Policy, Professionalization, Privatization, and Performance Assessment

Abstract

In this chapter, we present a brief history of reforms in the United States pertaining to education in general, and to teacher education specifically, beginning with A Nation at Risk. Fueled by poor performance on national assessments such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and international com- parisons of students such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the No Child Left Behind Act ushered an era of increasing standardiza- tion in education, with frequent testing of students and other measures of student achievement. Teachers and teaching were also under scrutiny. Studies such as the 1995 and 1999 TIMSS video studies examined common teaching practices in math- ematics and science in various countries and revealed that mathematics teaching in the United States focused on procedural understanding and the acquisition of skills, while higher performing countries emphasized conceptual understanding. Various reform movements are subsequently discussed. Criticisms of teacher education and historical recommendations for changes in teacher preparation are presented, includ- ing the recommendation for the development of “signature pedagogies” in teacher education. We conclude with how these developments set the stage for the policy of the mandated edTPA.