Wrinkles in Time and Place: Using Performance Assessments to Understand the Knowledge of History Teachers

Abstract

New forms of assessment are sweeping the country. This article reports findings from one of the first projects to develop and field-test performance-based assessments for teachers, Stanford University’s Teacher Assessment Project. The authors analyze the responses of two high school history teachers on three perfomance assessments of teaching: (a) Evaluation of Student Papers, in which teachers read and responded to a set of student essays; (b) Use of Documentary Materials, in which teachers planned a classroom activity using primary sources; and (c) Textbook Analysis, in which teachers evaluated a selection from a widely used U. S. history textbook. Differences emerged in the teachers’ conceptions of their roles and responsibilities, their images of student ability and motivation, their views on student learning, and their subject matter and pedagogical content knowledge. The authors discuss what performance assessments can tell us about pedagogical knowledge and reasoning, and explore the implications of this work for policy and practice.