How Different Are They? Comparing Teacher Preparation Offered by Traditional, Alternative, and Residency Pathways

2021 ◽  
pp. 002248712110159
Author(s):  
Kavita Kapadia Matsko ◽  
Matthew Ronfeldt ◽  
Hillary Greene Nolan
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Student Teaching ◽  
Chicago Public Schools ◽  
Mentor Teachers ◽  
Methods Course ◽  
Prior Literature ◽  
Course Load ◽  
Different Populations

Nontraditional teacher preparation pathways were designed to offer different forms of preparation meant to attract different populations of teachers; however, prior literature suggests they may not provide as much of an alternative as initially intended. Drawing on surveys of nearly 800 preservice student teachers and their mentor teachers, we offer a descriptive overview comparing traditional, alternative, and residency pathways preparing teachers in Chicago Public Schools. Our study provides evidence that nontraditional forms of teacher preparation in Chicago do indeed provide unique routes of entry into the profession. We find substantive differences in the kinds of preparation that these pathways offer, including features of preparation such as program and student teaching duration and methods course load, which are often assumed to differ. We also find differences in features not historically studied including mentor characteristics and experiences, types of mentoring provided, and supports received by mentors.

scholarly journals Cooperating Teacher as Model and Coach: What Leads to Student Teachers’ Perceptions of Preparedness?

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kavita Kapadia Matsko ◽  
Matthew Ronfeldt ◽  
Hillary Greene Nolan ◽  
Joshua Klugman ◽  
Michelle Reininger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Student Teaching ◽  
Job Search ◽  
Cooperating Teachers ◽  
Instructional Support ◽  
Effective Instruction ◽  
Chicago Public Schools ◽  
Collaborative Activity ◽  
Teachers Perceptions

Drawing on survey and administrative data on cooperating teachers (CTs) and their preservice student teachers (PSTs) in Chicago Public Schools during 2014-2015, this study offers an in-depth look at reports of how CTs engage in their mentoring roles during student teaching, and their influence on PSTs. Our sample includes CTs working with PSTs from across 44 teacher preparation institutions. Central to our analysis is an exploration of CTs as both models of effective instruction and as facilitative coaches on PST development. We find that both CT roles matter—PSTs feel better prepared to teach when their CTs model effective instruction and coach by providing more instructional support, frequent and adequate feedback, collaborative activity, job-search support, and a balance of autonomy and encouragement.

How the Match Gets Made: Exploring Student Teacher Placements across Teacher Education Programs, Districts, and Schools

2021 ◽  
pp. e20200014
Author(s):  
Elise St. John ◽  
Dan Goldhaber ◽  
John Krieg ◽  
Roddy Theobald
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Student Teaching ◽  
Student Teacher ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Mentor Teachers ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
Effective Teacher ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
K 12

Emerging research finds connections between teacher candidates’ student teaching placements and their future career paths and effectiveness. Yet relatively little is known about the factors that influence these placements and how teacher education programs (TEPs) and K-12 school systems match teacher candidates to mentor teachers. In our study of this process in Washington state, we find that TEPs and K-12 systems share overarching goals related to successful student teacher placements and developing a highly effective teacher workforce. However, distinct accountabilities and day-to-day demands also sometimes lead them to prioritize other objectives. In addition, we identified informational asymmetries, which left TEPs questioning how mentor teachers were selected, and districts and schools with limited information with which to make intentional matches between teacher candidates and mentor teachers. The findings from this study inform both practice and research in teacher education and human resources. First, they illuminate practices that appear to contribute to informational gaps and institutional disadvantages in the placement of student teachers. Additionally, they raise questions about what constitutes an effective mentor teacher and provide researchers and policymakers with better insight into the professional realities of teacher educators and K-12 educators, as well as those of district human resource (HR) coordinators, which is important given their differing accountabilities and distinctive positionings in the education of teacher candidates.

