Performance evaluation as a catalyst for an innovative chinese teacher education program

Chinese teacher education is under pressure and forced to adopt innovative professional development approaches. In this context also the evaluation approach is questioned. The research problem of the project is therefore: Validation on the theoretical, and empirical base for introducing "performance assessment" in teacher education. This reorientation in evaluation builds on theoretical concepts taken from (1) Teacher Thinking Theory (2) innovative teacher education models that build on constructivist approaches (e.g., cognitive apprenticeship), and (3) theoretical assumptions about reliability analysis when multiple evaluators are involved. The following research questions are studied: (1) What is the nature of the evaluation beliefs of teacher educators and student teachers? (2) What is the validity of a comprehensive set of teacher competencies? (3) Under what conditions can performance assessment be adopted as a reliable evaluation appraoch? (4) What is the impact of adopting a performance evaluation approach on teacher beliefs about evaluation? (5) What is the impact of adopting a performance evaluation approach on self-reflective practices of student-teachers?