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Functions of Assessment in Teacher Education

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International Handbook of Teacher Education

Abstract

This last decade we have witnessed an increasing awareness of the importance of teachers as agents for student learning and achievements. There is, to a large extent, consensus among researchers and policy makers that teachers matter (OECD, Teachers matter. Attracting, developing and retraining effective teachers. OECD Publishing, Paris, 2005; Hattie, Visible Learning. A synthesis of over 800 meta-analysis relating to achievement. Routledge, London, 2009, Visible Learning for Teachers. Maximizing impact on Learning. Routledge, New York, 2012). However, the consensus stops there, as little agreement exists with regard to how to prepare teachers to take on the heavy responsibility of educating a diverse student population for the schools of tomorrow. The question is – is at all possible to create a program that produces the best teacher? Bergem (Utvalgte kronikker og kommentarartikler i: B. Kvam, S. Rise og J. Sæther (red.) Danning og personlighetsutvikling i lærerutdanning og læreryrke. Antologi tilegnet professor Trygve Bergem på 70.-årsdagen, 16. november, 2008. Gyldendal akademisk, s, Oslo, pp 241–248, 2008) claims that, “experience shows that it seems to be impossible to reach agreement about the content of teacher education” (p. 241). The central role of teachers in student learning alongside the diverse opinions of how to educate teachers, places a challenging demand on teacher education. Whenever politicians and the society are unhappy with student achievements on international and national tests, teacher education receives the blame, and shortly after the “PISA shock”, a new teacher education reform is likely to follow (Smith K, Lærerutdanning i et internasjonalt perspektiv (Teacher education in an international perspective). In: T. Bergem, S. Helgesen (red.) Soria Moria- neste. Perspektiver på skoleutvikling (Soria-Moria- next. Perspectives on School Development). Høyskoleforlaget, Kristiansand, pp 207–230, 2009; Darling-Hammond L, Powerful Teacher Education – lessons learned from exemplary programs. Jossey-Bass. Retrieved March 1, 2015, from http://www.google.no/books?hl=no&lr=&id=_ETQd-zD8RUC&oi=fnd&pg=PT6&dq=teacher+education+reform&ots=np0FqA87FD&sig=tVqVRuc3ocSQhlFYb_ODe7ZF0Jk&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=teacher%20education%20reform&f=false, 2012; Wiseman DL, The intersection of policy, reform and teacher education. J Teach Educ 62(2):87–91, 2012).

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Smith, K. (2016). Functions of Assessment in Teacher Education. In: Loughran, J., Hamilton, M. (eds) International Handbook of Teacher Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0369-1_12

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