What is Teacher Performance

This chapter describes current and future approaches to evaluating teacher preparation programs. Available assessments and common preparation pathways are reviewed. Obstacles to conducting evaluation for the purposes of continuous improvement are described. Recommendations are provided for using quantitative and qualitative methods to identify features of teacher preparation programs that have the strongest impact on graduates' performance and retention, such that teacher preparation programs may act on this knowledge for the purpose of continuous improvement. Next steps for teacher preparation programs include improving assessment capacity, identifying mediators and moderators of graduate outcomes, utilizing experimental methods when possible, and continuing qualitative work to inform program improvement.