It should be stated that outcome-focused evaluation can be considered a functional approach towards teacher preparation assessment. It provides an opportunity to display the levels of readiness of teachers to furnish educational services right after graduation. It is worth noting that on the one hand, such an approach to the estimation of the system would allow creating a common approach to the evaluation of the quality of teacher training. Besides, it would enable appraising the competency and academic performance, focus on external users, and so on (Meyer, Brodersen, & Schmidt, 2013). This approach will be equally effective for staff and their social environment as well as in terms of standards and programs. However, it requires the alignment and formation of a system for quality assessment following the new requirements, which will be offered for teachers and educators.
On the other hand, it is essential to evaluate the effectiveness of projects aimed at improving the quality of educational services (Meyer et al., 2013). From this point of view, process-focused evaluation can be more efficient. It would provide an opportunity to focus on the way the outcome was attained and determine what resources were used to achieve them rather than focusing on the actual results. Moreover, in the initial approach, the output cannot be used to obtain the objective quantitative and qualitative indicators to manage the quality of education. Apart from that, it is unclear whether it would be necessary to create a legal framework for the new model to assess the quality of education.
Nevertheless, outcome-focused evaluation has specific advantages and disadvantages. This type of approach towards assessment is functional when reflecting on the effectiveness of implementing alterations (Yuen, Terao, & Schmidt, 2013). Thus, it is strictly focused on the results and the side effects of the proposed change. It aims to respond to the complex questions to speculate on how well the participants of change have perceived it and whether it has introduced any positive difference for them (Yuen et al., 2013). To be more precise, this framework is used to comprehend whether the objectives have been met, but it does not allow assessing the actual process and the difficulties that were faced throughout the process. More importantly, it would not be possible to determine the specific interventions that could be applied to manage emerging issues. Also, the outcome-focused assessment does not give a possibility to dwell upon the problems encountered in the process of implementing the change and to assess the availability of essential resources.
References
Meyer, S. J., Brodersen, R. M., & Linick, M. A. (2014). Approaches to evaluating teacher preparation programs in seven states. Web.
Yuen, F. K. O., Terao, K. L., & Schmidt, A. M. (2013). Effective grant writing and program evaluation for human services professionals. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.