The regulatory effects of high-stakes accountability in preservice teacher evaluation

ABSTRACT

This article examines teacher candidates’ perceptions of two performance-based evaluation tools during the student teaching semester (edTPA, Danielson Framework). In particular, I sought to understand how teacher candidates perceived the role of both tools in the teacher education landscape and the extent to which they perceived the tools to be supportive of or distracting from their learning and student teaching experience. The findings from this study suggest that, while distinct in construction, function, and application, the edTPA and Danielson Framework both carry the potential to distract from a student teaching experience. This potential is activated when candidates perceive the tool’s purpose to primarily be to measure, score, or rank their teaching. Furthermore, I argue that a measurement-focused approach to teacher evaluation, particularly at the preservice level, can have regulatory effects, diminishing the educative capacity of such tools.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher evaluation
• preservice
• preservice teacher education
• edTPA
• Danielson Framework for teaching

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Individualized Education Plans (i.e. documented special education accommodations).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Meghan A. Kessler

Meghan A. Kessler is an Assistant Professor of Teacher Education at the University of Illinois Springfield specializing in social studies and teacher education. Dr. Kessler received her PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign in 2018; her dissertation study examined student teachers’ perceptions and practices of licensure assessments. Dr. Kessler’s research investigates the ways in which teachers’ multiple socio-political and professional positionalities shape their perceptions, practices, and growth. She is particularly interested in how these factors influence teachers’ work with or subversion of school- and state-level policies. Recently, her work is focused on unpacking the interplay of teachers’ civic identities with their teaching practices and approaches to state- and school-level policy implementation. Prior to pursuing her doctorate, Dr. Kessler taught middle and high school social studies in small urban and diverse rural schools for six years. She maintains a close connection with K-12 partners in her research, teaching, and service.