Assessing Pre-service Teachers Prior to Certification: Perspectives on the Performance Assessment for California Teachers (PACT)

Authors

  • Irina Okhremtchouk Arizona State University
  • Patrick Newell CSU Fresno
  • Rebecca Rosa UC Davis

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v21n56.2013

Abstract

This study focuses on pre-service teachers’ perspectives regarding how the process of completing the Performance Assessment for California Teachers (PACT) affected them academically, professionally, and personally.  Two cohorts participated in this year-two study.  Pre-service teachers’ perspectives were acquired using a survey instrument comprised of open-ended questions.  In addition, pre-service teachers’ self-confidence levels pertaining to assessment task components of PACT (i.e., planning, instruction, assessment, reflection, and academic language) were measured prior to the execution of PACT portfolio assessment and these levels were compared to the actual scores on PACT. This study concludes with implications for teacher educators and teacher education programs implementing pre-service teacher assessments; these implications include policy level suggestions as well as a discussion of intended and unintended consequences of the PACT assessment on the pre-service teachers.

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Author Biographies

Irina Okhremtchouk, Arizona State University

Irina Okhremtchouk is an Assistant Professor in the Mary Lou Fulton teachers College, Division of Teacher Preparation at Arizona State University, Tempe. Her research interests include classification/stratification practices for language minority students, school organization, school finance, and the assessment practices for pre-service teachers.  In addition to her academic work and research activities, Dr. Okhremtchouk has over twelve years of experience working in 6-12 education settings as a schoolteacher, program coordinator, child advocate, and school board member.

 

Patrick Newell, CSU Fresno

Patrick Newell is a Librarian at the Henry Madden Library and the Kremen School of Education and Human Development at California State University, Fresno.  His research interests include organizational behavior, policy development and implementation, and assessment of programs.  Dr. Newell has over twenty years of experience working in higher education and research institutions at a librarian, researcher, instructor, and program developer.

Rebecca Rosa, UC Davis

Rebecca Rosa is a Lecturer and Supervisor of Teacher Education at UC Davis School of Education.
Her research interests include children’s literature, social sciences education, academic language in
the content area, and performance assessment of pre-service teachers.  Ms. Rosa has twelve years of
experience teaching in the k-12 educational setting and twelve years of experience working with
pre-service teachers as a supervisor and instructor.  For the past ten years, she has participated as a
benchmarker and statewide trainer for the Secondary History Social Science Performance Assessment for California Teachers, and was a contributor in the construction of the rubrics and conceptual framework for the Elementary History Social Science Performance Assessment for California Teachers.

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Published

2013-06-30

How to Cite

Okhremtchouk, I., Newell, P., & Rosa, R. (2013). Assessing Pre-service Teachers Prior to Certification: Perspectives on the Performance Assessment for California Teachers (PACT). Education Policy Analysis Archives, 21, 56. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v21n56.2013

Issue

Vol. 21 (2013)

Section

Articles