The Relationships Between Internal Program Measures and a High-Stakes Teacher Licensing Measure in Mathematics Teacher Preparation: Program Design Considerations

Accountability measures have quickly entered into formal teacher-preparation programs. As a response, we introduce the use of structural equation modeling vis-a-vis path analysis in secondary-grade mathematics teacher preparation as a methodology to test models to understand the strength of relationships to recommendations of prominent professional organizations and standards for entering the teaching profession. This longitudinal, 6-year, five-cohort study examines the relationship of program design sequencing and core components (internal measures) to an externally scored high-stakes teacher licensing examination portfolio intended to measure pedagogical content knowledge and first-year teacher readiness. The internal measures and program sequencing model explains 49.2% of the variance in relation to the standardized outcome teaching portfolio examination with high-power and medium- to large-effect statistics. We provide implications for teacher preparation with respect to recommendations of professional organizations, governments, and accreditation standards. Results should stimulate discussions and fuel future research efforts.