Teacher Work Sample Methodology Research Articles

Not So Different After All: Examining the Shift from Oregon Teacher Work Sample Methodology to edTPA

Through a comparative analysis, the previous Oregon Teacher Work Sample Methodology utilized to assess preservice educators' competency is compared to the edTPA performance assessment, which formally replaces the later assessment system for newly minted Oregon educators as of the 2018-2019 school year. While Oregon Work Sample Methodology was cutting edge from the 1980s onward, the state legislature adopted edTPA in 2016. Many educators, administrators, and other hiring committees are not familiar with the new assessment system as they hire new educators coming out of state-accredited programs. After a comparison of both assessment systems' components in regards to InTASC standards, it is clear that the edTPA assessment is built off of the foundation that Oregon Work Sample Methodology brought to the teacher preparation field and allows for a level of rigor consistent throughout the nation.

Connecting Community and Culture

In order to be effective educators in the 21st century, it is essential for teacher candidates to develop a deepunderstanding of the culture and contextual factors surrounding their students’ lives, and the ability to apply thisunderstanding to classroom instruction. This action research study discusses how the implementation of teachinglearning community propensities with Teacher Work Sample methodology provides a unique perspective forpre-service teachers to first examine the social context of urban students, and then to consider these contextualfactors with the implications for effective instructional practices.

Teacher Work Sample Methodology: Displaying Accountability Of U.S. Teacher Education Program Effectiveness

Productive strategies for evaluating outcomes in teacher licensure programs are becoming increasingly important in the education field. Research data from 492 teacher licensure program completers from 2006-2009 in the School of Education, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado (USA) was compiled after accreditation by the Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE) and the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC). Three categories including subject matter knowledge, pedagogy, and caring teaching skills were acknowledged in accreditation. An important pedagogy experience for students during the licensure program was teacher work sample methodology. This article discusses teacher work sample methodology, explains the experience of building a teacher work sample (TWS) and presents data regarding students results from TWS rubrics. Findings demonstrate teacher education program effectiveness and highlight the effective use of TWSs to meet accreditation requirements.

Exploring the Efficacy of the Cook School District Simulation

Cook School District is a Web-based simulation designed to allow teacher candidates an opportunity to explore connections between their actions as teachers and the learning and engagement of simulated students. The simulation provides a setting in which to practice the processes inherent in teacher work sample methodology (TWSM). The outcomes of TWSM include analyzing the context in which teaching and learning will occur; identifying outcomes to be learned; designing and administering a pretest to evaluate prior knowledge; designing and delivering instruction, differentiating curriculum, instruction, and/or assessment as appropriate; and postassessing student learning to determine the “value added” or teacher effects on learning and engagement. Quasi-experimental research demonstrates the efficacy of the simulation to (a) improve scores on a real teacher work sample, (b) improve field-based lesson teaching performance, and (c) affect users’ perceptions of their skillfulness and valuing of concepts underlying teacher work sample methodology.

The teacher work sample: A tool for scaffolding and assessing preservice teachers' early field experiences

This article describes adapting teacher work sample methodology from the student teaching level to a 4‐week, 25‐hour field experience occurring relatively early in a teacher education program. The goals of the project were twofold: (a) to examine whether an adapted version of the teacher work sample would promote planning and reflection in preservice teachers, and (b) to explore the potential of an adapted teacher work sample as an assessment tool. Adaptations to the original, such as emphasizing formative over summative assessment, are briefly described. Survey and focus group data from a pilot combined with survey data from a semester of full implementation with 270 teacher candidates indicate the teacher work sample is useful for promoting reflection and an understanding of student assessment. The advantages of the teacher work sample are maximized when teacher candidates are engaged in whole class instruction.

Teacher Work Sample Methodology: Implementation and Practical Application in Teacher Preparation

To meet accountability demands of the United States Department of Education and NCATE for the quality of teacher preparation programs, colleges of education require graduates to complete a performance based education program, subject area testing, and a portfolio. Current assessment processes do not measure the impact teacher preparation has on student learning. Oklahoma has formed a three-year partnership through USDE Title II funds called the Oklahoma Teacher Enhancement Program, to develop an assessment tool, Teacher Work Sample Methodology (TWSM) useful to Oklahoma's teacher preparation programs in meeting these national demands. This article focuses on the TWSM components, plan for implementation, the uses of the TWSM in the portfolio for teacher preparation programs, and the challenges of using the TWSM.

