Introducing Performance-Based Assessment in Pre-Service Teacher Education in India

The teachers in India are usually trained and assessed by age old practices and approaches. Following a simple definition that performance-based assessment measures teachers' ability to apply the skills and knowledge learned from a unit or units of study, it can be argued that introducing and applying this practice in teacher preparation programs will be helpful to emphasize, measure, and support the skills and knowledge that all teachers need to succeed in the real classrooms. This chapter that is guided by these observations and arguments details teacher education scenario, discusses existing assessment policies and practices in teacher education, advocates the need and promises offered by introducing performance-based assessment for pre-service teachers, highlights the challenges of introducing performance-based assessment, and presents some useful strategies to introduce, practice, and popularize the performance-based assessment in pre-service teacher education in the context of India.