Linking Assessment and Instruction: Teacher Preparation and Professional Development

This Issue Paper introduces effective practices for teachers in collecting and using data to make instructional decisions and provides a research base on the linking of assessment data and instruction. It uses an innovation configuration framework to identify the skills and competencies that teachers need to make sound decisions and describes essential components for preservice and inservice teacher training. The paper also includes recommendations for the integration of the innovation configuration into teacher preparation and professional development practices.