This book focuses on enhancing teacher education quality by making evidence- informed decisions about policy, assessing quality, establishing effective strategies, and innovating teacher preparation programs. It advocates for the importance of rigorous program design and evaluation as the basis for shaping policy directions and claiming program effectiveness.
The book introduces "Design for Change" (DfC), a 20-year-long collaborative effort by a group of teacher educators dedicated to improving their practices. DfC is divided into two parts: Design for Change-Teams and Process (DfC-TaP) and Design for Change-Programs and Courses (DfC-PaC). DfC-TaP explores how to form and sustain a design team of academics, emphasizing the collaborative process's value in program development. DfC-PaC delves into applying practical theory to curriculum design, mapping programs to standards, creating meaningful learning and assessment tasks, and leveraging technology. The latterincludes a chapter on software for teacher preparation program design.
The book's ultimate goal is to offer a versatile framework for designing teacher education programs. The book employs evidence from longitudinal research to present generalizable concepts and structures for program developers and designers. By doing so, the book aims to contribute to the field by providing a research-based guide for building teacher education programs that enhance the overall educational experience for both faculty and students.