Measuring Quality in Teacher Education
perspective that favors equal opportunity in education; Comfort with Diversity, which is
a reported ease of interacting with other.
Contribution
Providing information on a dispositional measurement system for teacher
education will help ensure the development of quality professionals. As professionals we
are charged with responsibility to not only teach dispositions but develop a way for
systemically measuring it as well.
Relevance
Teacher educators have always measured the dispositions of their candidates.
Historically, dispositionally bankrupt candidates have been weeded from programs and
prevented from entering the teaching profession. Recently, NCATE has specified that the
process must be formalized and the documentation of candidates’ appropriate
dispositions is now required. Many teacher education institutions have hesitated to
aggressively pursue measuring the dispositions of their candidates. One reason maybe
that these institutions may be facing a dilemma in clearly defining which dispositions to
measure, others may be fearful of legal liability. It is not easy to inform candidates that
they are dispositionally deficient; however, teacher educators have an obligation to
protect students who attend the public and private schools. It is hoped that the proposed
model for the development of dispositional evaluation will be of assistance as programs
develop better dispositional evaluations.
Implication for Action
Teacher education programs across the nation are gaining increased concern with
the “how to teach” as well as “how to” assess dispositions as an entity of knowledge and
skills within NCATE and INTASC accreditation standards. Legal and ethical issues are
also posing a challenge for many institutions. However, it is tantamount to be mindful of
teaching and measuring dispositions when preparing quality professionals. This
proposed model describes activities and processes that may be useful to develop
assessment and evaluation practices related to dispositions in many teacher education
programs.
Section II: Outcomes and Methods
Learner/Participant Outcomes
It is anticipated that the participant will
1. understand the rationale for dispositions in teacher education
2. understand the legal implications for assessing dispositions
3. understand a model for systematically measuring dispositions
Methods
The participants will receive a copy of the “Proposed Model for Developing Dispositions
Evaluation in Teacher Preparation Programs”. This will be followed by a discussion on
the systemic inquiry techniques that were utilized to collect initial beliefs and ideas
related to dispositions to develop the model. In the teacher education program that serves
as the case for this model, a method used to document concerns about a student’s
disposition for teaching throughout their program is also presented. Information on legal
issues will also be addressed.
2
Convention