The teacher work sample: Implementing standards‐based performance assessment

Over the past four years, the University of Northern Iowa has gradually adopted teacher work sample methodology as a way of evaluating student teachers. In this article, the authors will draw on their experience with this implementation process to define and describe the teacher work sample as a standards‐based performance assessment tool that links student teaching performance to P‐12 student achievement; discuss strategies and procedures associated with implementing the teacher work sample; explore the ways teacher education faculty can utilize teacher work sample data to improve both program direction and classroom instruction; and suggest ways the teacher work sample could be used for facilitating and assessing the professional development of practicing teachers.

Aligning Mathematics Teacher Work Sample Content with Selected NCTM Standards: Implications for Preservice Teacher Education

Teacher Work Sample Methodology has been described as an alternative means/set of procedures for assessing teacher effectiveness in producing student learning that are more authentic than traditional means of teacher certification. To investigate the degree to which the methodology aligns with state/national standards, 50 work samples produced by student teachers at Western Oregon University between fall 1991 and spring 1999 were analyzed to determine: (1) the efficiency of Teacher Work Sample Methodology in moving state and national standards, for example, the NCTM standards, into the classroom; and (2) the extent to which Teacher Work Sample Methodology promotes alignment of standards, content, instruction and assessments of instruction. The research found that a majority of the student teacher work samples demonstrated weak alignment or no alignment between stated instructional objectives and selected NCTM Curriculum and Evaluation Standards (Problem Solving, Communication, Reasoning, and Connections). However, in most of the work samples, more than half of the pre/post-assessment methods (performance, knowledge) were aligned with the instructional objectives.

Linking Teacher Assessment to Student Performance: A Benchmarking, Generalizability, and Validity Study of the Use of Teacher Work Samples.

This study examined the validity and generalizability of the use of Teacher Work Samples to assess preservice and inservice teachers' abilities to meet national and state teaching standards and to impact the learning of their students. Our approach built upon the Teacher Work Sample Methodology of Western Oregon University (Schalock, 1998; Schalock, Cowart, & Staebler, 1993). To assess the ability of work sample assessments to differentiate performances along the full developmental continuum from beginning to expert teaching, we recruited junior-level candidates, student teaching interns, experienced teachers, and National Board Certified teachers to complete teacher work samples. We also examined whether work samples could be feasibly and equitably administered and scored with sufficient reliability to warrant their use for high-stakes decisions about the effectiveness of teaching performance. Results of the study show initial support for teacher work sample assessment as a way to provide valid and credible evidence connecting teaching performance to student learning.

Accountability, Student Learning, and the Preparation and Licensure of Teachers: Oregon's Teacher Work Sample Methodology

This article describes Teacher Work Sample Methodology (TWSM) as one piece of an in-place accountability system for the initial preparation and licensure of teachers that includes evidence of student learning. The underlying tenets of both the methodology specifically and the notion of accountability systems generally are explored from the perspective of using evidence of student learning. This discussion includes the argument that teacher do indeed influence student learning and thus can ethically be part of an accountability system. However, the author also argues that the teaching and learning context is important and must be taken into account within such systems. The author also describes why, especially at the preservice level, the notion of accountability is part of a broader “social contract.” Finally, the author argues that the aim of any accountability system should be to develop personal, professional responsibility rather than to develop an external hammer for performance. A summary of the differences TWSM has made at the individual teacher level and within the institution, the state, and the nation generally is presented. The author concludes that the intended impact of the system—to develop personal, professional responsibility—has been largely achieved.

Focusing improvement and quality assurance: Work samples as authentic performance measures of prospective teachers' effectiveness

The authors suggest that the gap between common evaluation practice in teacher preparation and the consensus reform goal of high levels of student learning for all students is an impediment to reinventing teacher preparation, professional development, and the professionalization of teaching. In the context of Oregon's six-year-old educational transition to a standards-based design for schools and schooling, prospective teachers in Oregon have, since 1989, been required to design, develop, and implement "teacher work samples" as credible evidence of their effectiveness in fostering student learning as a condition for recommendation for an initial teaching license. This article describes teacher work sample methodology and evidence for its reliability and validity in evaluating the performance of prospective teachers. In short, this article describes a methodology that responds to one critical part of the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future's challenge to reinvent teacher education and improve student learning.