Reconceptualizing Preservice Teacher Preparation in Science Literacy Education Using Action Research in South Africa

2022 ◽  
pp. 335-356
Author(s):  
André P. Botha ◽  
Leila Goosen
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Preservice Teacher ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Change Agents ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Mentor Teachers ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Preservice Teacher Preparation ◽  
Future Research Directions

This chapter presents a reconceptualization of preservice teacher preparation in the context of science, information technology, and African language education using action research (AR). The authors provide a background of AR as a transformative practice, along with benefits and possible limitations, and describe how student teachers turn theory to practice as change agents engaging in reflection and implementing solutions. Collaborative interaction between mentor teachers and lecturers and the project reports and reflective journals generated by the student teachers are integral parts of the research design and internship program. The authors recommend the use of AR to empower student teachers to deal effectively with probems that arise, and they discuss future research directions.

scholarly journals Preservice Teachers’ Learning to Plan Intellectually Challenging Tasks

2016 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hosun Kang
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Student Teaching ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Mentor Teachers ◽  
Methods Course ◽  
Secondary Science Teachers ◽  
Challenging Tasks ◽  
Situative Perspective ◽  
Problems Of Practice

This study explores how and under which conditions preservice secondary science teachers (PSTs) engage in effective planning practices that incorporate intellectually challenging tasks into lessons. Drawing upon a situative perspective on learning, eight PSTs’ trajectories of participation in communities of practice are examined with a focus on planning throughout student teaching. Data include 32 sets of teaching artifacts, interviews with PSTs, interviews with methods course instructors, and interviews with mentor teachers. The analyses show that instructional tasks observed at the beginning of lessons link to the ways in which PSTs engage in the three interrelated processes of (a) framing instructional goals, (b) constructing a lesson scenario, and (c) addressing problems of practice. The consistencies and changes observed in the PSTs’ trajectories of planning reveal the dynamic, responsive, and contentious nature of planning situated in local contexts. Three implications for designing productive learning opportunities for PSTs are discussed.

Exploring the Preparedness of Business Education Teacher Candidates for their Internships

2012 ◽  
pp. 171-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward C. Fletcher ◽  
Kathy Mountjoy ◽  
Glenn Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Classroom Management ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Business Education ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Mentor Teachers ◽  
Teacher Preparation Programs ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
Education Teacher ◽  
Modified Delphi

Applying a modified-Delphi technique, this research study sought consensus from business education mentor teachers regarding the top three areas in which business education student teachers were prepared as well as underprepared for their roles as teachers. Further, the mentor teachers provided recommendations for business education teacher preparation programs to implement to better prepare their teacher candidates for the student teaching internship. To that end, the mentor teachers did not gain consensus on the top three areas their student teachers were most prepared. However, they did agree classroom management and working with special needs’ students were among the top three areas their student teachers were least prepared. The mentor teachers agreed business education teacher preparation programs could provide more experiences with classroom management in public schools and provide their teacher candidates with more information about the workload and commitment needed to be effective teachers.

Teacher Knowledge of Educational Technology: A Case Study of Student/Mentor Teacher Pairs

2002 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 427-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Margerum-Leys ◽  
Ronald W. Marx
Keyword(s):  
Educational Technology ◽  
Pedagogical Content Knowledge ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Teacher Knowledge ◽  
Content Knowledge ◽  
Student Teaching ◽  
Student Teacher ◽  
Mentor Teachers ◽  
Mentor Teacher ◽  
Pedagogical Content

This study had two purposes. The first was to explore the construct of teacher knowledge of educational technology through the lens of three components of Shulman's model of teachers' knowledge—content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge. A second purpose was to investigate the ways in which teacher knowledge is acquired, shared, and used by student teachers and their mentors in the context of the student teaching placement. The literature in educational technology takes, for the most part, a limited view of educational technology knowledge, reporting on teachers' awareness of technological applications and affordances. By using Shulman's model, this study constructed and considered a more comprehensive depiction of teacher knowledge. Teacher knowledge of educational technology as thus depicted was explored as it developed within a particular setting. Data were drawn from a three-month observation and interview period in the spring of 1999. Six participants—three student teachers and three mentor teachers—were observed and interviewed at a middle school in a working-class suburb of a large Midwestern city. From observations of teacher practice, inferences were made about the underlying body of knowledge evidenced by the participants. The perspective of student and mentor teacher participants was gained through a quasi-ethnographic interview process. Observation and interview data were analyzed using a shared coding system, allowing a rich description to be created. Results of the study indicated that employment of Shulman's model revealed a set of knowledge derived from and applicable to practice with educational technology. This knowledge could be considered a Pedagogical Content Knowledge of technology, corresponding to Shulman's identification of a particular understanding by teachers of content in service of teaching and teaming. Within the context of the mentor/student teacher pairs, both knowledge acquired in and brought to the setting was shared in a multi-year cycle from student teacher to mentor to subsequent student teacher. Impact on the field includes a broadening sense of the nature of knowledge of educational technology, as well as increased attention to the importance of the student teaching placement and student and mentor teachers' roles within that environment.

