Licensure tests play a critical role in any profession. Well-designed tests both delineate the core competencies that are required to enter a profession and provide evidence that candidates can safely practice in the profession. They also identify the professional knowledge and skill that differentiates any educated individual from the well-prepared professional. Geoffrey Phelps and Gary Sykes use a series of assessment tasks to illustrate how teacher licensure testing can be designed to focus more directly on assessing aspiring educators’ performance of the professional competencies that make up the day-to-day and moment-to-moment work of teaching.
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