Examining the Instructional Priorities of a Secondary Education Teacher Preparation Program Utilizing an Integrated Approach to Assessment Education

This study examined the instructional priorities of a four-year undergraduate secondary education program that does not offer an assessment-specific course, but instead integrates assessment instruction throughout the broader curriculum. An alignment method was utilized to better understand the program’s instructional priorities for teaching about assessment in comparison to the locally-used professional teaching standards and the locally-used teacher accreditation performance assessment. Areas of both alignment and misalignment were found in three dimensions: categorical concurrence (CC), depth of knowledge (DOK), and range of knowledge (ROK). Findings include course syllabi objectives that were written at a broader ROK level than the other two sources, syllabi and performance assessment objectives that were written at a higher DOK level than the standards, and a variety of approaches to teaching the concepts of formative assessment. Implications for teacher education are discussed