Knowledge for Teaching Study
Dear Teacher:
We would like to invite you to participate in a pilot study of assessments of "knowledge for teaching." These assessments are part of an important research project, titled "Measures of Effective Teaching" (MET), sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. These assessments are being developed by researchers at Educational Testing Service (ETS) and the University of Michigan. The goal of this study is to develop measures of the kind of knowledge that is directly tied to what teachers need to know in order to teach effectively. These measures are quite a bit different from traditional measures of broad content knowledge precisely because they are designed to assess aspects of knowledge that are used specifically in teaching.
We have developed initial versions of these measures and are now reaching out to the education community to enlist practicing teachers to participate in upcoming pilot assessments. Five such pilot assessments of content knowledge for teaching will be administered in the next few months. These assessments are for:
- Teachers of grades 4 and 5 mathematics
- Teachers of grades 6 through 8 mathematics
- Teachers of Algebra I
- Teachers of grades 4 through 6 English Language Arts (ELA)
- Teachers of grades 7 through 9 English Language Arts (ELA)
The administration dates are as follows:
- 5/17/2010 through 6/30/2010: grades 4–5 mathematics and grades 4–6 ELA
- 7/01/2010 through 8/31/2010: grades 6–8 mathematics, Algebra I, and grades 7–9 ELA
An assessment will require only about one hour of testing time. No preparation is necessary. Individuals will take the assessment(s) on their home personal computer or, if appropriate, on a school computer. Elementary teachers who teach both mathematics and ELA are eligible to take both assessments.
By participating in this study, you will be contributing to the development of new measures of teacher content knowledge closely tied to the practice of teaching. In addition, ETS will furnish each participant with a $50 gift card for each assessment completed, as a token of our sincere appreciation.
To participate or learn more, e-mail collaborate@ets.org. Please do not delay! This opportunity is available to only a limited number of teachers.
Disclaimer: Educational Testing Service (ETS) is using this site to post recruitment information for a research project. ETS is not responsible for any other content on this site nor does posting here imply an endorsement of or agreement with any of the content on the site except the ETS posting.
