Athens, Ga. – Michael J. Feuer, president of the National Academy of Education, will speak about “Why Evidence from Evaluation Matters: The Case of Teacher Preparation,” in a visit to the University of Georgia College of Education on Jan. 17.
Feuer is dean of the graduate school of education and human development at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. His talk will be at 11 a.m. in Room G-5 in Aderhold Hall. The lecture is based on a recent NAEd report, which urged more focus on designing evaluations of teacher training programs.
The report titled, “Evaluation of Teacher Preparation Programs; Purposes, Methods and Policy Options,” aims to provide clearer information about existing evaluation measures and systems in teacher preparation and develops a framework for improving the evaluation of those programs. Funded by a National Science Foundation grant, the final report was released Oct. 25.
“In order to be constructively critical of teaching programs and teachers’ education, one needs to be more confident that we have the right kinds of questions and mechanisms to answer these questions,” said Feuer, a co-author of the report.
The report emphasizes that validity is the key principle in assessing the quality of evaluation approaches. The authors conclude that while program evaluation is critical, it should not be the sole path to improvement, and that evaluation systems should be adaptable based on a program’s mission, goals and standards.
Feuer holds a doctorate in public policy from the University of Pennsylvania. He was elected to the National Academy of Education in 2003.
The report is available at www.naeducation.org/xpedio/groups/naedsite/documents/webpage/naed_085581.pdf.