ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that an important strategy to encourage excellent teaching and to inspire public confidence in the quality of teachers is to ensure that all prospective teachers undergo a rigorous program of education or preparation and screening before they are permitted to operate as autonomous professionals. Each day, teachers must apply their knowledge of subject matter, child development, cognition, group dynamics, motivation, methods of teaching, and classroom management to extremely complex situations. Teaching tests that rely on simplistic views of teaching not only inadequately assess teacher knowledge and fail to advance the development of a knowledge base but they eliminate many candidates from teaching on grounds that are tenuous. Teacher tests are typically constructed by professional item writers, although advisory boards of teachers sometimes review item specifications or content categories. Teaching is a function of both content and pedagogical knowledge.
