ABSTRACT
Teacher quality is a concept that has dominated discussions of educational policy and practice since publication of A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform in 1983 (https://www2. ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/index.html). The National Center for Accreditation in Teacher Education (NCATE) cites weaknesses in all areas of the teacher quality system-preparation, entry, and professional development (Cibulka, 2009). Despite this intensive focus, little agreement exists among educators or researchers about what constitutes teacher quality and how it should be operationalized and measured. Since evaluation of teacher quality impacts educational decision-making in a number of important areas including compliance with state and national initiatives, teacher recruitment and incentives for performance, and choices about distribution of teachers and resources within our educational system, the discussion of the definition, measurement, and impact of teacher quality is important. While the emphasis to date has been primarily on K-12 classrooms, there is some indication that this focus also could be extended to higher education (Clawson, 2009; Wood & DesJarlais, 2006). For example, a consortium of 19 states currently is participating in the development and testing of a common performance-based assessment for teacher candidates (Sawchuk, 2010) that could ultimately be used to determine the quality of teacher preparation programs and faculty in higher education institutions.
