This book provides important insights on how Teacher Work Samples, widely adopted by NCATE accredited institutions, have helped teacher candidates learn how to employ data driven teaching decisions that enhance student achievement. The authors also show how the evolution of Teacher Work Samples has led to significant changes and improvements in teacher and administrator preparation programs. -- Jim Cibulka, president, NCATE Del Schalock had a wonderful idea more than thirty years agothe use of structured teacher work samples to connect teaching to evidence of student learningand devoted the rest of this career to inspiring and leading a gifted group of colleagues across the country to develop, expand, apply and repair those approaches for the improvement of teacher education and professional development. This book gathers together much of that work and other efforts it inspired in a volume that will be valuable to teacher educators and policy makers. -- Lee S. Shulman, president, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching This work is more important than ever as teacher preparation continues to strengthen assessment of teachers' ability to help students learn. -- Joanne Arhar, associate dean and director of teacher education, Kent State University Hundreds of our teacher candidates have been able to use Teacher Work Samples (TWS) to successfully demonstrate the impact of their teaching on student learning. What is even more exciting is hearing from our graduates who continue to use the TWS as practicing teachers. -- Jane Bray, dean for the school of education, Millersville University of Pennsylvania The authors' insights on practice, policy, and research related to Teacher Work Samples are particularly timely as AACTE seeks to strengthen linkages between teacher preparation and improved student performance in schools. -- Sharon P. Robinson, president and CEO, AACTE A powerful companion to another recently published book by Rowman & Littlefield: Improving Teacher Quality: Using the Teacher Work Sample to Make Evidence-Based Decisions. -- Barry Wilson, director of assessment for the college of education, University of Northern Iowa