? Things that keep us awake at night: the cost of unexamined assumptions in pre-service assessment and accreditation

Abstract

This chapter examines the recalcitrant effects of isolationism and the intentional efforts that are necessary to create authentic, collaborative partnerships between schools and universities, between schools and schools, and among educators. The tension between a vision of community and collaboration and the ability to enact that vision raises questions about the necessary knowledge, skills, and dispositions required to be a part of a community-based professional culture, what it means to prepare teachers to work in such a professional community, and to question the unexamined assumptions about the definition of professionalism and teacher knowledge that undergird current accreditation and accountability frameworks. To relieve that tension, we must start demanding data that demonstrates preservice candidates' ability to work collaboratively toward more effective practice, rather than focusing so narrowly on statistics that describe what they know and have done individually within a classroom setting.

Citation

Powell, J.H., Hochstrasser Fickel, L., Chesbro, P. and Boxler, N. (2010), "Chapter 10 What's that noise? Things that keep us awake at night: the cost of unexamined assumptions in pre-service assessment and accreditation", Erickson, L.B. and Wentworth, N. (Ed.) Tensions in Teacher Preparation: Accountability, Assessment, and Accreditation (Advances in Research on Teaching, Vol. 12), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 163-181. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-3687(2010)0000012013