Successful teacher candidates support learning by designing a Teacher Work Sample that employs a range of strategies and builds on each student’s strengths, needs, and prior experiences.  Through this performance assessment, teacher candidates provide credible evidence of their ability to facilitate learning.  

As a part of the Teacher Work Sample, you are required to teach a comprehensive unit.  Your instructional goals and objectives should be based on your state or district content standards.  You will also need to create an assessment plan designed to measure student performance before (pre-assessment), during (formative assessment), and after (post-assessment) your unit instruction.  Finally, you need to analyze and reflect on your instructional design, educational context, and learning gains demonstrated by your students.

The College of Education’s Teacher Work Sample is based on work done by the Renaissance Partnership for Improving Teacher Quality.  

Standard:
The teacher uses information about the learning/teaching context and student individual differences to set learning goals and objectives, plan instruction, and assess learning.

Task:
Discuss relevant factors and how they may affect the teaching/learning process.  Include any supports and challenges present that affect instruction and student learning.

See the TWS handout for more detailed information on completing this requirement.

Standard:
The teacher sets significant, challenging, varied, and appropriate learning goals and objectives.

Task:
Provide and justify the learning goals and objectives for the unit.

See the TWS handout for more detailed information.

Standard:
The teacher uses multiple assessment modes and approaches aligned with learning goals and objectives to assess student learning before, during, and after instruction.

Task:
Design an assessment plan to monitor student progress toward learning goal(s) and objective(s).  Use multiple assessment modes and approaches aligned with learning goals and objectives to assess student learning before, during, and after instruction.  These assessments should authentically measure student learning and may include performance-based tasks, paper-and-pencil tasks, or personal communication.  Describe why your assessments are appropriate for measuring learning.

See the TWS handout for more detailed information on completing this requirement.

Standard:
The teacher designs instruction for specific learning goals and objectives, student characteristics and needs, and learning contexts.

Task:
Describe how you will design your unit instruction related to unit goals and objectives, students’ characteristics and needs, and the specific learning context.

See the TWS handout for more detailed information on completing this requirement.

Standard:
The teacher uses on-going analysis of student learning to make instructional decisions.

Task:
Provide two examples of instructional decision-making based on students’ learning or responses.

See the TWS handout for more detailed information on completing this requirement.

Standard:
The teacher uses assessment data to profile student learning and communicate information about student progress and achievement.

Task:
Analyze your data to report the performance of the whole class, subgroups, and two individual students.  Use visual representations and narrative to profile student performance.

See the TWS handout for more detailed information on completing this requirement.

Standard:
The teacher analyzes the relationship between his or her instruction and student learning in order to improve teaching practice.

Task:
Reflect on your performance as a teacher in guiding the instructional process of this unit and link your performance to student learning results.  Evaluate your performance relative to the seven standards of the work sample to identify future actions for improved practice and professional growth.

See the TWS handout for more detailed information on completing this requirement.