Findings: Classroom assessments
The results in this area of professional preparation differ considerably from those in preceding standards in that there is a quite even distribution of results. In undergraduate elementary preparation, for example, while only about ten percent of programs we reviewed did poorly on the standard (failing or meeting only a small part of it), a quarter of programs only partly met the standard, almost a third nearly met the standard and just over a third fully met the standard. This same distribution is found in the other programs as well.
Only a minority of programs we reviewed (about 30 percent) have a course that focuses exclusively or almost exclusively and comprehensively on this critical topic.
Of the four topics in assessment for which we looked for coverage, the most commonly addressed in both elementary and secondary preparation programs was classroom assessment. With the exception of graduate secondary programs (for which standardized testing was the least commonly addressed topic), the least commonly addressed topic in both elementary and secondary programs was instruction on how to use data to improve instruction. These findings are not surprising given that a recent study of teacher educators found that only 24 percent believe it is absolutely essential to produce "teachers who understand how to work with the state's standards, tests, and accountability systems."1
The assessment course offered to both undergraduate elementary and secondary candidates at McKendree University addresses all of the relevant assessment topics (including important statistical issues such as reliability and error that do not appear to be addressed in many courses we evaluated) and includes a considerable number of application-based assignments.
How Illinois institutions fare on this standard
