The purpose of a teacher education program is to develop preservice teachers into knowledgeable and skilled professionals who have a positive impact on student learning. Quality teaching produces student learning, thus the product of a quality teacher education program is a teacher candidate who has a positive effect on student learning. Teacher…

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…

Elementary education faculty at this university embedded a Teacher Work Sample (TWS) performance-based assessment into the student teaching experience to assess candidates' ability to impact student learning as required by recent accreditation reforms. The authors conducted an internal evaluation of the TWS for the purposes of strengthening not…

Teacher Work Sample Methodology is described as one piece of an accountability system for the initial preparation and licensure of teachers that includes evidence of student learning. The underlying tenets of the methodology and of the whole idea of accountability systems are explored. (SLD)