edTPA Local Evaluation

2018 ◽  
pp. 1673-1688
Author(s):  
John Louis Seelke ◽  
Kelly Mills
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Student Teaching ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
National Board Certified ◽  
Performance Assessments ◽  
Mentor Teachers ◽  
Teacher Preparation Programs ◽  
First Year ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
National Board

Numerous teacher preparation programs now require teacher candidates to complete teacher performance assessments (TPA) to determine their readiness for the classroom. One of the newest assessments, edTPA, has been used by over 700 teacher preparation programs, with 12 states setting policy tying the successful completion of edTPA to teacher licensure. While edTPA is considered an educative tool for teacher candidates, it has also become a tool for teacher preparation programs to improve and change, as well as engage with their district partners on teacher practice. This chapter will describe one university's story of edTPA local evaluation, including its decisions to use local mentor teachers and local National Board Certified (NBC) teachers to assess the edTPA. It will reveal how bringing partners together through local evaluation can create a common language for teacher preparation, empower actors (mentors, supervisors) to share their voices with university faculty, and help bridge the gap between a pre-service candidate's student teaching year and the first year of induction.

edTPA Local Evaluation

2016 ◽  
pp. 93-108
Author(s):  
John Louis Seelke ◽  
Kelly Mills
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Student Teaching ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
National Board Certified ◽  
Performance Assessments ◽  
Mentor Teachers ◽  
Teacher Preparation Programs ◽  
First Year ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
National Board

Numerous teacher preparation programs now require teacher candidates to complete teacher performance assessments (TPA) to determine their readiness for the classroom. One of the newest assessments, edTPA, has been used by over 500 teacher preparation programs, with nine states setting policy tying the successful completion of edTPA to teacher licensure. While edTPA is considered an educative tool for teacher candidates, it has also become a tool for teacher preparation programs to improve and change, as well as engage with their district partners on teacher practice. This chapter will describe one university's story of edTPA local evaluation, including its decisions to use local mentor teachers and local National Board Certified (NBC) teachers to assess the edTPA. It will reveal how bringing partners together through local evaluation can create a common language for teacher preparation, empower actors (mentors, supervisors) to share their voices with university faculty, and help bridge the gap between a pre-service candidate's student teaching year and the first year of induction.

Three Different Measures of Graduates’ Instructional Readiness and the Features of Preservice Preparation That Predict Them

2020 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-71
Author(s):  
Matthew Ronfeldt ◽  
Kavita Kapadia Matsko ◽  
Hillary Greene Nolan ◽  
Michelle Reininger
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Student Teaching ◽  
Elementary Classrooms ◽  
Chicago Public Schools ◽  
First Year ◽  
Field Placement ◽  
Preservice Preparation

This article extends prior research seeking to identify preparation features related to better workforce outcomes. To our knowledge, it is the first to link many dimensions of preparation to graduates’ first-year observation ratings. It follows 305 preservice teachers (PSTs) who student taught in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) in 2014–2015 and were subsequently hired in CPS in 2015–2016. PSTs received stronger observation ratings when their CTs had stronger observation ratings themselves, their CTs reported providing stronger coaching in specific areas, they gained employment in their field placement schools, and they student taught in self-contained elementary classrooms. Finally, we tested whether these same preparation features were associated with two other outcomes—(a) how well prepared PSTs felt after student-teaching and (b) how well prepared their CTs felt their PSTs were—and found they were not. We discuss implications for using workforce and survey-based outcomes to identify promising forms of preparation.

Exploring the Preparedness of Business Education Teacher Candidates for their Internships

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 28-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward C. Fletcher ◽  
Kathy Mountjoy ◽  
Glenn Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Classroom Management ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Business Education ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Mentor Teachers ◽  
Teacher Preparation Programs ◽  
Education Student ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
Education Teacher

Applying a modified-Delphi technique, this research study sought consensus from business education mentor teachers regarding the top three areas in which business education student teachers were prepared as well as underprepared for their roles as teachers. Further, the mentor teachers provided recommendations for business education teacher preparation programs to implement to better prepare their teacher candidates for the student teaching internship. To that end, the mentor teachers did not gain consensus on the top three areas their student teachers were most prepared. However, they did agree classroom management and working with special needs’ students were among the top three areas their student teachers were least prepared. The mentor teachers agreed business education teacher preparation programs could provide more experiences with classroom management in public schools and provide their teacher candidates with more information about the workload and commitment needed to be effective teachers.

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