| Accountability,as one of the core elements of quality assurance,plays an increasingly important role in the field of teacher education.Currently,teacher education programs in the United States are generally considered to be "tending to mediocrity",and the effectiveness of teacher training has become the center and focus of the reform of higher education in the United States.In this context,in order to guarantee and improve the quality of teacher education,the federal government,state government,social institutions and media have introduced a series of measures to respond to public accountability and criticism.Although teacher education accountability in the United States has been criticized and debated constantly in practice,such as facing questions such as the federal power "arm extended too long","excessive severe accountability is not good for the quality of education",but generally speaking,the language and logic of accountability system has been deeply rooted in the theory and practice of teacher education in the United States.There are three main forms of teacher education accountability system in the United States:annual state and agency reports as stipulated by the Higher Education Act;Teacher education program/institutional assessment by the Council for the Accreditation of Preparation(CAEP);The National Council on Teacher Quality(NCTQ)published the Teacher Development Curriculum Evaluation Report.By reviewing,summarizing and analyzing the literature on teacher education accountability,and based on Joseph C.Burke’s "accountability triangle" theory and the main viewpoints of the eight-dimensional analytical framework of teacher education accountability system,this paper constructs the analytical framework of teacher education accountability system in this paper.The first part analyzes the emergence and development of teacher education accountability system in the United States.Through a historical review,it is found that the track of the emergence and development of teacher education accountability in the United States reflects a high level of concern about the effectiveness of teacher training.Under the policy guidance and regulation of the federal government,accountability indicators are gradually updated with the development of The Times.It has experienced the change from the input index based on standards to the achievement index of teacher qualification and certification,and the focus of attention has also shifted from teachers to students’ academic achievement.At the same time,the promotion of neoliberal economic ideas,the improvement of stakeholders’ demands for the quality of teacher education,the quality of teacher education and other factors further promote the development of the current teacher education accountability system.The second part focuses on the implementation and challenges of teacher education accountability system in the United States.On the one hand,different stakeholders have reached a consensus on the quality of teacher education.In terms of accountability strategy,it shows the multi-agent cooperation mechanism,and in terms of accountability results,it shows the quantitative trend of methods and results.On the other hand,the American teacher education accountability system is faced with such challenges as the disarray and inefficiency caused by the disunity of accountability standards,the tension between institutional autonomy and external accountability,and the opposition between professionalism and deconstructionism.The third part reflects on the current accountability practice in the United States and draws a conclusion: in summary,different forms of accountability in the United States have their advantages and disadvantages and flexible division of labor.The political accountability of teacher education based on HEA,as a "guide",has undergone a transition from the edge to the center.Professional accountability based on CAEP certification as the "gatekeeper" in the field of teacher education represents the future development direction;Market accountability based on NCTQ rankings,as a "reformer",has both opportunities and challenges in the future development.Secondly,corresponding suggestions are put forward based on the current situation of teacher education in China. |
