This volume reviews the background of mandated teacher performance assessment with an emphasis
on policy privatization and professionalization. The authors discuss the potential impact of
mandated teacher performance assessments on teacher education in the content areas of
mathematics English and social studies. The perspectives and empirical research examined in
this conceptual analysis illustrate the various ways in which the Stanford Center for
Assessment Learning and Equity (SCALE) Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA) promises to
restructure teacher education in the United States. The authors consider both the affordances
and the constraints that teacher performance assessments offer for teacher preparation programs
and conclude by discussing the implications of the intersections among policy privatization
professionalization and performance assessments of teachers as well as the relationship
between performance assessments and teacher education. The impact of the edTPA on the
development of signature pedagogies in teacher education is also discussed.
