Putting educational knowledge of prospective teachers to the test: Further development and validation of the bilwiss test

Teachers’ generic educational knowledge theoretically constitutes an aspect of their professional competence. However, empirical evidence for its importance for teachers’ daily practice is scarce. In this chapter, we describe findings from the BilWiss research program, which aimed to investigate the development and relevance of the type of generic educational knowledge typically addressed in universityteacher education. We developed a standardized test that assesses generic knowledge in the following six domains: learning and development, instruction, assessment, educational theory (and history), school system and educational policy, and the teaching profession. We present findings from a series of studies that (a) provide evidence for the validity of the test score interpretations and (b) prove the predictive value of this test for diverse professional activities. These results are discussed regarding their theoretical andpractical implications for teacher education.