Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Teacher Preparation and Practice: Reconsideration of Assessment for Learning

Teacher Preparation and Practice: Reconsideration of Assessment for Learning introduces the reader to a collection of thoughtful research-based works by authors that represent current thinking about assessment. What we know is that assessments are designed and implemented in educational settings (both university-based teacher preparation and school-based teacher practice in school classrooms) that serve to inform and guide teaching and learning. We also know that there is a dichotomy between assessment of learning (summative) and assessment for learning (formative) that is recognized on a global level in teacher preparation. Importantly, the reported research examines assessment and the application of professional judgment guided by assessment for learning in contrast to the more normalizing assessment of learning that currently pervades the nature of assessment in teacher preparation and practice. There is a need in the "work of teaching" for assessments that focus on cultural competence and relational sensitivity, communication skills, and the combination of rigor and imagination fundamental to the teaching and learning practices in classrooms. Each chapter focuses on assessment and the preparation and practice of teachers who will enter classrooms to instruct the next generation of students. Chapter One opens the book with a focus on assessment and its relationship to teaching and learning in the classroom, providing the reader with an introduction to the book and an understanding of the role assessment plays in teacher preparation and practice. The authors of Chapters Two-Nine present field-based research that examines assessment in teacher preparation and practice. Each chapter offers the reader an examination of assessment in teacher preparation and practice based on formal research that provides the reader with insight into how the research study was conducted as well as equally important, the findings and conclusions drawn with respect to assessment and teacher preparation and practice. Finally, Chapter Ten presents an epilogue that focuses on the future of assessment in teacher preparation and practice. Review This book is an important read for teacher educators, Pk-12 school leaders, and policymakers interested in examining the critical role of assessment, its impact on teaching and learning, and its connection to access and equity. This collection can inform future models and practices, and underscores the need for deconstructing the complexities of the work of teachers.--Trena L. Wilkerson, professor of mathematics education, department of curriculum and instruction, Baylor University, Waco, Texas; and President-elect 2020 of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) This book takes the powerful distinction between assessment of learning and assessment for learning and applies it to teacher preparation and practice. Drawing on eight original field-based studies, the book provides insights, examples, and new questions about what it means to prepare teachers who are "ready" to teach in today's assessment-driven educational climate.--Marilyn Cochran-Smith, Cawthorne professor of teacher education for urban schools, Lynch School of Education, Boston College With this book, Patrick M. Jenlink has curated a volume that is a must-read for anyone concerned with assessment and wants to use it, not just as an evaluative tool that measures learning, but as an instructional one that promotes learning. Given so little time and so much content to cover, what should educators do with assessments and how should they best do it? Those willing and wanting to take up the call to repurpose assessment - as an instrument for learning - will find this synthesis of research a great place to start. As he has done throughout his career, Jenlink once again helps us navigate through difficult periods in teacher preparation, this time with the high-stakes, test-driven mania in which teachers now find th