“My assessment didn’t seem real”: The Influence of Field Experiences on Preservice Teachers’ Agency and Assessment Literacy

Abstract

To date, there is little or no research that specifically examines assessment literacy in social studies education, or the relationship between preservice teachers assessment literacy and their thinking about their own agency. This article focuses on three preservice social studies teachers who demonstrated a high degree of assessment literacy in their lesson plans, by developing assessments that supported their purpose for teaching social studies and their instructional decisions. The preservice teachers' thinking about their assessment decisions in their field experience classrooms was examined through artifacts, interviews, and reflections. The preservice teachers' thinking demonstrated that their assessment literacy was distinct based upon their views of the teaching profession. The findings from this case study highlight the ways that the authoritative discourses of assessment can influence the agency of preservice teachers. The discussion of findings highlights several implications for social studies teacher education.

Impact of Pre-Service Teachers on P-5 Student Learning: Results of Unit Instructions

“…The emphasis on student outcomes in this study enhances the results of recent studies (Clark, 2015;McGee & Colby, 2014;Siegel & Wissehr, 2011;Simon, Chitpin, & Yahya, 2010) on pre-service teachers' process of, attitudes toward, and development of assessment skills/literacy by demonstrating that higher efficacy and more positive attitudes toward assessment can positively impact the P-5 learners' achievement. Finally, the study provides the potential to benefit others who are interested in the same topic for future practice and research.…”

Critical Intentions and “Care of the Self:” Reconsidering the Role of Agency in Preservice Teachers’ Thinking

“…Madelyn was unable to imagine her ethical self actually resisting normalized practices that were directly governed by others in the school context, due to here perceived need for professional acceptance (Clark, 2013(Clark, , 2015. Although Heather maintained her resistance to normalized practices and would assumingly continue to create curriculum to support her resistance, she refused to work in a school context that would not support her ethical purpose and practice for teaching social studies.…”

Clinical Entrepreneurship: A Student Teacher Assigning Desktop Documentary Making

“…Cooperating teachers (those who closely mentor teachers during their student teaching experience) play a central role in the development of a teacher's preparation (Fairbanks, Freedman, Kahn, 2000;Waters & Russell, 2016). Whether a teacher becomes an ambitious teacher or not may hinge upon the nature of the student teaching experience that the cooperating teacher fosters (Demirhan & Yücel, 2016;Clark, 2015). Cooperating teachers perceive three types of student teaching experiences from the lens of their cooperating teachers: mimic, experimentation, and benign neglect (Valencia, Martin, Place & Grossman, 2009).…”