Exploring the Use of Performance Tasks as Formative Assessments of Pre-Service Teacher Instructional Skills within Teacher Preparation Programs

Existing formative assessments have key limitations for evaluating PST skill early in teacher preparation program coursework. This study examines the validity of performance tasks as feasible-to-use assessments providing reliable and actionable information about PSTs’ instructional skills. Participants were 153 PSTs from two universities participating in a mathematics methods course. Participants completed a set of three performance tasks targeting a focal skill and filmed themselves performing this skill during classroom instruction. All tasks were double coded by trained raters on a proximal measure of the focal skill and distal measures of instructional quality as defined by general and special mathematics educators. ANOVA and Generalizability Theory (GT) analyses were conducted to investigate score accuracy, consistency, bias, and generalizability over different conditions. Regression analyses were conducted to examine how performance task scores relate to PSTs’ classroom performance. Study results indicated that performance tasks were reliable and valid measures of PST skill.