Assessing Candidate Disposition for Admission into Teacher Education: Can Just Anyone Teach?

Abstract

Teacher educators understand that a “highly qualified” teacher must have more than knowledge and skills. Having the disposition or “teacher's heart” is also important. One teachers' college in Arkansas identified dispositions that were valued by its faculty, supported by research, and already existed in its program. Then instruments were selected or developed to assess the extent of each of these dispositions demonstrated by each candidate applying for admission into the teacher education program. Candidates were assessed by responses to interview questions upon entry into and exit from the teacher education program, performances during internship, and self-assessments. Data from these assessments supported a recommendation for continued accreditation from NCATE. The college will continue to conduct validity and reliability studies on the data, and a new self-assessment instrument called DISPOSE (Diagnostic Inventory for Selective Prescription on Self-Evaluation) has been developed and is currently being piloted with teacher education candidates.