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

Preservice Teacher Application of Differentiated Instruction

“…The Teacher Work Sample served as the unit of analysis. Developed at Western Oregon University, the work sample has long been regarded as an accurate and reliable way to measure the competency of a preservice teacher during the practicum experience (Henning et al, 2005). Student teachers in the state of Oregon produce a working unit of instruction that includes unit goals and objectives, pre-and post-assessments, lesson plans, and an analysis of student learning and reflections.…”

Deepening Understanding of the Teaching and Learning Context Through Ethnographic Analysis

“…Several institutions across the country have embedded work sampling within their teacher preparation programs (Denner, Salzman, & Bangert, 2001;Henning & Robinson, 2004;Henning et al, 2005). To date, most conversations appearing in the literature regarding the value of work sampling have focused on policy, measurement, and evaluative efforts (Fredman, 2004;McConney & Schalock, 1996;McConney & Ayres, 1998;Schalock, H. D., 1998;Schalock, M., 1998).…”

“…Currently, very few teacher preparation practices systematically attend to the linkages outlined by Cochran-Smith. Although value-added modeling (Sanders & Horn, 1998;Wright, Horn, & Sanders, 1997) is helping us to understand how some of these connections may have an impact on pupil learning three or five years after the fact, teacher work sampling seems to be one of the few tools or frameworks that attends to each of the linkages in what might be called the preparation-teaching-learning inference chain (Girod, 2002;Henning, & Robinson, 2004;Henning et al, 2005;Schalock et al, 2006).…”

Evidence of Cultural Competence Within Teacher Performance Assessments

“…Unquestionably, field experiences significantly influence the development of preservice teachers, and in many institutions dedicated to the preparation of future teachers, preservice teachers must write a TWS during the field placement. The TWS has long been regarded as an accurate assessment measuring the competence of a preservice teacher during the practicum experience with multiple studies focusing on its validity and reliability (Denner et al, 2009;Fredman, 2004;Henning et al, 2005). However, few studies investigate specific skills evident in the TWS such as evidence of inclusive practice (Dee, 2011), and exhaustive searching reveals no studies investigating the work sample as a means of identifying preservice teacher dispositions toward diverse populations.…”