The developers planned to use the results of the research to guide them in making informed changes in the criteria descriptions, the scoring rules, the assessment instruments, the procedural guidelines, and the assessor training program. The study described in this report involved an analysis of small-and large-group discussions among assessors. The purpose of the study was to gather information from assessors about the kinds of problems they encountered in evaluating the teacher-candidate, how they handled those problems when they occurred, and their suggestions for improving the assessment process. Assessors identified a number of problems they encountered when using the assessment system, including simultaneously taking notes and establishing rapport during conferences, capturing what went on during the observation, knowing how much evidence was enough to support a given rating, and using the rating scale to choose a particular rating. For each aspect of the assessment process, assessors offered suggestions for improvement.
